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LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today speaks at a news conference to announce plans for the Los Angeles Lakers' NBA championship victory parade (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Under pressure not to spend nearly a million dollars in city money for the Lakers parade tomorrow, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa raised $850,000 from private donors to offset costs. "If we hadn't had a parade, you've have had a whole bevy of other people criticizing," he said.
Those who helped include Casey and Laura Wasserman, Jerry and Margie Perenchio, Haim and Cheryl Saban, Eli and Edythe Broad, Joe and Sharon Hernandez of Melissa's Fruits and Vegetables, Ed and Gayle Roski and the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians in Highland, according to the Associated Press. The Lakers, who agreed to split the costs evenly with the city, are paying one million dollars for the event.
"C'mon folks, the fact of the matter is you're going to celebrate a victory like that," Villaraigosa said. "We saw on (Sunday) night people came without a parade and look what happened. I think it's better that we organize it, I think it's better that we celebrate in a peaceful way, and I take responsibility." He estimated that the parade will add a $15 million economic benefit to the local economy.
Attending? Full info on the parade can be found here.
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"He estimated that the parade will add a $15 million economic benefit to the local economy."
citation needed.
Gosh, I wish every time numbers like that were touted they would cite what formula it's based on. Unfortunately, he did not explain in an e-mailed statement to press.
hmmm, kobe is curiously missing from the donor list! c'mon kob, sell a shoe on ebay or something and you can pay for the whole damn thing!
"If we hadn't had a parade..."
Really? If you hadn't had a parade, then what? There would have been rioting? People would have lost their civic pride?
I dunno, last time I checked, I did fine without a parade - how about this... the money spent on watching traffic... err... parade, couldn't that have gone to far better use in, i dunno, the schools?
$850,000 raised in one day for...a parade.
Where are these big donors when it comes to education? The LAUSD could sure use that kind of money to save jobs, keep class sizes down, and keep enriching programs going, all of which have a more lasting impact than a few hours and a couple of miles of packing people waving Lakers flags on Figueroa.
I enjoyed the Lakers playing and winning in the Finals. I enjoy the idea of a parade. But I also have to wonder why people's priorities rest.
WHERE people's priorities rest, pardon me!
I have to agree with this, fully. Of course, I also couldn't care less about basketball. On the other hand, if my favorite hockey team won the Stanley Cup I would love to celebrate it somehow.
Hmm. Should we auction off a few dates with celebs to raise money for the schools? This brings up some interesting arguments. Maybe Kobe would volunteer!
Hate to say it, but the Mayor is right. People would have celebrated (rioted) without a parade. It is better to have an organized event with traffic control and police protection of property.
I also agree that our priorities are skewed. A sporting event, and finding money to celebrate winning that sporting event, is much more important our schools.
We are the Roman Empire...falling fast.
I think it clearly demonstrates
that the L.A. elite
have *truckloads* of money
to throw around when they want to...
((surprise, surprise))
yet they will gladly bilk
the public coffers *first*
unless the media hints they
might call them on it.
schools are a necessity
not a luxury.
I think it clearly demonstrates
that the L.A. elite
have *truckloads* of money
to throw around when they want to...
((surprise, surprise))
yet they will gladly bilk
the public coffers *first*
unless the media hints they
might call them on it.
schools are a necessity
not a luxury.
seriously guys? really? you guys need to get off your fucking high horse and let the fans enjoy this, geez.
btw, this is why i've stopped reading laist. not only is it full of pretentious comments but the articles are steering in the same direction.
bye
Gee Sanchez, I watched Laker fans "enjoy themselves" Sunday night. I'd be happy if the Lakers never won another world championship. I'm not sure L.A. could take much more of that "civic pride".
who is not letting fans enjoy this? like i said, i enjoyed the games, i am delighted for the win, i'm proud of the team, and am all for celebration. but both sunday night's actions by the "fans" and the immediacy with which the city's wealthy patrons opened their wallets so that thousands of people could take the day off to scream and wave flags perplexes me.
LAist supports the Lakers, we've covered their season and hailed their wins. but we're also interested in the well-being of all our residents, and the profound fiscal troubles our City and State are experiencing right now. if you are looking for a web destination that merely lauds the Lakers, may I suggest a more appropriate venue, such as their Official site, or other fan sites?
No, you need to get off your fucking low horse and get your priorities straight. It's not anywhere near pretentious to suggest that nearly a million dollars of donated money should have come when the public school system announced it was dying, instead of when a private sports team asked for a parade.
I'll be the fans would enjoy it a lot more if so many of them weren't unemployed or parents of children who won't get the education they deserve.
And how much money did you spend on watching going to the movie theatres? or cable television? or dining out? Really? You should have donated that money to the LA School systems, you terrible person.
As I said before, the parade and the lakers bring a ton of money into the city coffers. Also, the names on that list are some pretty heavy philanthropic hitters. Who better to decide where their money goes - someone who does this: http://www.broadfoundation.org/ or some tool commenting on a local blog?
Laist rocks, btw.
individual citizens who are not able to afford the tens-hundreds of thousands of dollars in large donations that the parade donors are a) probably already scrimping and saving to stay afloat and b) not who is being discussed here. i don't think (i can only speak for myself) the comments here were meant to imply that if you spend money on leisure activities as an individual you are a "bad" person.
again, it's a matter of priorities.
consider the tens of thousands of people who attended today. how many of them took the day off work (thereby taking money from the economy) to go? how many took an hour off work to vote in our last local elections? how many would take a day off to volunteer somewhere in the city?
perhaps we should have charged admission to the coliseum today, and that would have been one way for the citizens of LA to demonstrate that they support the Lakers and the parade/rally. $10/a head would have almost covered the City's bill.
Agreed that Lakers fans already "enjoyed" themselves by destroying public property and behaving like animals. Sorry kids no parade for you until learn to behave yourself. I hope the Lakers millionaires will pony up for damages incurred after their party.
This is truly amazing. It is wondrous that this level of financing can be raised in such a short time. Yet…
we’ve seen sales tax increases
obscene increases in parking rates
cuts in housing
cuts in school budgets
cuts to children’s health care services
cuts to Homeless Services
but we dare not celebrate a basketball team.
how much did the Lakers pay Kobe last year?
Perhaps those that donated to the Mayor’s Parade Fund are the private contractors raiding the parking meter treasury?
perhaps they’re setting up to support Antonio in his upcoming Parade to Sacramento where they’ll reap hefty returns in additional favoritism?
Maybe the Mayor could have taken some money from the CRA's $650 million dollar budget that will probably be kicked back to all the donors anyway. Maybe Dr. Buss could have kicked in a few bucks for a party too? The Mayor just wants another photo op.
the specious premise
that the overburdened city treasury should
fund a parade during times
of extreme fiscal hardship
because the Lakers
"make lots of money"
is quite troubling.
from a logical perspective
it's that fact which
actually seals the argument.
they have *plenty* to spare.
public sevices budgets do not.
the notion that
shining a flashlight
onto clouded reasoning,
emotional contagion
and misdirection
is "pretentious", well:
the "rich people deserve all" philosophy
gains it's roots from marie antoinette's
"Let them eat cake."
I can't think of a more pretentious
foundation than that.
So the argument here is that the money spent on the parade should have been used for charitable giving to education. Interesting; let's take a look.
The Eli Broad foundation - donated 10 Million dollars to LA's Gertz-Ressler High School in 2007. Also committed 60 million dollars with the Gates Foundation to create Strong America Schools.
Haim Saban - his Saban Family Foundation was listed in BusinessWeeks' 50 most generous philanthropists. They donated 40 Million to the Children's Hospital of LA. (Oh and his wife every year throws a party for 2,500 poor LA children in the summer.)
Ed Roski- Runs the Majestic Foundation, which gives millions in grants to open inner city youth centers.
So just using them, let's round this off to, at minimum, 100 MILLION dollars contributed to schools, youth and poor of LA. But who gives a shit, because they also donated a combined $850k so Laker fans can enjoy a parade. What a bunch of scumbags.
If any of you would stop bloviating for one second and take a look at the bigger picture, or did some research, you'll see how falsely sanctimonious that argument is. Should every single given dollar go towards schools or the cities' coffers. Sure, I guess that's one argument. But let's put the righteous indignation away for one day when our biggest philanthropists donate less than 1% of their overall giving to a fun, festive, once every few years, parade.
Bloviating? Mr. O'Reilly, is that you?!
I, for one, am not suggesting that every dollar raised in a city go to schools but perhaps the mayor could have used his fund-raising charms to help the local businesses who were looted to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars on Sunday evening during the first Laker celebration. I don't think that's too much to ask.
Great post.
Not only have they done all of that, but they gave Lakers fans an outlet for celebration. How many out of work parents and kids that don't have the opportunity to get many smiles in a day out there waving flags and enjoying themselves. Cheering on their favourite team.
It appears to me as if the people donating money are doing it all over the place. The have's are trying to ensure the have-nots have opportunities as well. Nothing will ever be perfect, but try to accept charity when needed. Money is truly only digits. One day the world will not revolve around money and it is those who have charity in their hearts and a hope for the common good to keep them going that will succeed and survive. Selfishness will have no place.
As for the amt of their charitible donations and what else they could be supporting... Just think perhaps you make $1500 per day. Would you give away $1450 of it to other people and keep nothing for the comfortable lifestyle that you've worked to enjoy? Always look inside yourself before you critize others.
This is why we have such a hard time in this country finding wealthy individuals to give to charity or good causes. Because immediately when they do something charitable (like this), they are vilified for not giving to other causes people feel are more important. Like all the comments above that say: "where were these wealthy individuals when the school were crumbling?"
We should be cheering these people for doing something they didn't need to do, helping thousands of LA residents enjoy a day of celebration without having to foot the bill. Not criticizing them for their choice of wear to Donate THEIR money. In some way, by giving 850k to the parade, they saved the city 850k that can now be spent on schools. So let's all calm down a bit and cheer for the Lakers, and for individuals who choose to step up and give when they don't have to.
To clarify,
my comment was *not* a diss
against the monumentally rich individuals
giving for the parade
that is way cool and awesome.
kudos to them.
yay team.
If you re-read
My comment was against
*public tax dollars*
going for the parade
during the current economic meltdown
schools getting chopped and withered,
no more state parks etc.
sidenote:
one thing to consider
before playing a violin
for the upper class too extensively.
there is *plenty* of malfeasance
and tricksterism in this city
even amongst many of the elite
who pony up campaign contributions
(sweetheart deals, the billboard *GIVEAWAYS*,
mirage affordable housing development bait and switches,
BELMONT, etc. etc..)
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