The L.A. City Council on Tuesday "ordered developers of
the proposed downtown sports arena to make public portions
of their lease agreement" with the Lakers, "but left
attorneys involved in the project free to determine which
segments are 'relevant' and which are 'proprietary' and can
remain secret," according to Jodi Wilgoren of the L.A.
TIMES. Deputy City Attorney Patricia Tubert said that the
lease does not "require the Lakers to play for a quarter-
century in the proposed arena, as previously promised." But
the deal between the Lakers and Kings, who will build the
facility, gives "the developer an option to force the tenant
teams to play there for 25 years;" while a separate deal
between the city and the developers would "demand that the
arena landlords exercise that option and require the Lakers
and Kings to stay." Wilgoren: "The key question is whether
the city's agreement with the developers can legally address
provisions of the lease. That may depend, in part, on how
the lease is worded and what the penalties are for breach of
contract." John Semcken, spokesperson for arena developers
Philip Anschutz and Ed Roski Jr., said that the team will
abide by the council's request, "in part because Lakers
owner Jerry Buss had given" the Kings "permission to break
their confidentiality agreement" on the lease. Semcken: "We
need to thank the Lakers. If it were up to us, we would not
be releasing these documents" (L.A. TIMES, 7/23).