The L.A. City Council, "betting that a new sports arena
will bring jobs and a long-sought resurgence to the ailing
heart of the city," voted yesterday to "pledge taxpayer
funds and city property to help bring the privately owned
and operated project to fruition," according to Jean Merl in
a front-page story in today's L.A. TIMES. The 13-2 vote,
"while not the last hurdle that the controversial project
must clear," essentially committed the city to the deal that
had been negotiated for months with arena developers and NHL
Kings Owners Edward Roski and Philip Anschutz. The proposal
includes the city spending $70.5M -- and $20M in city
property -- to provide a site for a 20,000-seat sports and
entertainment complex to house the Kings and Lakers,
reportedly for up to 25 years. To help repay the taxpayers'
cost -- averaging $6.8M per-year for 25 years -- developers
agreed to levy a ticket fee, a step they "refused to take
last fall," when negotiations began (L.A. TIMES, 1/16). In
L.A., columnist Randy Harvey: "The new arena is important to
the revitalization of downtown L.A. ... Equally significant
from a sports perspective, the vote sends a message to the
NFL that it's not impossible to do business with Los
Angeles" (L.A. TIMES, 1/16).
