AEG Spars With City Attorney; Murray An Isles “Obstructionist?”
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Leiweke Says Attorney Tried To Pressure AEG
To Pay $6M For Michael Jackson Memorial |
AEG President & CEO Tim Leiweke said that L.A. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich tried to pressure AEG to pay $6M for "city services provided during the Michael Jackson memorial, saying he would 'go after you guys' if the money was not paid," according to a front-page story by Willon & DiMassa of the L.A. TIMES. Leiweke: "I wouldn't say it was extortion. I would say it's a bully tactic. That's the way I would put it. He's trying to bully us. And he's done it on three different occasions." Leiweke's accusations "escalate a growing public feud between the brash new city attorney and one of L.A. most influential corporations." Leiweke said that he "sees political motives," as he is a "major ally of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and both backed Trutanich's opponent in the bitter race for city attorney earlier this year." Trutanich since taking office "has blocked sign permits" for AEG's "new downtown movie theater and attempted to delay the city's plans to lease billboard space to AEG at the Convention Center." Leiweke alleges that Trutanich "ordered investigations into AEG's old fire permits and even the cracks in the sidewalks at Staples Center and L.A. Live." Leiweke: "I can only guess ... that part of this is that we were on the wrong side of the election" (L.A. TIMES, 10/22).
LAST LINE OF DEFENSE: In N.Y., Belson & Klein profile Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray, who is either a "hard-headed obstructionist willing to drive the Islanders out of Long Island, a principled public servant protecting taxpayers or a Republican veteran holding out for a political ransom ... depending on whom you speak to." Murray is one of the "last, and seemingly most stubborn, hurdles" to moving forward with the Lighthouse Project. The development is "one of the biggest developments ever on Long Island and it has been billed as critical to revitalizing the local economy as well as the Islanders." But Murray contends that she is "only doing her job" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/22).
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