LOS ANGELES
Los Angeles should turn management of the Los Angeles Convention Center over to a private firm, taking that responsibility away from city employees, the city’s top budget official said Monday.
In an 18-page report, City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana said such a move could save the city from $14 million to $37 million over a five-year period. He advised Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the City Council to launch a competitive search so that a private firm could be in place starting July 1.
Anschutz Entertainment Group, currently seeking to build a new downtown football stadium, has expressed interest in recent years in running the convention center, which is located next to two key AEG assets: Staples Center and the L.A. Live entertainment complex. AEG's NFL stadium plan would involve the demolition and reconstruction of one wing of the convention center.
Santana said only 11 percent of the people who went to the convention center during the 2010-11 fiscal year were there for "citywide" conventions — major events that attract visitors to hotels across the region, not just downtown. Instead, many of its events were trade and consumer shows that don't require overnight stays, but that would change, Santana said, if city officials hire a private manager and expand the power of the convention center's oversight board.
