As Bass and Caruso held their debate, the city was reeling from revelations of racist remarks made during a recorded conversation held by by several city councilmembers and a local union boss.
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Both candidates addressed the controversy head-on, calling for the need for reform at City Hall.
"There needs to be an investigation, and those officials must resign, but that's not enough," Bass said.
Said Caruso: "I think there's more we need to talk about - they went into a back room to carve up this city for their own special interest."
Caruso used the controversy to go after Bass for questions about her own ethics in accepting a scholarship at USC.
"I think anybody who is under a cloud of corruption should not be qualified to be in a leadership position. Especially now," Caruso said.
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One of the most contentious moments of the debate came in a discussion about taking a pledge to not raise taxes to fight homelesses. Caruso took the pledge but Bass did not.
Caruso said that means Bass plans to raise taxes, but the congresswoman said that is not necessarily the case.
"That means you're going to raise taxes," Caruso said.
"It does not," Bass replied. She conceded raising taxes to help the homeless was a possibility but she would try other solutions first.