The L.A. City Council yesterday "voted unanimously to approve" LA 2024's Olympics bid and to also "serve as a financial backstop should the event run over budget," according to David Wharton of the L.A. TIMES. LA 2024 Vice Chair & Dir of Athlete Relations Janet Evans said, "Without the council’s confidence in us, we would not be bidding." LA 2024 has "put forth a proposal that avoids billions of dollars in construction by using existing venues" such as the L.A. Memorial Coliseum, Staples Center and Pauley Pavilion. UCLA dorms would "take the place of the normally expensive athletes' village." Wharton notes the plan has "so far drawn praise from Olympic critics." Under the current arrangement, if an L.A. Olympics were to "run over budget, the city would be responsible" for the first $250M. The state of California has said that it "would pay" any additional $250M after that. Any remaining debt would "revert back to the city." Council support was "all but assured last week after an ad hoc committee recommended approval," though LA 2024 still "paraded Olympic stars into City Hall for the final vote," including soccer player Cobi Jones, swimmer John Naber, short-track speedskater Apolo Ohno and volleyball player Sinjin Smith (L.A. TIMES, 1/26). In California, Scott Reid notes the City Council also "endorsed an updated" balanced $5.32B budget that is nearly $19M more than what was projected by LA 2024 in October (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 1/26).
