LA WATCHDOG--Los Angeles, the Entertainment Capital of the World, is the ideal location to host the 2024 Summer Olympics.
We have a proven track record, having hosted two of the most successful games, including the 1984 games that rescued the Olympics after the 1976 financial fiasco in Montreal.
We have established, low cost venues, including the iconic Coliseum, the Rose Bowl, Staples, USC, UCLA, and Stub Hub Center.
We also have more than 20 million Southern Californians, who, unlike those “sensible” Yankees in Beantown who refused to fund a projected $10 billion shortfall, support bringing the Olympics back to LA.
And as we all know, LA is the world’s undisputed leader in Showtime.
How do Mayor Eric Garcetti and the City of Los Angeles present a “fiscally responsible” bid that indemnifies the United States Olympic Committee against any losses and, at the same time, does not expose our City’s fragile finances to a massive loss?
Garcetti and his acolytes will develop financial projections that demonstrate that our City is not at risk. They may even conclude that the 2024 Olympics will be profitable. And this does not include all the “mutual benefits” that accompany the Games. This, however, is of little comfort as Olympic supporters have been known to overstate the benefits and understate the costs of hosting the Games.
Should we trust Garcetti and the Herb Wesson led City Council – most of whom will be long gone when the bill comes due - when we know that our dysfunctional City Hall does not have the financial resources, the management capabilities, or the organizational structure to pull off a successful Olympics?
To verify the City’s projections, estimated by Garcetti to be in the range of $4.5 billion, we need the County of Los Angeles and the State of California, both big time beneficiaries of the Olympics, to partner with the City to limit its financial risk. This would require the City to convince the County and State that its plans and their underlying assumptions are reasonable.
City Hall should not be involved in the operations of the Olympics. Rather, this task should be delegated to the private sector, much like in 1984 when Peter Ueberroth and his management team ran the show. The City would be wise to retain a private sector operator that has the management and financial resources to guarantee the on time and on budget delivery of the Olympics. While this may require a substantial insurance premium, it would dramatically lower the City’s financial exposure.
One candidate is the Anschutz Entertainment Group, which, as the owner of LA Live, Staples, and Stub Hub Center, has a vested interest in our City. AEG knows the LA and Southern California market, has experience running large events throughout the world, has excellent management, and has the financial muscle to back up its commitments.
The Olympics will need the cooperation of organized labor which will need to agree not to strike Olympic related projects for a period of at least three years in advance of the Games.
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The City must also agree not to meddle or interfere in the operations of the Olympics. This would include requiring the Olympics to pay for unrelated expenses such as the repair of our streets, mass transit projects, or affordable housing. These extras would be on the City’s dime.
LA will be an excellent host for the 2024 Summer Olympics. This 17 day extravaganza will be a great party, uniting our diverse population and showcasing our world class City and all that Southern California has to offer. But we cannot tolerate a multiyear financial hangover. That is why the City needs to off load the financial risk by partnering with the County and the State, retaining an experienced partner to guarantee that the Games will be on time and on budget, requiring no strike commitments from labor, and keeping the City Hall know-it-alls from meddling.
One other minor detail: no free tickets for City Hall.
(Jack Humphreville writes LA Watchdog for CityWatch. He is the President of the DWP Advocacy Committee and a member of the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council. Humphreville is the publisher of the Recycler Classifieds -- www.recycler.com. He can be reached at: [email protected])
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 13 Issue 65
Pub: Aug 11, 2015
