PASADENA : Council Kicking Itself Over Cup Snafus

Even before the World Cup tournament began last week, Pasadena officials felt as though they had taken some cleats in the shins from the organizers of the international soccer event. And some community leaders now wonder whether the city has what it takes to negotiate with world-class organizations.

“We have bungled this affair,” Councilman Isaac Richard said this week. “We have allowed this community to be exploited by the World Cup.”

First, World Cup organizers vetoed a plan to raise money to promote economic development in the city, in which the Chamber of Commerce would have sold soccer tickets at a profit.

Then, Los Angeles--not Pasadena--was made the site of Soccerfest, the World Cup’s official festival of related recreational and promotional activities. When city officials tried to set up their own soccer festival, World Cup officials refused to let it operate within the World Cup-controlled venue on game days at the Rose Bowl (where the competition’s championship culminates on July 17) and allegedly warned away major sponsors.

Early last week came the ultimate insult: The words Los Angeles were affixed to a World Cup sign right outside the Rose Bowl.

“Maybe we ought to . . . direct the staff to have (the sign) removed and present it to Los Angeles as a gift,” Councilman William M. Paparian quipped last week.

Rebellious City Council members also proposed tearing down the sign and defiantly opening their festival, called Soccer Carnaval, on game days at a venue farther from the Rose Bowl.

But the city has backed down on all three plans, eventually acknowledging that World Cup organizers were within their rights on all the issues. The Soccer Carnaval, which is opening a week later than originally planned, will run only on non-game days. And a sign recognizing Pasadena was added in front of the Rose Bowl.

The problems have prompted a new look at the way the city deals with the organizers of mega-events, especially since the Rose Bowl’s hosting of the 1993 Super Bowl also failed to live up to its original promise.

Richard and Councilman Chris Holden said in recent interviews that Pasadena should consider hiring an expert negotiator in the future to cut the best deal with top-of-the-line organizers. City Manager Philip A. Hawkey and his staff now handle contract negotiations.

“Minor incidents have turned into major problems,” Holden said. “We keep crying over the spilled milk, but it’s milk that we spilled.”

The idea of hiring an expert negotiator has appeal for other city leaders as well, including Chamber of Commerce President-elect Michael Hawkins.

The city’s bureaucrats, Hawkins said, have “proven over and over again that they’re not real good at it.”

In each of the recent disputes, World Cup officials held their ground, backed by the terms of their contract to use the Rose Bowl.

Hawkey, said that some of the problems might have been avoided through an agreement allowing the city more leeway, but he defended his staff’s overall performance given the size of the event. The city manager opposes bringing in an outside negotiator for future events.

“A lot of this has to do with ongoing, day-to-day relationships,” he said. “To have a negotiator would make it more impersonal, and in some instances, more difficult.”

One expert who has negotiated major events with Pasadena said the council, not its negotiators, is the problem.

“A professional negotiator would be hamstrung by the same things that, in my opinion, have hamstrung earlier negotiations . . . very simply lack of clear direction and communication from the council,” said the expert, who asked to remain anonymous.

The conflicts over Soccer Carnaval, a monthlong festival of soccer, crafts and live entertainment, could cost the city a considerable amount of money.

Plans for Soccer Carnaval were launched last year after Pasadena lost Soccerfest. Soccer Carnaval was supposed to generate $3.2 million, including money from major sponsors. About $650,000 was expected to go to Pasadena to help pay for as much as $1.2 million in city expenses for security related to the games at the Rose Bowl.

But the city never secured any major corporate sponsors, and organizers now estimate that Pasadena will get $300,000 or less from its festival.

City officials have accused World Cup officials of doing everything possible to hurt Carnaval, including discouraging prospective sponsors and spiking plans to open the festival on game days, when the biggest crowds are expected in town.

But the World Cup organization’s agreement with Pasadena included “sole and complete” control of the Rose Bowl and surrounding area, and the World Cup officials did not want Carnaval on game days.

World Cup Assistant Vice President Brad Rothenberg said there is no rivalry between Carnaval and Soccerfest. He said World Cup, for security purposes, did not want more people flooding the area on game days.

Rothenberg also denied that those associated with the World Cup had warned away sponsors.

Hawkey acknowledged that the city had no clear-cut grounds to challenge the World Cup decision to keep Carnaval from operating on game days. Nevertheless, Pasadena had hoped World Cup officials would give in to the city’s request, Hawkey said.

Similarly, World Cup was within its rights to block the chamber’s plan to sell game tickets at a profit to raise money for economic development, Hawkey said.

And the World Cup organization also was within its legal rights when it resisted a request by Pasadena officials to remove Los Angeles from a sign in front of the city’s beloved Rose Bowl, the city manager acknowledged.

But Hawkey said the glitches are minor compared to the economic benefits that the games will bring to Pasadena.