LA eyes P3 for convention centre
A leading financial adviser working for the city has released a report recommending that Los Angeles hold a competitive process to select a private operator.
According to City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana, who authored the report and recommended the changes: "In the private sector if you're the most aggressive in your field and you bring in the top convention ... then you see that benefit in a bonus or some kind of compensation. We're government. We don't do that."
LA currently competes with convention centres in Chicago and San Francisco, which both use a private operator. In LA, "the lack of a streamlined governance has resulted in poor accountability, conflicting objectives and sporadic collaboration", the report stated.
The convention centre currently pays more than $48m a year to pay off debt used to expand the facility in the early 1990s. Hiring a private operator would save the city up to $37m over a five-year period, according to the report.
LA officials are also in the middle of evaluating proposals for a private company to operate the Los Angeles Zoo.
