Plans to build an NFL-caliber stadium in Inglewood, Calif. "are moving at lightning speed and could get approval from city leaders as soon as at a Feb. 24 council meeting," according to Jennings & Logan of the L.A. TIMES. Election officials confirmed Thursday there are "more than enough valid signatures to put the project on the June ballot, but the Inglewood City Council also has the option to approve the plan for an 80,000-seat venue outright, a course that appears likely." Approval is "required to amend existing plans for the 238-acre Hollywood Park site to include the football stadium." Inglewood Mayor James Butts Jr. said that he is "waiting to hear the results of economic and environmental reports before making a decision." Those reports are "expected to be presented" at the Feb. 24 council meeting. Hollywood Park Land Co. -- the development company that includes Rams Owner Stan Kroenke -- said that it "hoped to break ground on the project by the end of the year" (L.A. TIMES, 2/13).
HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL: In L.A., Vincent Bonsignore notes NFL Exec VP/Business Ventures Eric Grubman is "front and center" in that process of bringing an NFL team to L.A. while "also trying to make sure things work out for existing teams in existing markets." With everything that has gone on over the past few months, Grubman was asked whether there is "legitimate reason for hope right now." Grubman said, "The words I would use to categorize it, or grade the probability, would lead me to conclude that hope makes sense. Faith makes sense would be even better." He added, "I don’t see owners saying no to any site that’s viable and attractive, whether it’s Hollywood Park or downtown. If it’s viable and attractive and a team wants to go there and the plan is good, I don’t see any problem." Grubman: "I place no higher priority in my mission statement, to creating a viable, approvable plan in Los Angeles and creating a viable plan in St. Louis. ... If you think an impossible scenario is created by creating a terrific plan in Market One and a terrific plan in Los Angeles -- and that’s a really hard decision for owners -- that’s exactly what I want. That is my job." But when asked if Kroenke met all obligations relative to the NFL's relocation thus far, Grubman said, "I don’t think it’s fair for me to grade Mr. Kroenke in the abstract or in isolation. I will simply leave it as, all the clubs involved have engaged consistently with the league. We have guidelines in general and guidelines that are specific to the Los Angeles process. And every club that I’m aware of that has been interested in the Los Angeles market has been in full compliance with the general set of guidelines and the specific L.A. guidelines" (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 2/13).
CAMPAIGN FINANCING: In California, Scott Reid cites state campaign filings and other financial documents as showing that since taking office in '11, Butts' "largest financial benefactor has been the Hollywood Park Land Company." The developer has "donated $75,000 to Butts’ campaign committee over the past four years." The development group’s financial support has been "significant to a campaign that during some six-month reporting periods had less than $40,000 in expenditures and saw Butts re-elected last November with 83 percent of the vote in an election that drew fewer than 25 percent of Inglewood’s registered voters." The documents also show that the mayor’s campaign committee "loaned the campaigns of two Inglewood city councilmen more than $150,000." Butts in a statement said he is "not concerned about any appearance of conflict of interest because there is none. If that were the case it would exist for any project wherein the developer had ever supported any political figure." Reid notes Butts’ critics have said that the HPLC campaign contributions have "not only influenced Butts, but enabled him to influence other council members." The possibility of an NFL stadium at Hollywood Park has "been on Butts’ radar since he first was elected" in '10 and "part of HPLC’s plans since its larger project was approved a year earlier." The '09 environmental impact report for the HPLC development approved by the city "addressed the option of 'constructing an approximate 65,000 seat Athletic Stadium'" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 2/13).
