City Controller Joins Critics of Downtown Arena Proposal

The city’s top fiscal watchdog added his voice Friday to critics of a proposed taxpayer-subsidized sports arena at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

City Controller Rick Tuttle, in a letter to arena project booster Mayor Richard Riordan, said the deal should include some binding assurances that the project would not become a drag on the city treasury.

Citing several city-backed projects that did not work out as expected--including the underused Convention Center, which required a higher-than-expected subsidy--Tuttle said he was “very skeptical about economic projections” made by project supporters.

“I believe it is incumbent upon all of us in public office to deal with the facts as we know them,” Tuttle wrote, “and not engage in wishful thinking or approve nonbinding agreements that contain assumptions central to the success of the project.”

Tuttle’s letter echoed concerns that a handful of others, especially Councilman Joel Wachs, have made about a project that has enjoyed wide political and business community support. The proposal by Kings professional hockey team owners calls for the city to provide land for the arena, which would be privately built and operated. Taxpayers would get no share of the profits, but proponents said the city would benefit greatly from a rejuvenated downtown and the jobs and other economic benefits they believe the project would spark.

Tuttle wants arena developers to include some financial guarantees. Those include more limits on taxpayers’ obligations, a way to recover costs if the project doesn’t work out as planned and a requirement for arena owners to reimburse the Convention Center for any business it loses because of the project.