L.A. Report Blames Port Officials for Triathlon Failure

A city review of an aborted attempt in 1988 by the Port of Los Angeles to begin holding an annual triathlon faults port officials for poor internal communication and inadequate fund raising.

The review will be presented today to the Los Angeles City Council as part of a proposal to establish a Los Angeles International Triathlon, which would be overseen by the council, not port officials. The proposal is expected to win easy approval.

The review, conducted by the city administrative officer, was requested by the City Council in July, 1988, shortly after the port canceled its three-event endurance race. The port abruptly dropped the race, which Mayor Tom Bradley predicted would become “the world’s pre-eminent triathlon,” less than four months before its scheduled debut.

The review concludes that the Board of Harbor Commissioners “appears to have acted responsibly” when it allocated $100,000 for the failed event. But it criticizes port staff for not holding executive-level briefings on mounting problems and for “limited” coordination between the marketing and public relations departments.

“Although the (port) had a relatively minor amount of money invested in the project, it still had the responsibility to safeguard that money,” the review states. “Moreover, money alone does not define the importance of a project, especially in this case where extensive community outreach and media coverage were sought and received.”

Lonnie Tang, the port’s director of commerce who was responsible for the triathlon, did not take issue with the findings in an interview on Thursday.

“I think it pretty accurately reflects what we did right, and maybe what we did wrong,” Tang said. “Overall communication on issues, where there appears to be a problem, probably could have been brought to the attention of the executive side quicker.”

The City Council is not expected to take any action on the review, which was intended for informational purposes only. But Councilman Nate Holden, who has criticized the port’s handling of the event in the past, said he will “raise a lot of hell” at today’s meeting.

“They didn’t show good judgment,” Holden said Thursday. “They appropriated $100,000, but had no reason to believe they had the organizational structure to make the triathlon happen. It was wasting taxpayers’ money.”

The triathlon was the brainchild of Steven Resnick, the port’s marketing director, who has since left for private business. Resnick saw the event as a glamorous way to attract international attention to the port. The event was to consist of a two-kilometer swim at Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro, a 40-kilometer bike race through San Pedro and the Palos Verdes Peninsula, and a 10-kilometer run through Ports O’ Call and the Cabrillo Marina.

The port unveiled plans for the triathlon at a lavish reception in San Pedro in January, 1988. The port set up a nonprofit corporation to stage and raise money for the event. It also hired a marketing company to raise $200,000 in private donations.

But the donations never materialized. By May, most of the $100,000 in seed money allocated by the commissioners had been spent, and only $40,000 in donations had been collected. At the same time, the port’s public relations department continued to promote the event, sending out press releases touting the event as “the best triathlon in the world.” Taken by the promotional effort, Triathlete magazine selected it as one of the six “international extravaganzas” in 1988.

There were also mixed signals coming from the port. In April, Resnick assured the nonprofit group that the port would “fill the gaps” if fund raising fell short, but a few weeks later Tang told the same group there would be no more port money.

The review by the city administrative officer points to fund raising as one of several lessons to be learned from the port’s failed effort. The review suggests that fund raising should have started earlier and that a professional firm--not a nonprofit group created by the port--should have overseen the event. “This method was successfully used in staging the L.A. Marathon,” the report states.

The council proposal for an annual city triathlon attempts to avoid the pitfalls encountered by the port. According to the proposal, firms interested in staging the event for the city must have “demonstrated expertise,” reimburse the city for expenses and provide “substantial prize money and television coverage.”

“I think they can learn from our experience,” said Tang, the port official. “Perhaps the timing is right for the city of Los Angeles to do it.”