Inglewood, Calif., city officials yesterday said that they "expect an initiative asking voters to approve plans" for a $2B, 80,000-seat, NFL-ready stadium at Hollywood Park "to be on the ballot in time for a June 16 election," according to Scott Reid of the ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER. Passage of the initiative "would eliminate another hurdle" for Rams Owner Stan Kroenke’s potential plans to relocate the team to Inglewood. The Inglewood City Council "unanimously approved contracts with two firms to study the environmental and economic impact of the City of Champions Revitalization Project which the stadium is a part of." The vote "came during an often-heated council meeting Tuesday night that drew a standing-room-only crowd and saw both supporters and critics of the stadium proposal slammed [by] their opponents with pointed and personal attacks." Hollywood Park Land Development officials said that the stadium "would be ready" for the '18 NFL season. But a number of Inglewood residents "complained to the city council that the stadium would have detrimental environmental, parking, and noise impacts on the city." Stadium opponents also "criticized what they said was a lack of transparency" by Inglewood Mayor James Butts and the council. A group contracted by the HPLD "submitted more than 22,000 petition signatures to city officials this week, more than enough to reach" the 15% of registered voters threshold to get the initiative on the ballot. The city yesterday also agreed to "pay CAJA Environmental Services LLC $88,000 to conduct a report on the initiative" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 1/28).
SHOW ME SOMETHING: In St. Louis, Alex Stuckey reports Missouri Office of Administration Commissioner Doug Nelson and others at a state House budget hearing yesterday asserted that Gov. Jay Nixon "doesn’t need legislative approval to issue bonds" for a new Rams stadium. This "set off a stream of rebuttals from state legislators." Nelson said that a law passed more than 20 years ago "allows the Nixon administration to issue such bonds." The law states that Missouri or any agency or department of the state "can enter into a contract, agreement or lease to finance or develop a convention or sports facility." Nelson: "This is not an indication of what we’re going to do. This is an indication that we believe we have that authority." But state Sen. Rob Schaaf said, "For the governor to think he could put us in debt ... without the action of the Legislature is outrageous." So far, legislators "have not responded kindly to the notion of Nixon making a decision without them." State Rep. Jay Barnes warned that there could be litigation if the governor "takes this step without running it through the Legislature" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 1/28).
