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≡ L.A. CITY COUNCIL SPEAKS ≡
On Wednesday morning, the LA28 organizing committee’s Executive Committee of its Board of Directors released a statement announcing that it had “determined that based on these facts, as well as the strong leadership he has exhibited over the past ten years, Mr. [Casey] Wasserman should continue to lead LA28 and deliver a safe and successful Games.”
The Los Angeles City Council had a quick reply via its Wednesday meeting, with a resolution introduced by member Monica Rodriguez and seconded by Imelda Padilla, that expressed a different sentiment.
After a series of nine recitals, the proposed resolution reads:
“NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Los Angeles City Council reaffirms its
commitment to the core values of the Olympic movement, including excellence, respect, integrity, accountability and transparency in leadership as the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games belong to the people of Los Angeles; and
“BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City Council expresses concern regarding the potential conflict between the Olympic movement’s values and Casey Wasserman‘s association with the Epstein files, and calls for a thorough and transparent review of his involvement in the ongoing investigations into these matters; and
“BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City Council urges the LA 28 Organizing Committee, and the International Olympic Committee, to ensure that all leadership roles are held by individuals who consistently reflect the Olympic movement’s commitment to integrity, accountability, and respect for all people; and
“BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City Council pledges to work collaboratively with
community leaders, sports organizations, and stakeholders to ensure that the 2028 Games in Los Angeles serve as a global model of fairness, justice, and honor;
“BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this Resolution be distributed to the LA28 Organizing Committee, the International Olympic Committee, and all relevant parties involved in the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
The proposal was assigned for review to the Council’s Ad Hoc Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Rules, Elections and Intergovernmental Relations committees, neither of which has a meeting currently scheduled.
The Council’s resolution has no direct impact on LA28 and is not binding; the LA28 Board statement noted that, “[w]ith the assistance of outside counsel at O’Melveny & Myers LLP, a review was conducted of Mr. Wasserman’s past interactions with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell,” in which Wasserman “fully cooperated.”
Whether LA28 will make part or all of its Board review of the situation available to the City is yet to be determined.
Torched.la has been keeping a running list of public officials calling for Wasserman to resign. Rodriguez and Padilla are among them, along with Hugo Soto-Martinez, Eunisses Hernandez, and Nithya Raman, a mayoral candidate in June. That’s five out of 15 City Council members; Mayor Karen Bass has said the question is up to the LA28 Board, which has now spoken.
Per the LA28 Web site, its 35-member Board does not include any current L.A. City Council members, but has a host of current and former athletes and the four U.S. members of the International Olympic Committee, Anita DeFrantz, Allyson Felix, David Haggerty and Gene Sykes. According to the City-LA28 Games Agreement from 2021, the City has not less than six designees (1/6th) on the Board.
Observed: While the City Council can’t fire anyone at LA28, a private, non-profit corporation, it is interesting that Rodriguez’s resolution did not call for him to be removed as LA28 Chair. It could have.
Although unlikely to be passed, at least as presently constituted, that would have made a stronger statement and garnered more headlines for those Council members who object to Wasserman’s continuing tenure.
It is also true that LA28 has expended significant time and effort to develop and adopt a lengthy series of commitments to the City on environmental, sustainability, local hiring and procurement measures for the Games, designed to benefit – as much as can be targeted – in-City businesses and residents.
Will how the City proceeds against Wasserman impact the organizing committee’s enthusiasm for its long list of promises in areas which have very little to do with the actual staging of the Games?
Moreover – and this element of the Games Agreement between the City and LA28 is rarely remembered by Council members – that 80% of any surplus from the Games will be moved to a “new and private entity” created by LA28 and governed by a board “exclusively comprised of an equal number of individuals designated by each of (x) the OCOG [LA28] … and (y) the City.”
Funds from this surplus, must, by agreement with the International Olympic Committee “be used for the general benefit of sport and youth in the Host City and the Host Country.” How will the Council’s actions now impact that project if the LA28 efforts result in a substantial surplus?
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