• Magic Johnson reaffirms interest in NFL — ESPN
• L.A. would benefit from a part-time City Council — Daily News
• L.A. Stadium Project Means 23,000 Jobs — AFL-CIO Blog
Industry Stadium Still in the Running Says Majestic
Melanie C. Johnson, The Patch.com
September 13, 2011
http://diamondbar.patch.com/articles/industry-stadium-still-in-the-running-says-majestic
John Semcken, Majestic Realty’s vice president, wanted the local business community to know Monday that despite the relative quiet these days around his company’s proposed Grand Crossing football stadium project, it is still a contender.
Semcken gave a progress report on the prospective City of Industry NFL stadium project to the Regional Chamber of Commerce San Gabriel Valley’s Government Affairs Council at its meeting at the Quality Inn and Suites on Fairway Drive. The chamber supports the stadium.
He dismissed the perception that the downtown Los Angeles stadium is the only game in town, citing media bias and legislative wrangling related the passage of a bill last week designed to give proponents of the LA project some legal protections.
“Things have never looked better for our project than they look today,” he said. “I am confident we are going to have football back here sooner than you think.”
Los Angeles’ Farmers Field project, which is being developed by Anschutz Entertainment Group, has been much talked about of late.
A couple of months ago, AEG and the city of Los Angeles reached a tentative deal to allow the proponents to build the stadium and a revamped convention center and last week, the state Legislature voted for a bill designed to put a time limit on legal challenges expected to come from environmental groups seeking to delay or kill the project.
Semcken said the only state lawmakers representing the Inland Empire that voted against the bill benefiting the L.A. stadium were Assemblyman Curt Hagman (R-Chino Hills) and Sen. Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar). Both politicians have a vested interest in that the Industry stadium project is in the districts they represent.
“Fortunately, it isn’t going to make a difference,” Semcken said. “The National Football League will make the choice. We’re moving forward, and we think we’re going to have a team.”
He said Majestic is negotiating with teams but that he couldn’t name them at this point. The NFL won’t be making any announcements about a deal until after the Super Bowl, but the plan is to bring two teams, not one, to the Los Angeles area, he said.
“There will be two football teams in one building,” he said. “That’s two downtown or two in Industry.”
The project has received the support of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, and Orange County is expected to follow suit shortly, he said.
The Four Corners Coalition, made up of cities around the border of Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, and Riverside Counties, signed a letter of support for the Majestic project in late July.
The Industry proposal has received some local opposition in the past. In 2009, the city of Walnut and a local citizens group filed lawsuits against the project, citing environmental concerns. Those lawsuits evaporated after the state Legislature voted in favor of a bill that exempted the project from the California Environmental Quality Act, and Walnut later settled with Majestic and the City of Industry.
Semcken said Majestic’s project makes more sense than AEG's because it doesn’t have any negative economic impacts, unlike the downtown plan.
With football downtown, all of the Sundays from August to January will have scheduled games, meaning all events once planned for the adjacent convention center or the neighboring Nokia Theater and Staples Center would have to be canceled during those months, he said. The Industry project would not have that issue, he said.
Reaching a deal will take time, Semcken said, adding that the best-case scenario would involve the two teams playing at the Rose Bowl or the Coliseum next season while a stadium is built.
Before it can get to that point, the NFL would have to approve a stadium. Then around 75 percent of the owners would have to vote to allow a team to move, an agreement would have to be made on a relocation fee, and an owner would have to agree to pack up and come to the Los Angeles area, he said.
Magic Johnson reaffirms interest in NFL
Ramona Shelburne, ESPNLosAngeles.com
September 13, 2011
http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nfl/story/_/id/6963136/magic-johnson-reaffirms-involvement-getting-nfl-la
The Los Angeles Lakers legend, on Monday, reaffirmed his involvement and commitment to Farmers Field, Anschutz Entertainment Group's $1.2 billion proposed football stadium in downtown Los Angeles that cleared a major legislative hurdle last week when the California State Senate passed a bill to expedite legal challenges to the project.
Johnson, who has been among the project's most high-profile supporters, said he will be part of the ownership group that solicits a team to move to Los Angeles and play in the stadium.
"I'm going to be part of that (ownership) group. I am a part of it. We just have to see what happens once we get going," Johnson told ESPNLosAngeles.com at an event to announce his involvement in a nationwide alternative education program to help students who are at risk of dropping out of school.
"I'm truly excited. It's going to improve our community and help our community," he said. "We need jobs, we need more conventions to come to our city, and then of course ... I'm a football fan. I used to be a season ticket holder for the Rams and the Raiders when they played here. I want football here. I'm tired of cheering for everybody else's team. I want to cheer for my own team."
Senate Bill 292, which will fast-track legal challenges to the stadium's environmental impact report directly to the California Court of Appeal, is awaiting approval from California Gov. Jerry Brown, who has 30 days to either sign or veto the bill.
He is expected to sign it but if he takes no action, the bill will become law anyway.
AEG president and CEO Tim Leiweke said plans for Farmers Field could not have continued unless the bill was passed.
"Once the governor signs off," Johnson said, "we can move fast, Tim Leiweke and AEG can move fast in starting the process on getting Farmers Field built, putting a lot of people to work, and bringing football back to Los Angeles."
Johnson spoke to ESPNLosAngeles.com after announcing his plans to partner with Edison Learning in a monumental program to bring extra educational programs and resources to urban schools and underperforming public schools throughout the country.
Calling it "the most important thing I've done," Johnson said he will be hands-on in working with at-risk students at his new learning centers.
"I've opened Starbucks and businesses all over urban America," he said. "But forget all that. This is the most important thing. We've got a big problem going on and this is where I'm going to put my attention."
Last year Johnson sold 105 of his Starbucks locations back to the company, and his 4.5 percent ownership stake in the Lakers. He still owns hundreds of restaurants, movie theaters and fitness clubs in urban centers.
"This is why," he said. "Touching the community has always been number one for me and this is a huge problem. Over a million kids a year are dropping out. We can't have that."
L.A. would benefit from a part-time City Council
Kevin James, Daily News Op-Ed
September 12, 2011
http://www.dailynews.com/opinions/ci_18870107
Los Angeles City Council members are the nation's highest paid, at $178,789 per year. The part-time Washington, D.C., council is next at $130,538. New York's part-time council makes $121,725.
The L.A. council costs the most per seat, $1.7 million, employs staff of more than 300, and each member receives a car (with parking meter immunity) and a $100,000 yearly taxpayer-financed slush fund.
Having a part-time council in Los Angeles would benefit city governance. In addition to savings, a part-time council provides access to a more diverse field of professionals. A part-time council takes advantage of talent and experience from outside City Hall - and City Hall could use a daily dose of the real world.
There are examples of successful part-time councils all over L.A. County and the nation. Six of the 10 largest cities in the nation have part-time councils: New York, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, San Antonio and Dallas. Of the remaining four with full-time councils, one is in Philadelphia and three are in California - Los Angeles, San Diego and San Jose - one of the most mismanaged states in the nation.
As part-time, the L.A. City Council would be transformed from body of full-time politicians looking to benefit personally from high salaries, huge staffs and perks into one that draws significant contributions from its members.
The full-time L.A. council only works part-time anyway. Records obtained through the California Public Records Act show schedules filled with "excused" absences or early leaves. The L.A. council appears to work on a rotation schedule, enabling it to conduct business with the minimum members needed for a quorum while allowing the maximum time off for all of its members.
Has the full-time L.A. council been successful? That's a question political observers are examining.
Joel Kotkin, a professor of urban development, wrote in The Wall Street Journal in July that "Los Angeles today is a city in secular decline. Its current political leadership seems determined ... to leave behind a dense, government-dominated, bankrupt, dysfunctional Athens by the Pacific."
Since 2005 there have been numerous council failures even at the most basic level. In just two examples, council members admitted that they did not know what digital billboards were before unanimously approving them, and they adopted a moratorium on medical marijuana facilities to cap them at 186 - yet the number of dispensaries grew to almost 1,000.
It is the full-time nature of the L.A. council itself that has likely led to its presiding over one of the most corrupt city governments in the country.
Examples of such systemic corruption include a number of scandals at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (a credit card scam, overtime abuse and strip-club visits by employees on the job), free tickets to entertainment events accepted by elected officials, and misdeeds throughout the Animal Services Department (including the illegal sale of stolen shelter animals and a time card scandal). Currently, the Housing Department and Building and Safety are under investigation by the FBI.
At least half of the council members have faced allegations of conflict of interest or other ethical improprieties. More corruption is evidenced by the Center for Governmental Studies' report, "Money and Power in the City of Angels," which found that the L.A. Council votes unanimously more than 99 percent of the time.
"The nearly perfect unanimous voting record of Los Angeles City Council makes it almost impossible to detect linkages between campaign contributions and council legislative decisions. If any relationship does exist, it is hidden behind closed doors," the report notes.
A part-time council would significantly reduce conflicts and other forms of corruption. For example, with a part-time council, it is much more obvious where potential conflicts exist because it will be widely known which industry, business or company each member works with outside of their council capacity. With a full-time council, such conflict lines are not as clearly drawn. Furthermore, part-time council members with other careers will be less inclined, and likely less able, to fall victim to the attraction of the extended taxpayer-funded boondoggle. (Recall NBC4's exposure of council members' extensive travel on the taxpayer dime?)
Finally, a part-time council member who has another career to return to after his or her term ends will be less likely to make decisions based on election to the next higher office than as a full-time council member whose only source of income is from elective office.
Critics argue that there's not enough time to get things done with a part-time council. But there are numerous examples around the country and county of part-time councils effectively and efficiently governing big and complex cities.
For example, Long Beach's part-time council has made significant infrastructure improvements, including extensive street repaving and neighborhood beautification, all while enjoying a business tax burden significantly lower than L.A.'s. New York City's part-time council continues to contribute to its reduction in crime with the recent swearing in of 1,600 new police officers, while L.A. struggles to maintain its current level of police staffing. In a challenging national economy, Dallas' part-time council has seen significant population and job growth in its city, and 85 percent of Dallas' businesses rate the city as a "good" or "excellent" place to do business.
It is the full-time status itself that leads to failure. The high salaries, slush funds, bloated staffs, and attractive perks all come from the council's full-time status. Part-time status removes such poisonous elements and incentives for corruption and promotes a volunteer, civic-minded approach to local governance. And that will attract a different type of candidate with a more diverse base of experience.
L.A. Stadium Project Means 23,000 Jobs
Mike Hall, AFL-CIO Blog
Sep 12, 2011
http://blog.aflcio.org/2011/09/12/l-a-stadium-project-means-23000-jobs/
The California legislature approved of a bill that would allow expedited judicial reviews of any legal challenges to a proposed downtown Los Angeles NFL stadium and renovation of the neighboring Los Angeles Convention Center. Maria Elena Durazo, executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, says the action is:
a significant step forward in the creation of 23,000 good middle-class jobs for construction and hotel workers, stage hands and grips and janitors. This is our economic stimulus package and it will be financed with zero public dollars. The LA Labor Movement worked hard to score a major victory for all Angelenos.
The project will create some 12,000 full-time jobs during construction and 11,000 permanent jobs to support the Event Center and Convention Center.
The proposed stadium will be built by the sports and entertainment company AEG. The project has won the support of a broad-based coalition, which included labor, business, community and environment groups, including Natural Resources Defense Council and the California League of Conservation Voters.
The privately funded stadium will be called Farmers Field after the Farmers Insurance Group of Cos. bought the naming rights.