No one seems to be in charge in Los Angeles, with planning for the Summer Olympic Games in 2028 stalling, and union and business leaders at each other’s throats, according to an analysis published Sunday in Politico.
Politico wrote:
Many of Los Angeles’s leaders had hoped to spend 2025 preparing the city to host the next summer Olympics and instead found themselves engulfed by a series of unanticipated crises, from devastating wildfires to a destabilizing immigration crackdown. But rather than working together, the city’s leading pressure groups are at each other’s throats in a spiraling grudge match.
After Mayor Karen Bass enacted a new minimum wage that would guarantee tourism workers $30 per hour in time for the 2028 games, airline and hotel companies began working to repeal the law via referendum. A labor union that had lobbied for the wage bill immediately retaliated with four ballot initiatives targeting the travel industry, including to require voter approval for new stadiums and meeting centers. Local chamber of commerce heads then countered with an initiative that would slash the gross-receipts tax paid by city-based companies.
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Bass’ office has quietly discussed a potential deescalation with representatives of the business-side measures, according to three sources familiar with the meetings. That outreach represents an attempt by the first-term mayor to avoid a quagmire that threatens to devour political attention and corporate money just as she prepares to seek reelection. Already the business-labor feud has distracted local officials from addressing what Cole calls 2025’s “converging crises” as the city faces a $1 billion budget shortfall.
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President Donald Trump has said that he would like the Olympics to be a success in Los Angeles, and a celebration for the city and the country. He has not weighed in on the progress of the city’s preparations.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of Trump 2.0: The Most Dramatic ‘First 100 Days’ in Presidential History, available for Amazon Kindle. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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