On Monday, Jan. 9, [Frank] McCourt scored a court victory when Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff sided with proponents. Beckloff rejected a challenge to the unusual relationship between McCourt’s private company and the county’s public mega transit agency, LA Metro, which was struck without competitive bidding. — Los Angeles Daily News
The former Dodgers owner was behind the leadership team that had been selling the project under the guise of environmental concerns (the scheme does reduce traffic by about 3,000 cars for each of the stadium's 81 home games) after cutting an alleged sweetheart deal with Metro Chief Phil Washington. The court ruling cited the Metro’s Office of Extraordinary Innovation policy on unsolicited proposals as a legally-justified means of circumventing the competitive bids process, which in this matter at least had tremendous civic and democratic consequences that touch on gentrification and other hot-button issues.
The plan is under further scrutiny for its role in McCourt’s apparent desire to create an LA Live-type development where the stadium's parking lots, which he still owns almost half of, currently exist. Meanwhile, a new study from the UCLA Mobility Lab has called into serious question the 5,000 projected hourly ridership figure that Los Angeles Aerial Rapid Transit Technologies (LA ART) advanced, further undermining their positioning.
A separate Union Station preservation group has raised concerns about LAPD helicopters operating around the gondola unsuccessfully. The potential final public comment phase could come as soon as Thursday, January 12, when the project’s draft environmental impact report will be discussed at Cathedral High School from 5:00 to 7:00 PM.
3 Comments
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McCourt will do almost anything not to put a sidewalk on the downtown entrance.
Just saw this on a colleague's door yesterday. Nice.
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