Time to Settle the Bill

The Los Angeles City Council's Public Safety Committee will discuss Michael Jackson's Memorial Monday and just how much taxpayer money was spent on it.

A report released Friday by the city's top legal and financial advisers estimated the memorial cost the city $3.2 million, including $2 million in police overtime, but provided a $4 million boost to the local economy.

Though the report notes the city had "no ordinance in place providing for cost recovery," City Attorney Carmen Trutanich remains determined to seek reimbursement from Anschutz Entertainment Group, which organized the July 7 memorial at Staples Center.

Trutanich's spokesman, John Franklin, said the city attorney believes ``taxpayers should not have to foot the bill. That has been his thrust from the beginning.''

AEG spokesman Michael Roth declined to comment.

In their report to the committee, Chief Legislative Analyst Gerry Miller and City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana said the city did not adopt until Oct. 26 an ordinance that could have compelled reimbursement from AEG. ``In light of the overall positive impact of the event and that there was no ordinance in place prior to the event providing for cost recovery from major venues, the city may wish to cease pursuing cost reimbursement,'' the report concludes.

Miller and Santana said that if the City Council wants to try to recover costs anyway, it should discuss the matter in closed session with the city attorney. They said costs skyrocketed because the Los Angeles Police Department, which organized security for the memorial, anticipated that up to 1 million Jackson fans could show up at Staples Center. To provide crowd control and prevent a repeat of the riots that marred the Los Angeles Lakers championship celebration, the LAPD deployed 3,968 officers in and around Staples Center, Forest Lawn Memorial-Park in the Hollywood Hills, the Jackson family compound in Encino and the singer's rented mansion in Holmby Hills, from the morning of July 6 through the evening of July 7.

Miller and Santana concluded that ``in light of the potential risks to the public and past experience with potentially large and unpredictable events, city departments acted reasonably and responsibly in planning and deploying staff for the Michael Jackson memorial.'' They said the event benefited the city overall. According to Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. chief economist Jack Kyser, revenues generated by the memorial exceeded $4 million for businesses, restaurants and hotels throughout the city.

Testifying before the City Council in July, Trutanich said his investigation into the matter had ``taken an unanticipated turn that raises both civil and criminal aspects.'' He did not offer an explanation to the public, going instead into closed session with the City Council. AEG President and Chief Executive Tim Leiweke has accused Trutanich of trying to ``bully'' the company into paying the memorial costs.
 

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