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VIEWPOINT - Each host city for the Olympic Games creates a legacy. Often under arduous conditions, some cities effectively address challenges such as financial risk and infrastructure demands. Others flounder and fail. That is all part of the difficult demands of staging the most widely recognized recurring global spectacle.
Whenever a leadership scandal emerges the Games are overshadowed by public disgrace, the city’s legacy is corrupted, and its global reputation is reshaped overnight.
The Casey Wasserman controversy has become an unbearable situation. Unfortunately, it is not the only affliction! Originally, Los Angeles was expected to thrive with the 2028 Olympics, but now it can face potential unlimited financial exposure without knowing it because LA28’s spending or contracting information is being kept from the city.
In short, LA28 has not provided vendor-level contract details that the city expected under the Games Agreement, and has offered only aggregate totals, withholding specifics such as names, amounts, terms, and purposes.
It is my strongest feeling that this is a breach of the Games agreement. Los Angeles must quickly resort to legal action to obtain this critical data. Political pressure, resolutions, negotiations, and public shaming do not work with this Wasserman board.
Meanwhile the clamor for Wasserman’s removal is swelling.
Mayor Karen Bass and City Council members have urged Wasserman to resign, but that has not produced results. A resolution to formalize the city’s position was introduced by Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez last week and was approved 12-0 by the City Council, which expressed concern regarding the conflict between the Olympic movement’s values and Wasserman’s association with the Epstein files. A call for a thorough and transparent review was made.
The West Hollywood City Council unanimously voted on March 2,2026, to adopt a resolution calling for Wasserman to step down as chair of the LA28.
But despite all the official and public insistence on his removal, only one entity can decide his fate: the LA28 Board of Directors, ironically a Board created by Wasserman himself.
No outside body appointed the thirty-five members to the Board. Wasserman and the team he assembled to bid and win the Games appointed the members through a closed, invitation‑only process. There was no public solicitation, no city ratification, no state position, and no democratic process.
And it was all done behind closed doors.
This Board that holds all the power. It was purposely structured as a private nonprofit corporation operating under a Host City Contract with the International Olympic Committee and deliberately designed to insulate the board from local politics, electoral turnover, and city and county control.
Wasserman and his inner circle added new members through internal nominations and invitations. It is a self-perpetuating private board much like those found in foundations or major nonprofits. Of course, Board members appear unified and defend him out of personal loyalty and long‑standing alliances. Their excuse is that the scandal, while reputationally damaging, does not legally implicate him.
It is becoming clearer each day that Wasserman’s support will surely collapse, not only because of his Epstein ties but due to his deficiency of trust and governance integrity. He already has expressed negative contradictions.
For example, when in August, 2024, Variety reported that Wasserman was accused of having "serial" affairs with junior employees over many years, he told the LA28 Board that he had “no other secrets.” Of course, this assurance must have become central to the Board’s sense of trust. But in January, 2026 the Department of Justice released files that included a 23‑year‑old sexual email exchange between Wasserman and Ghislaine Maxwell. This directly abrogated his “no other secrets” assurance. Sure, we have seen some boards survive scandals, but boards cannot survive a chairman who misleads them.
On the monetary side, troubled Los Angeles can face exposure, and possible bankruptcy, that may result from LA28 funding shortcomings. The organizing committee is privately funded for over $7 billion, but only on paper. Public guarantees kick in if that budget fails. The Games are still a multi‑billion‑dollar operation, but no one can predict what will happen with the Wasserman scandal, volatile sponsorship markets, unpredictable security costs, transportation and infrastructure dependencies, political instability, and the ongoing global economic woes.
This exposure is carefully spelled out in the city’s guarantee agreement: if LA28 runs a deficit Los Angeles is responsible for the first $270 million in losses. The California Legislature agreed to backstop the next $270 million, which means that statewide taxpayers must cover losses from $270 to $540 million. What most people do not know is that if losses exceed $540 million, every additional dollar is the responsibility of Los Angeles taxpayers, thus making the city’s financial exposure essentially unlimited.
LA city leaders have failed so far to demand detailed accounting of the budget for LA 28 and consequently they are derelict of their fiduciary responsibilities, as they are tasked with acting as stewards of public funds. They have relied on superficial financial reports rather than requesting in-depth, line -item details on income and expenditures. Failure to provide transparency causes community members to distrust their local government. Failure to manage public funds can lead to legal liability for officials. In the interest of enhanced transparency, the city council and the mayor must require detailed, public, and regular financial reporting from LA28.
More specifically, if LA28 encounters financial difficulties, significant political repercussions are likely, and widespread governmental challenge throughout the city will surely ensue. The public would grow increasingly dissatisfied, especially if overspending leads to even more strain on services currently facing budget issues.
Wasserman’s involvement is enabling these developments. To date, the board selected by Wasserman has not acknowledged the potential negative consequences, has not provided the city with requested data, and is playing a significant role in the ongoing crisis.
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(Nick Patsaouras is an electrical engineer, civic leader, and a longtime public advocate. He ran for Mayor in 1993 with a focus on rebuilding L.A. through transportation after the 1992 civil unrest. He has served on major public boards, including the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Metro, and the Board of Zoning Appeals, helping guide infrastructure and planning policy in Los Angeles. He is the author of the book "The Making of Modern Los Angeles.")
