Council Votes for Sports Arena Deal

Re “Council Endorses Deal to Build Sports Arena,” Jan. 16:

Do I understand this correctly? The taxpayers of Los Angeles are going to shell out $170 million ($6.8 million per year for 25 years) so that the owners of the Lakers and Kings can have 150 luxury box seats and 2,500 club seats on which they can make a large profit?

The Inglewood City Council members were not so fooled. They only proposed an $85-million giveaway ($35 million to help construct and a $2-million-per-year lease that they would give to the Lakers and Kings are for a $1-per-year fee for 25 years).

The Inglewood Lakers and the Inglewood Kings should stay in Inglewood and the city of Los Angeles should start charging them for the lease of the Los Angeles name.

RICHARD GATZA

Los Angeles

* Apparently our city fathers are not going to accept the fact that downtown L.A. is dead. It went out with the street cars. On Jan. 15 our City Council members voted 13 to 2 to move forward with the proposed new sports arena. Two of our council members, Nate Holden and Joel Wachs, allowed their common sense to oppose this very foolish project.

The very poor experience we have endured with the Convention Center has seemingly had no influence over our council members in arriving at this decision. The Convention Center was also conceived with similar pipe dreams. It would revitalize downtown L.A., create new jobs and bring many conventions into our fair city. Few, if any, of these dreams were ever realized. The annual income from this venture hasn’t even been able to satisfy the interest on the original debt.

Any effort to kick-start this dead horse would be not only very expensive but an asinine act of futility. There must be a number of far more important problems that need the time and attention of our City Council.

CLARENCE W. HAYWARD

Los Angeles