Mahony Assails Wachs for Seeking Arena Vote

Saying a new downtown sports arena would help create “a mosaic of new life and energy for our city,” Cardinal Roger M. Mahony has publicly rebuked the arena deal’s chief critic, saying that he is “mystified” by City Councilman Joel Wachs’ “exaggerated hostility and opposition to such a fine facility.”

Wachs has said repeatedly that he does not oppose a new arena as long as developers either pay for it themselves or submit their contemplated use of public funds to voters, as an initiative he is drafting would require.

Promising to work against Wachs’ initiative, Mahony told the councilman in a letter made public this week that direct democracy can be a “foolish” way to make public policy and that council members, as elected representatives, should decide the issue. A large majority of the council appears to back public subsidies for the arena.

In his letter, Mahony linked his church’s efforts to build a cathedral downtown to the sports arena project. He said that these efforts, along with the contemplated new Disney concert hall, plans to consolidate the Civic Center and revive properties around Union Station, are all important “if we are to envision an imaginative and energetic city.”

He questioned why Wachs had not insisted on an initiative before hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds were allocated in an effort to make City Hall seismically safe. “Where was your outrage over those questionable uses of enormous taxpayer dollars?” the cardinal asked. “I expect my elected representatives to be far more bold and creative.”

Wachs responded Tuesday that he looks forward to an opportunity to sit down with the cardinal and straighten out some of the prelate’s “misconceptions.” “For example, he said I’m vehemently opposed to building the sports arena and I’m not. I just want them to pay for their own, which is exactly what the archdiocese is doing with the cathedral.”