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LA WATCHDOG - Will the City be ready for the 2028 Olympics? Will the 40 venues be up and running? Will the accommodations for the 11,000 athletes be ready? And will the City have to cover any losses from the Olympic Games?
Angelenos are rightfully skeptical. After all, how can we trust the Mayor and City Council who are responsible for a billion dollar deficit and now an “unbalanced balanced budget” that sacrifices public safety and fails to repair and maintain our streets, sidewalks, parks, and trees.
There has also been very little transparency, so much so that we have been treated as mushrooms: kept in the dark and covered with manure.
The level of transparency may be improving. In a recent article in The Times, Casey Wasserman, the chairman of LA28, indicated that he was “really confident” that this privately funded organization would raise the $7.15 billion to cover the cost of the Olympic and Paralympic games. Domestic sponsorships with the likes of Delta, Comcast, and Honda are expected to bring in $2.5 billion while ticket sales and hospitality are also at the $2.5 billion level. On the other hand, this is easier said than done because many of the deep pocketed sponsors who were here in 1984 have departed business unfriendly LA.
Hopefully the 2025 LA28 Annual Report will have significant levels of detail about LA28’s financial prospects and the status of the venues.
While LA28 appears to have its act together, the same cannot be said about the City.
Mayor Bass has called for an environmentally friendly, car free Olympics. But that will be difficult because many of the venues are scattered throughout the Southland and not accessible by mass transit. The plan is that we will need to rely on a fleet of very expensive electric buses. So where is Metro going to find $2 billion to purchase these buses and fund their operation?
The City needs to prepare for prime time. Our streets, sidewalks, parks, trees, and the rest of our infrastructure show the effect of years of neglect and underinvestment, not an image this world class city wants to project. How many billions will it cost Tinseltown to look glamorous, and who will be footing the bill?
Security is a major issue and is expected to cost as much as $2 billion. And while the Olympics are a National Special Security Event, will our friends in Washington foot the bill or will the City have to contribute to the effort?
There are many other issues that need to be addressed, including what to do about Skid Row and the homeless crisis. And do not forget about the world famous Graffiti Towers.
Angelenos demand full transparency from LA28 and the City because we will not be treated as mushrooms.
(Jack Humphreville writes LA Watchdog for CityWatch. He is the President of the DWP Advocacy Committee, the Budget and DWP representative for the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council, and a Neighborhood Council Budget Advocate. He can be reached at: [email protected].)
