Petition Drive Underway to Seek Vote on Arena Deal

Signaling potential trouble for a proposed sports arena complex at the Los Angeles Convention Center, some arena opponents on Thursday launched a petition drive to require voter approval for any expenditures of taxpayer funds for a privately owned and operated facility.

The ordinance petition, the first step in the process of getting a measure on the municipal ballot, was filed in the city clerk’s office as negotiators for the city and the arena developers--owners of the Los Angeles Kings hockey team--were working to finalize a deal to submit for City Council approval.

It was not immediately clear what effect the petition drive would have on the proposal, which calls for the city to issue $60.5 million in bonds to acquire and clear land for the arena. The facility would be home to the Kings and the Lakers basketball team for at least 25 years.

Although having a petition drive underway would not necessarily delay city action on the project, it could further complicate the complex circumstances surrounding the project.

The city has 10 days to respond to the petition; after that, petitioners would have 120 days to gather the approximately 200,000 voter signatures to put the measure on the ballot, probably for the municipal general election in June.

Councilman Joel Wachs, one of those pushing for a better deal, hailed the petition drive and predicted that it would put pressure on the city and on the developers to come up with a deal that taxpayers would like.

“I think people should have a say in how their money is spent,” Wachs said.

But Steven Soboroff, the senior mayoral advisor who spearheaded the preliminary talks on the arena, saw the drive as nothing but an attempt to kill the project and predicted petition-backers ultimately would fail.

“I think it is coming from a competitor group,” he added, apparently alluding to a strong campaign by Inglewood officials to land the arena project and keep the teams, which currently play at the Forum, in their city.

The petition document is signed by five city voters, including Gordon Murley, a San Fernando Valley-based homeowner group leader and activist.

Murley said he did not know any of the other signers; he said he was approached by people he did not know and asked to help sponsor the drive.