Homeowners Oppose Plan for More Hollywood Bowl Rock Concerts

Homeowners irate over noise and traffic from concerts at the Hollywood Bowl called Thursday on county officials to halt a pending long-term exclusive contract between the Los Angeles Philharmonic Assn. and a San Diego rock promoter associated with the son of Philharmonic chief Ernest Fleischmann.

Leaders from three neighborhood groups representing more than 800 residents who live around the county-owned facility said they also want the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to review and possibly revise the Philharmonic’s 20-year-old Bowl lease to allow the county greater oversight.

“Nobody can figure out who Ernest Fleischmann reports to,” said Christine Essel, president of the 40-member Hollywood Terrace Homeowners Assn. “We demand to know what the details of the Philharmonic’s sublease deals are and why the county cannot monitor them.”

The homeowners’ move comes after The Times reported Sunday that Fleischmann, executive vice president and managing director of the association, plans soon to sign an exclusive contract with the rock concert promotion firm of Andrew Hewitt and Bill Silva Presents, which could be worth as much as $20 million to the promoters and $2 million to the Philharmonic over the next five years. The promoters put on their shows in association with 28-year-old Martin Fleischmann’s consulting and promotion firm, Rum and Humble.

The promoters have said that the proposed deal could permit them to put on as many as eight rock concerts a year--two more than now allowed by the county.

The Philharmonic leases and operates the Bowl under a two-decade-old, rent-free agreement that grants Fleischmann and his association’s 36-member board of directors wide latitude in running the facility.

Neighborhood groups said they plan to attend Tuesday’s supervisors meeting to ask the board to stop the rock concert deal and re-evaluate the Philharmonic lease.

Representatives for Supervisors Deane Dana, Gloria Molina, Kenneth Hahn and Mike Antonovich said the officials would welcome a review of the county contract, as did Supervisor Edmund Edelman--whose district includes the Bowl.

Edelman, a longtime supporter of the Philharmonic, said the financially strapped orchestra needs to present rock shows at the Bowl to raise revenue. Edelman returned Monday from a European vacation that included four days in Salzburg, Austria, where the Philharmonic, which posted a $1.9-million deficit in 1991, was performing.

“We need some responsible government official to step in and put a halt to this (rock) contract,” said Karen Newman, president of the 200-member Whitley Heights Civic Assn. “We don’t know what the real bottom line is here, but the way it looks to us, either Supervisor Edelman has no power over Ernest Fleischmann or he is unwilling to use it.”

“That’s just not true,” Edelman said Thursday. “We have used our power. Initially, Mr. Fleischmann wanted 18 (pop/rock) concerts (a year) and we prevented that. We are very concerned about the impact of these shows on the residents. We control noise, security and traffic.”

Under the existing arrangement, the county, in essence, subsidizes the nonprofit Philharmonic association by spending $1.4 million a year for the Bowl’s maintenance, repairs and security. The Philharmonic retains revenues from its ticket sales, concessions, souvenirs and its subleases to other presenters.

Last year, Edelman helped create the Hollywood Bowl Advisory Committee, which includes neighborhood and Philharmonic representatives, to address problems arising from rock concerts at the landmark facility.

Homeowners on the advisory committee said Thursday that they oppose the pending deal because the Philharmonic has regularly broken promises to monitor noise and traffic congestion at past Bowl rock shows.

They said rock shows at the Bowl regularly exceed legal decibel level limits and that such events frequently draw young, rowdy fans unfamiliar with restrictions on noise and parking.