On November 7, 1978, Los Angeles voters approved a charter amendment named Proposition N by a landslide. The language stipulated that no public money could be used — no "appropriating funds, issuing bonds, lending credit, diverting funds received or to be received under existing grants, levying taxes or assessments, incurring expenses, making or undertaking any capital expenditures, or entering into any agreements in aid or in furtherance of the promotion of" — to produce the 1984 Summer Olympics.While the question "Should LA host the Olympics?" was never directly put to voters, 74 percent of LA voters effectively said hosting Olympics was fine, as long as we weren't paying for it. And we didn't.
Angelenos never got a chance to vote on whether or not they wanted the Olympics this time around. The amendment that Prop N made was actually repealed as part of a small charter overhaul in 1993. In 2016, just before LA was awarded the bid, there were calls for then-mayor Eric Garcetti to place a similar referendum on the ballot. "If the Games end up costing more than anticipated, it’s not the corporations who’ll be stuck with the bill. It’s us," cautions a 2016 LADaily News op-ed. "When Garcetti is long gone from City Hall, the taxpayers will be forced to pay for a deal that he signed off on in 2017." Prescient! As Pew's Kellen Silver writes in an excellent comparison of 1984 to our current situation: "Los Angeles has already taken on more financial risk than in 1984, and cost overruns could still drive expenditures higher."
The mayoral race wasn't the only place voters rejected the LA28 agenda. Here at Torched we've already discussed in depth how IOC partner Airbnb shelled out $7 million to back candidates — only to lose most of its elections. (The one race that's still too close to call, Council District 9, is now being rocked by allegations of voter fraud.) But if you look at the top 10 losingest corporations in this election cycle, as basin.la did, you'll quickly notice something else in common: five of those big spenders are LA28 sponsors. When 2028 rolls around, our city will be plastered in propaganda from Airbnb, Uber, AEG, Delta, and NBCUniversal — but as voters expressed, loud and clear, these corporations clearly aren't vibing with the electorate.
Raman hasn't said she would push for the cancelation of the games, but I do see her victory as a mandate to apply needed pressure that her predecessor did not. Raman — who was among the first electeds to say Casey Wasserman should resign — could name three new appointees to the LA28 board, even putting herself on the board to bring some transparency to these closed-door meetings. She also has a vast coalition of powerful LA28 critics backing her. The Fair Games coalition — which announced a delegation to Lausanne, Switzerland to take its demands for LA28 directly to the IOC's summit in December — includes groups like Unite Here and ACCE that endorsed Raman, representing workers across more than 100 unions with contracts that are set to expire on May 1, 2028. Raman's close ally, Kenneth Mejia, is still working on securing LA28's financial data, including those sponsorship transactions — "due to the legal nature of the matter, we decline to comment on the status of the pending subpoena," a spokesperson says, but assures me the Controller's office is "actively working to obtain full information from LA28" — which can't come a moment too soon. The current administration is leaving Raman with an even more dire fiscal situation than anticipated — which, of course, was announced on the day after the election. 🔥
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Pretty similar to how the World Cup fan zones worked, but LA28's are required to be free
We finally have all the details for how LA28's fan zones will work. The applications are now live for Celebrate Two Eight, LA28's program that will effectively license and brand existing community-organized events. A new guide explains all the different-sized activations — from small beach to medium street to large park — and the range of vibes, from "watch parties and sport activities to vibrant street festivals and cultural activations." The events will all be completely free to attend. Note also the language here: a "national network of community-hosted fan events designed to bring the magic of the Games and the spirit of Team USA into your local communities," meaning the idea is for these to be not just in LA, but all over the country. Maybe they can all be powered by Phillips 66 gas generators!
Metrolink was rescued from a dire funding shortfall when Gavin Newsom included $20 million for our regional rail system as part of a $4.64 billion transit recovery package. The funding will "help maintain service for workers, students and families through summer 2028, as the region prepares to host the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games," per the press release. I felt that we did not hear enough about how potentially devastating the loss of service could have been! Now we just have to make sure all the routes stay intact? San Clemente voted against a plan to save its beaches that could endanger its ability to host surfing in 2028. However, the LOSSAN corridor, on which Metrolink and Amtrak travel, has its own grand sand plans to shore up the tracks ahead of 2028.
⭐ The Hollywood Partnership is looking for an early renewal of its Property-Based Business Improvement District to get money flowing for improvements ahead of 2028. Here's the plan
🛝 IOC partner Airbnb gave $100 million to San Francisco parks this week. (Hey, next time you want to make an impression on LA voters, Airbnb, maybe just skip the campaigns and do something like that instead?)
🚧 Destination Crenshaw answers questions about delays (pretty wild this was not a bigger issue during the mayoral race, and now another deliverable Raman will have to inherit)
Saturday: The Street Lacrosse Pro Tour comes to the Venice Beach basketball courts. Really interested to see how events like this activate public spaces and connect with fans ahead of 2028
Sunday: Pasadena CicLAvia which somehow got funded as a World Cup event even though it's happening months later
Next week: Join the first Transit to Parks (T2P) Regional Collaborative meeting. November 18, RSVP here
On deck: The next LA28 First Fridays meeting is coming up December 4, RSVP here. This meeting will include information about the Made for Two Eight licensing program "that gives small local businesses in Los Angeles County a path to become an official licensee with the ability to use the LA28 emblem on products they make locally." That application is here. Read more about how garment workers are organizing to ensure local manufacturing is ethical
Where should we go? Send me megaevent-related events you'd like me to promote!
What Torched subscribers are reading, new mayor edition
“So you’re saying that’s the one to put in a blender and chop up left and right,” was one of many nasty statements made about Raman and her council district on the Fed Tapes, and my 2022 story focused on how the officials on the recordings were trying to block a slate of progressive pro-tenant candidates. Let's also revisit what former LA Fed president Ron Herrera said about Raman on the tapes: "She wants to rile up the renters to create a base." Yeah, she does!
I ran into Gustavo Arellano at Raman's party and loved his coverage of a mayor who gave a speech about an LA "where our streets are alive with music and neighbors and good food" — then immediately hit the dance floor. I also loved Gustavo's story about Raman learning Spanish. And while I'm praising, he also wrote movingly about Raman rebuking the Latino establishment
"LA stopped being a place where we could build things, where we could open things, where we could film things, where we could create things. We stopped asking when the sidewalk would be fixed and started planning our commute around it." Watch Raman's whole Election Night speech
And an excellent piece at CityLab on how climate advocates hope to keep her accountable. Fun fact: when Raman was inaugurated for her second council term, Jane Fonda swore her in at Griffith Observatory. Fonda endorsed Bass before Raman ran so she didn't endorse her for mayor — but think she'll come back around now?
Measure LA is going to be a huge factor for reclaiming the public right-of-way in Raman's LA, and this interview with Fehr & Peers' Chelsea Richer captures how far we have to do (actually, the entire Neighbors magazine now reads like a mandate for LA's new mayor; thanks to editor Yessenia Funes for including my piece on creating new parks)
I'm still not seeing enough reporting about what a Raman victory means for parks, an issue she championed as a councilmember. This is one of many crises she will inherit as Measure PRK money starts to flow. I also have to issue a clarification: I called Measure PRK "slightly more" funding but it's going to be nearly $1 billion within 10 years and will be absolutely transformative for our park system. But I remain concerned about how quickly we'll start to feel the changes
Tuesday was the first LA City Council meeting post-election to be attended by the mayor-elect. Watch each councilmember in attendance praise and congratulate Raman — Traci Park was in D.C. — and her thoughtful remarks in response
And of course, a new mayor's very important milestone: her first mention on Saturday Night Live
And you get an award
Presenting to the exquisite Rania Alomar of RA-DA. Valentina Socci
I almost had too much fun emceeing the AIA Los Angeles Design Awards last month. It was such a treat to have a front-row seat as so many friends and colleagues were celebrated. Congratulations to design critic legend Mimi Zeiger, now Hon. AIA|LA. I cried at Sarah Lorenzen's moving remembrance of Orhan Ayyüce. And I loved watching well-deserved gold medals go to Annie Chu and Rick Gooding. Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins — who received the Game Changer of the Year award — even reopened the D line, which had been closed for maintenance, in time for Halloween, after I asked politely onstage. I was also thrilled to see the Design Advocate award that I received in 2015 had been named after my dear friend and mentor Merry Norris, who died in 2020.
Save the date: on December 1, Torched is teaming up with Data + Donuts for a little holiday happy hour at everyone's favorite transit-adjacent brewery, Everywhere LA. RSVP here!
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Alissa Walker
Alissa Walker
