The Greek Becomes the Setting for Political Theater

On the surface, it seemed like just another run-of-the-mill zoning vote, a decision on whether to plop yet another improbably palatial mansion down in poor, abused Benedict Canyon.

But when the dust cleared last week and Herbalife mogul Mark Hughes won a zoning exemption to construct a 45,000-square-foot home over the objection of Councilman Mike Feuer, who represents the area, it was clear that something else had occurred. The Westside lawmaker and his colleagues had been taught a lesson in hardball politics by the council’s usually amiable president, John Ferraro.

Ferraro, in fact, is the proud godfather of what might be called the doctrine of council comity. Under that unwritten rule, council members customarily defer zoning and planning decisions to the colleague who represents the district encompassing the project.

In a city where campaign contributions flow liberally from developers, contractors and wealthy homeowners, it’s a cherished rule.

Ferraro broke it in a preemptive strike against Feuer because Feuer, along with other council members, is expected to oppose a contract extension Ferraro wants the city to give the current operators of the Greek Theatre, which is in his district.

So, when the council president voted for the palace of Herbalife, he was sending all his colleagues a message: Fight me on the Greek, which will come before the council when an environmental review is completed, and I’ll vote against you.

“Whenever the Greek comes up, politics is always a part of it,” said one City Hall veteran who is close to the issue.

Ferraro is taking this one personally. His close friends, the Nederlander family and their lawyer, Neil Papiano, are seeking an extension of the Nederlanders’ 25-year-old contract to operate the outdoor amphitheater.

But, as interviews and city documents show, the contract has become almost as opaque as the Benedict Canyon vote last week:

* After denying for weeks that the project requires an environmental review, Ferraro’s office abruptly changed course Monday and pulled the contract from today’s council agenda until one can be conducted.

* The city attorney, who reviewed the contract, found that it would require competitive bidding unless certain conditions were “met.” In an interview, the city attorney would say only that findings were “made.”

* The so-called optional theater improvements listed in the contract already approved by a majority of the Recreation and Parks Commission suddenly were found to be extraordinarily burdensome--in other words, they would trigger an extensive environmental review--so they were removed last week.

* Although the Greek contract is listed on today’s council agenda, city officials have not indicated what its fiscal impact would be, leaving many to wonder whether the city could get a better deal if Nederlander was forced into some competition.

* Papiano, the attorney representing Nederlander, registered as a city lobbyist late Friday afternoon only after questions arose about his legal status as a professional persuader of lawmakers.

To the lobbyists for the Nederlanders’ main competitor, House of Blues/Universal Concerts, the contract extension has become one mystery upon another. Veteran City Hall lobbyists Rick Taylor and George Mihlsten say that for starters, they believe the city is opening itself up to a lawsuit that it could easily lose because they contend that the City Charter requires an open bidding process.

They also point out that the Department of Recreation and Parks spent about $200,000 on studies and analyses of the Greek to prepare for competitive bidding on the contract. But the Nederlanders preempted that process, submitting an unsolicited proposal to extend their contract by five years, until 2006.

The Nederlanders’ lobbyists even tied up labor’s support, agreeing to give workers a retroactive raise to meet the city’s “living wage” law. And they agreed to use union workers when improvements are made to the Griffith Park theater.

But two of the five recreation and parks commissioners objected to the unilateral contract extension.

“I voted to go out to bid on the contract because I think we’re required to under the City Charter,” said Lisa Specht, who opposed the extension along with fellow Commissioner Steve Soboroff. “My opinion has not changed.”

Ferraro, however, says the contract should be extended immediately--without the long delays of a bidding war--because the Nederlanders have agreed to pay $5 million for such much-needed improvements as restrooms and food concession areas by next spring.

“It’s going to be up to the council,” Ferraro said. “My recommendation to all of them is that we proceed immediately.”