Theater plan draws criticism
One L.A. councilman says having the parks agency run the Greek ‘strikes me as a bad business model.’
Los Angeles lawmakers grilled the head of the parks department this week over a controversial plan for the city to operate the Greek Theatre itself, the latest turn in the lengthy battle over the future of the Griffith Park venue.
“This strikes me as a bad business model,” Councilman Paul Koretz said Tuesday, telling colleagues he was “flabbergasted” by the plan. Before the meeting, he compared the idea to being offered a used Volkswagen cobbled together from spare parts instead of a Rolls-Royce or a Bentley.
But despite criticism from Koretz and several other members of the council, the plan is moving forward, to the disappointment of neighborhood groups and the company that has run the city-owned theater for decades.
Two weeks ago, the Board of Recreation and Parks Commissioners voted for the city to operate the property temporarily as an “open venue” not exclusively controlled by a single entertainment company.
The decision followed a lengthy tug-of-war between two show-business titans. The parks commission initially recommended choosing Live Nation to run the theater. But the City Council balked at that idea after community groups spoke up for its current operator, the Nederlander Organization, which also was competing for the contract with new partner AEG, which operates Staples Center downtown.
Under a new proposal approved by the parks commission, the city would take on responsibility for maintaining the theater and would control the concert calendar, allowing Live Nation, Nederlander and other promoters to book acts. Promoters would still be responsible for managing and paying musicians, advertising concerts and paying for security and ushers.
Parks officials estimate the plan could yield more net revenue for the city — $3 million to $4.8 million next year, compared with the roughly $2 million it received in rent last year. Parks Department General Manager Michael Shull said the venue would not be directly managed by department staffers because the city would hire a company to handle day-today operations.
The arrangement could provide the city the time to seek new proposals for an entertainment firm to exclusively run the facility and control bookings, Shull said. That process could take a year and a half, he told council members Tuesday.
Live Nation said it supports the latest department proposal, as does the Los Angeles Parks Foundation. But some neighborhood groups have voiced concern about the department’s ability to operate the venue effectively.
The city “doesn’t have the resources to just do this on their own,” Tereza Yerimyan, president of the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council, told reporters at a City Hall news conference.
The Los Feliz Improvement Assn., the Greek Theatre Advisory Committee and other local groups want to extend the existing contract with Nederlander — which expires at the end of October — while the city restarts the process of selecting a longterm operator.
Nederlander has offered higher rent if its current contact is extended, but Shull warned that this would not be a competitive process. He later said that to extend Nederlander’s contract, he would need to establish his department had no viable alternative — a case he said he couldn’t make because he was actively proposing another option to city officials.
Like Koretz, Councilman Mitch Englander appeared dubious of the department proposal, saying he doubted that it was in the best interests of the city. But Councilman Felipe Fuentes argued that the plan offered the city time to conduct a new bidding process.
If city leaders are concerned with the effect on the community, Fuentes said, “what better organization to do that than the Department of Recreation and Parks, who is held to account by the City Council of Los Angeles?”
The City Council discussion was informational and no action was proposed. Council members had until Wednesday to assert jurisdiction over the parks commission’s approval of the plan to have the city operate the theater, at least temporarily, according to the city attorney’s office. If the council exercised that option, it could potentially veto the decision.
As of Wednesday afternoon, no council members had pursued a possible override vote.