CurbedLA writer Dakota Smith got the first shot at the mayor’s astonishing video promoting AEG’s plan to build an NFL stadium downtown on Convention Center property and was told it didn’t cost taxpayers a dime to make.
“Arielle J. Goren, press secretary for the Mayor’s office, acknowledges
that no stadium proposal deal is really yet on the table,” Smith reported, “but ‘we would
prefer to have a stadium built within the city of LA.’ She also insists
that ‘no costs’ to the city were incurred to make this video, which was
made by the Mayor’s new media team, according to Goren. The new media
team consists of one full-time person and a handful of interns, she
says.
Wait just a minute, aren’t those city workers using city equipment and driving all over town in a city vehicle on city time to shoot video of people cheering for an NFL team?
Isn’t this an LA Fire Department crew and a mayoral aide begging for an NFL
team?
How many other city workers were involved in the project to propagandize for a stadium proposal that doesn’t exist — supposedly — and has a “blue-ribbon panel” of backers ready to examine it when it does?
Whatever happened to the mayor’s outrageous policy of full cost recovery?
You know the policy that makes taxpayers pay the “full cost” of every service they get from the city like trash pickup, ambulances and just about everything else.
It’s the same policy applied to city departments that has forced parks and libraries to close because they are forced to choose between paying salaries and paying for water, power and everything else that can be applied.
You can be sure if the full cost recovery policy was applied to this video, the bill would run into many thousands of dollars, taxpayer dollars, dollars needed to keep the city afloat.
“No costs” and “full costs” — it’s the mayor’s situational financial policies that have gotten the city into all this trouble on his watch.without him ever making a video or even a speech discussing the extent of the city’s money problems let alone offering solutions.
So when Antonio swears on a stack of Bibles that AEG’s secret plan to build an NFL stadium will be “100 percent” paid for by billionaire Phil Anschutz at “no cost” to the public, you have to assume he’s using the same bookkeeping method he used to declare this astonishing video didn’t cost a dime.
OMG where have you been Ronnie? The lame politicians use Police and Fire all the time. Wait til you see the glossy mailers I’m sure they will use pretending that LAPD and FIre support the incumbents when in reality they can’t stand them and are siding with most Angelenos and are Anti Incumbent like many of us. I always sit back and wait for Karma. This clown will get his soon
Is this also the same creative accounting Liewsky (sp) used in a downtown press conference aired on Channel 7′s 11 a.m. news, where he touted a multi-million STREET CAR system for downtown to encircle all his little projects?
And at what cost? A joint private/public venture that is guaranteed to bring in several thousand jobs (of course, they never say what kind of jobs or who’s going to get those jobs), megabucks in tourism and all sorts of other grandiose promises.
If it’s going to be so profitable, why doesn’t AEG pop for the entire amount? Why do they need our money, too? And why boast that they already have the land, when that’s “our land” that they stole through the CRA?
To start with there’s $10 million in CRA funds, but they don’t have the other millions, but they’ve got a lot of pretty graphics and toy models of buildings and street cars, which if they were being the least little bit realistic, they’d put on a shaker table and see what happens.
Say, didn’t we once have a magnificent street car system that covered the entire city and county, not just downtown? Wonder whatever happened to it?
Good post Sandy. I just read HUizar is pushing for a $125 million STREET Car. Are you f–king kidding me? The CRA of course is involved then add idiot AEG and Tim Lieweke being the spokesperson again at the press conf. Is this Jerk now the spokesperson for Los Angeles? Where the hell are the MEN in this city? Why aren’t they livid this clown of AEG is taking over everything and their allowing him. I think we should revolt like the City of Bell. This is corruption at its worse. I hope Gov. Brown gets all the CRA money.
fist you have to belive in GOD this so call mayor only belives in his green GOD
we all now if is HELL city hall is first goin there
i can bet if you putt a stack of money you see all this crooks come out of the closet
Let’s have AEG present a complete financial report on the stadium, so we can evaluate it and determine whether it will cost the city nothing as Liweke insists or a fortune, as we all know. He is banking on the political hacks in the CAO and CLA office to give him a clean chit. This report needs to be evaluated outside the corrupt corridors of City Hall. If he is right, he has nothing to fear and should be forthright with such a report. I won’t hold my breath for it though, cause both him and our idiot Mayor use platitudes and videos to fool the general public. They have turned it into a football thing so people will focus on getting a team rather than the economics of it.
Antonio has been on the public trough for all his life, and therefore, he can`t tell the difference between private and public money.
Call me crazy but when I read this I went ballistic. If this doesn’t blatantly show the arrogance of our Latino politicians. This idiot is going to be indicted but he’s still have the audacity to have a fundraiser.
“”"Alarcon has begun sending out invitations for a campaign fundraiser in Sacramento — this time for his 2012 bid for a state Assembly seat. Invites for the March 14 event, sent out by Alarcon campaign fundraiser Dwight Buchanan, calls for donors at $1,000 and sponsors at $3,900.
Let me see if I understand this correctly. The city gives 350 million to AEG and obligates the city for the 350 million. Then, the taxes for the tickets being sold to the facility that would normally go to the general fund of the city is instead used to pay off the 350 million dollar note.
And, the city leases the land to AEG for a dollar a year. And, this is considered no cost to the taxpayer? Sounds like no cost to AEG. Maybe I am missing something.