I think it’s who we are. “I think it’s who we are”, L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti told the L.A. Times editorial board Monday, saying the bid would likely cost billion.
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The US Olympic Committee will make a decision by mid-September.
The 2024 Games are projected to cost $4.5 billion. “They’ve always underestimated the amount”.
Boston was dropped as the host city candidate last month after the city’s mayor refused to sign a hosting document, citing concerns that the Olympics would be too costly and financially risky for taxpayers.
Garcetti contended last week that cost overruns usually happen not in the operating budget, but in the capital budget, which covers construction costs.
The Santa Cruz Sentinel reports that since San Francisco is viewed as an underdog in the race to become the American favorite their potential strength could come from a shared bid with Los Angeles. However, other Olympic bidders have promised a balanced budget and failed.
“I can not eliminate risk”, he told the Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles also hosted the 1932 Olympics.
Picking the right U.S. candidate is vital because IOC voters might feel it is America’s turn to win after last playing host to a Summer Games in 1996 in Atlanta.
In a statement Monday, Garcetti said Los Angeles’ assets include “world-class venues that are ready to host the Olympics and make it as profitable as it was in 1984 and 1932″. An Olympics in LA would be expected to draw from similar revenue sources. Olympic security regularly costs hundreds of millions of dollars, especially in today’s uncertain political climate.
As support sagged, the local bid was dogged by rumors that the USOC was secretly eyeing Los Angeles as a backup, though USOC officials strongly denied any back-channel talks with other cities.
The Olympics have a history of such overruns. Even Garcetti, for all his optimism, admitted they were possible.
“On the one-to-five hot scale, one being the coldest, my personal assessment, for what it’s worth, is about a one”.
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The entire selection process will stretch over two years of preparations and meetings before the IOC will choose an official host city in summer 2017. And at that point, it would be too late to make a difference.
