Assertion Partly supported AI assessment confidence: 90% certainty 4/5 debate potential 3/5

Caruso: LA building plan checkers are still working from home

Rick Caruso · Rick Caruso on California’s Collapse: Broken Leadership, LA Wildfire Failures & the Fix · Oct 1, 2025 · at 4:48

Real estate developer Rick Caruso critiques municipal incompetence and rebuilding delays in Los Angeles following the Pacific Palisades wildfires.

0:00 / 0:11exact quote · 11.4s

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“Since COVID, We have still not, we being the city, has still not called back workers to City Hall. So plan checkers in LA City are working from home.”

quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →

The claim, plainly

City of Los Angeles building plan checkers are still working from home and have not been called back to City Hall since COVID-19.

a quote alone can be ambiguous, so this restates it with the references and context of the conversation around it resolved. AI-written; the tape below the player is the source.

Assessment

Rick Caruso's statement is partially true. While City of Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS) plan checkers do work from home on designated telework days under the city's post-COVID hybrid telework framework, his claim that workers have not been called back to City offices at all since COVID-19 is incorrect. LADBS plan checkers operate on hybrid schedules that include mandatory in-office shifts to staff physical in-person counters at Development Services Centers, such as 201 N. Figueroa St. and 6262 Van Nuys Blvd.

LADBS re-established in-person counter services at primary Development Services Centers, where applicants can schedule in-person appointments with plan checkers.
LADBS plan check engineers operate on hybrid telework schedules combining in-office coverage at Development Services Centers with remote digital plan review via ePlanLA and virtual counters.

Checked against

[1] lacity.gov [2] surfsantamonica.com [3] lacity.gov [4] lacity.org [5] lacity.org [6] siteplancreator.com [7] lacity.gov [8] jdj-consulting.com

"LADBS" "plan check" "in person" OR "virtual" OR "telework" OR "work from home" Los Angeles LADBS building plan checkers work from home telework City of Los Angeles telework policy return to office city hall employees Mayor Bass Los Angeles return to office city workers LADBS "virtual counter" "in person counter" plan check 2024 OR 2025

assessed as of 2026-07-30

This assessment is an AI reading of a public statement, made against the cited references with the confidence shown. It can be wrong. The quote, the tape and the references are all on this page; if something is off, use report an error below. full disclaimer →

Mentioned

City of Los Angeles plan checkers

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More from Rick Caruso

Assertion Open · timeframe Oct 2026

Caruso: LAFD ran short of water, equipment during Palisades wildfire

“We were actually on the seventh loaning equipment to LA Fire Department, who was running short of equipment, and we were actually loaning water because we were bringing in our water tanks when the water hydrants failed to work.”

Rick Caruso Oct 1, 2025 ▶ 4:03 Rick Caruso on California’s Collapse: Broken Leadership, LA Wildfire Failures & the Fix

Assertion Contradicted

Caruso: LA spends $900,000 per homeless person moved off streets

“We are spending in the city of Los Angeles. 900,000 dollars per person that they're moving from the streets. 900,000 dollars.”

Rick Caruso Oct 1, 2025 ▶ 18:48 Rick Caruso on California’s Collapse: Broken Leadership, LA Wildfire Failures & the Fix

Assertion Not checkable as stated

Caruso: Pacific Palisades wildfire was completely preventable

“I was convinced nine months ago, I'm more convinced today, that fire was completely preventable. And if you think I'm wrong and it wasn't completely preventable, the damage could have been significantly mitigated.”

Rick Caruso Oct 1, 2025 ▶ 7:08 Rick Caruso on California’s Collapse: Broken Leadership, LA Wildfire Failures & the Fix

Assertion Supported

Caruso: Largest local reservoir was empty during Palisades fire

“We had the largest reservoir not filled with water.”

Rick Caruso Oct 1, 2025 ▶ 7:45 Rick Caruso on California’s Collapse: Broken Leadership, LA Wildfire Failures & the Fix

Disclosure

Caruso opposes deploying the National Guard to clear homeless encampments

“The, any kind of federal interference, I think, should be the very, very last resort. So I don't support that. I don't support it.”

Rick Caruso Oct 1, 2025 ▶ 22:16 Rick Caruso on California’s Collapse: Broken Leadership, LA Wildfire Failures & the Fix

Assertion Partly supported

Caruso: 90% of lost homes burned from the inside out

“About 90% of the homes in the Palisades and Altadena burned from the inside out.”

Rick Caruso Oct 1, 2025 ▶ 3:30 Rick Caruso on California’s Collapse: Broken Leadership, LA Wildfire Failures & the Fix

Caruso: LA building plan checkers are still working from home

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