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≡ CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ≡
The Los Angeles City Council’s Ad Hoc Committee on the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games got a first opportunity to hear directly – at least in public – from the City’s Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office of Major Events, former Council President Paul Krekorian.
Over nearly 85 minutes on Monday afternoon, Krekorian explained what his office does:
● “Essentially, we are the hub of the wheel of City preparation, and we’re also the point of contact across governmental jurisdictions.”
● “Another important role we have is streamlining and problem-solving to ensure the success of the Games, to make sure that our usual way of doing things in the City, that sometimes leads to bureaucratic breakdowns and delays, we can’t afford that when it comes to the major events.”
He noted that in addition to the Office of Major Events, the new Office of Strategic Partnerships will reach out for philanthropic and corporate support for the Games and beyond, and the existing Office of International Affairs is involved in promotion of possible “hospitality houses” in the City and the City’s international marketing efforts related to the Games.
Krekorian explained that his team has also formed working groups of City departments dealing with delivery coordination of energy, water, mobility, permitting and operations of City services during the Games. He says he meets weekly with the LA28 organizers and will be going to Washington, D.C. on Tuesday with LA28 chief executive Reynold Hoover and L.A. Metro Transportation Authority chief Stephanie Wiggins to lobby for more Federal funding support for transportation and other items.
He noted that the City had specific goals in mind when the agreement to host was made in 2017:
“We really are not doing this just to be host of the Games, we are doing this so that we can really the Games as a catalyst to do things differently in the City, to re-imagine the way we deliver services and infrastructure, to strengthen out City and benefit our City, financially and otherwise.”
He spent some time on inclusivity, and pointed to the “Kick It In The Park” watch-party program for the 2026 FIFA World Cup as a “trial run” ahead of 2028. Krekorian underlined the importance of community programming in 2028, stating that it would be needed to “provide an opportunity for everyone in Los Angeles to be engaged with the Games.
“We saw that not everyone in Los Angeles is going to be able to get a ticket to these Games. The affordability of the tickets are, needless to say, an enormous challenge for most people in Los Angeles and most of the low-priced tickets have already been sold during the local pre-purchase, so we want to make sure we have the broadcast community engagement program possible to ensure that everyone is involved.”
His said the Office of Major Events has about 15 total staff and six primary functional focuses: Operations and City Services, Community Programs and Impact, Accessibility, Development Services and Permitting, Capital Program Management and External Affairs. One emphasis is in the capital programs to – “once and for all” – upgrade the repair of City sidewalks, a major issue in many neighborhoods.
Council members Imelda Padilla and Monica Rodriguez asked for more direction, work schedules, milestone lists, and more instructions – a “to-do list” – from the Office of Major Events to be prepared for the Games.
The Committee members pressed Krekorian on the progress not only of the venue use agreements with LA28 for City-owned sites such as the Los Angeles Convention Center and the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area, but also for other sites, since the terms impact whether the organizing committee will have a deficit … for which the City of Los Angeles is the underwriter of last resort. Krekorian said that the “business terms” for the City-owned sites are essentially agreed, and the draft agreements should come to Council soon. But he was not as well informed about other sites and several Committee members were worried about status and oversight of these agreements as they impact the LA28 budget (and any potential deficit).
Krekorian noted that in addition to the volunteers who supported the Paris 2024 organizers, there were 12,000 City of Paris volunteers and that the Office of Major Events is coordinating with LA28 on volunteer management, with possible long-term benefits for the City.
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A review of the LA28 Human Rights Strategy focused on subject-matter experts, but did not have the LA28 authors available. So a series of panelists explained their view of the needs to safeguard the Games on issues of accessibility, civil rights, homelessness and wage-labor trafficking.
A consistent theme was a lack of funding – no surprise – from LA28 to support human rights support organizations and activations in and around the Games so that anyone and everyone has someone to talk to who is immediately accessible to them.
A future session will be held with LA28, responding to the comments made.
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