The LA28 Olympic Games Agreement is coming very soon to City Hall
Here’s what you need to know:
What is the Games Agreement?
The Games Agreement is a major contract between the City of LA, the private LA28 Organizing Committee, and the unaccountable oligarchs at the International Olympic Committee that deals with budgets, contingencies, and city resources. It’s the follow-up to the Host City Contract, which was rubber stamped four years ago by the council and Garcetti [link]. In essence, the agreement outlines what little power and leverage LA will have in the years leading up to the LA 2028 Olympics.
According to this Host City Contract, “The Games Agreement shall include, among other items … processes for the delivery of municipal services to support the 2028 Games and associated reimbursements.”
The agreement will dictate the city’s financial obligation for the supposedly “privately funded” event, outlining what city spending is part of the official Olympic budget and what is not, like Garcetti’s $26B Twenty-eight by ‘28 initiative which is not counted in LA28s $7B price tag. The fine print of this agreement is a huge opportunity for LA28 to divert Olympic costs into “normal city spending” and off their balance sheets.
So where is the Games Agreement?
We don’t know! No one has seen it. It’s been hidden by Garcetti in another deeply undemocratic move, and it’s coming through City Council very soon. It “must” be signed off on by the City of LA by November 1st, even though it’s already been postponed four times. We believe we should be given more time to vet this deal publicly, but we know that no matter how much time they take, it’s not going to indemnify LA and affected communities.
As of February 2021, the mayor’s office had nothing in their records.
What’s not in the Games Agreement?
Provisions to protect Angelenos. Exit clauses or escape hatches for LA when/if things don’t go to plan and budgets start mushrooming. There will be no language to keep people housed, to limit the expansion of policing and surveillance, and to keep the Olympic organizers (like billionaire Jeffrey Katzenberg) accountable.
What are the stakes? Why is it important?
It’s one of the last intervention points on a city level we are guaranteed as the public to have input in (even though we don’t believe any of this process is remotely democratic). It’s not the last option for cancellation, but it’s the last chance for City Council to assert itself in any meaningful way. There’s no version of this contract that will make us happy with this project we never had a say on to begin with, and we believe this is worth making a lot of noise about.
Why haven’t I heard about this Agreement until now?
LA28 boosters want this to fly under the radar, and that’s exactly why we can’t let them. Council will likely release this 2 years late agreement and rush to get it approved in under a month’s time. Organizers are purposely allowing minimal time for the public to understand, comment on, and demand changes to this contract that dictates how the city will be reimbursed for municipal services.
What can I do?
Let people know what the Games Agreement is. Post. Tell people in your community. Tell your councilmember to vote No on the Games Agreement. Tell them they CANNOT vote Yes while so many of the public’s questions and demands go unaddressed (you can find their emails and phone numbers here). Sign up for our newsletter for updates when the Agreement drops and standby for more information. [link]