Mayor James Butts characterized an early meeting with Clippers officials as less-than-encouragingGETTY IMAGES
Few details about the Clippers-MSG Co. dispute over the team's proposed Inglewood arena "have been made public," but newly obtained documents "shed light on the discreet effort to launch the project," according to Nathan Fenno of the L.A. TIMES. One document "appears to contradict" what Inglewood Mayor James Butts "characterized during a deposition last year as a less-than-encouraging early meeting he had with Clippers officials." Others show that discussions between Inglewood and the Clippers "started much earlier than previously acknowledged, and that Clippers representatives worried MSG would learn about the arena plan before the company had agreed to surrender its parking lease." The documents had been "filed under seal" in L.A. County Superior Court last month but were "available for public viewing online for about a week before being removed from the court's docket." Many of the documents were labeled "confidential" or "highly confidential" (LATIMES.com, 2/23).
