A month after Boston’s bid for the 2024 Olympic Games collapsed, Los Angeles appears on the verge of stepping in as the replacement US candidate.
The Los Angeles City Council was scheduled to vote yesterday on a proposal to authorize Mayor Eric Garcetti to execute agreements related to its 2024 bid, which outlines more than US$6 billion in public and private spending.
If approved, the US Olympic Committee (USOC) is expected to announce that Los Angeles is its nominee, joining Rome, Paris, Hamburg, Germany, and Budapest, Hungary, in pursuit of the 2024 Games.
Photo: AFP
It marks a preliminary step. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is to pick the host city in 2017.
If eventually selected by the IOC, Los Angeles would join London as the second three-time host. Los Angeles was the home of the Olympics in 1932 and 1984.
The vote takes place at a time when many financial details of the Los Angeles plan remain vague. The bid calls for building a US$1 billion athletes village on a rail yard the city does not own and government analysts have warned that developing the site could significantly exceed the projected cost.
The Games also call for at least US$1.7 billion in private investment, including most of the cost of building the village.
Initially, Boston was selected as the US contender, but the USOC cut ties to the city in July amid lackluster public support, and concerns from elected leaders and opponents about taxpayer spending and debt.
A so-called host city contract, which essentially sticks the city and state — not the IOC — with the burden of any cost overruns became an obstacle in Boston.
In Los Angeles, Chief Deputy City Attorney James Clark assured council members last week that passage of the proposal would not expose taxpayers to unchecked spending or debt. A host city contract would come later, if Los Angeles is selected to stage the 2024 Games.
In a report last week, city analysts said relocating the rail yard and environmental work at the site could consume over half the proposed US$1 billion budget for the athletes village and they recommended the city find alternative sites.
Additionally, the analysts said they did not have enough information to verify the overall budget or determine the financial risk. They recommended a series of safeguards be established, including protecting the city treasury into the future.
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