The Brief

We're still five years away from hosting the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. But the city of Mission Viejo already has dreams of cashing in on the event. It hopes to lure international athletes to train in the city in the runup to the 2028 L.A. Games.

"It's sort of a concierge-level service that we intend to provide," said Mayor Brian Goodell, a former Olympic swimmer.

Convincing athletes to establish a base in Mission Viejo, a city of some 92,000 in inland south Orange County, is one of the city council's official strategic goals for the coming years. The city hopes these athletes, and the entourage of coaches, trainers, and medical personnel that often travel with them, will stimulate the local economy and spark civic pride.

"We don't have Disneyland, we don't have Knott's Berry Farm, we don't have a pier at the beach," Goodell said. "But we have great athletic facilities … and so sports tourism is a big economic driver for our city."

Still, it's a little unclear how much it would cost the city to mount the kind of concierge service Goodell envisions and how much the city stands to gain in return.

The city's 'Olympic tradition'

In addition to its Olympian mayor — Goodell won two Gold medals in the 1976 Montreal Olympics — Mission Viejo's ties to the games run deep. The city claims on its recently launched sports tourism website that 143 Olympic athletes have trained there in the past, including five-time medal winning diver Greg Louganis.

Mission Viejo Mayor Brian Goodell, an Olympic Gold Medalist, hopes to attract smaller countries to train in the city in the run-up to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

(

Julie Leopo

/

LAist

)

During the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, the cycling road race started and finished in Mission Viejo. "It was one of the most exciting things you'd ever see. People were just on fire," Goodell said, "screaming, yelling, waving flags, and banners."

Goodell is especially proud of the Marguerite Aquatics Complex, home of the Nadadores swim team that his parents helped found in 1968. The city recently invested some $11 million in renovating the facilities, which include an Olympic-size competition pool and a new dive tower with double-wide platforms built for synchronized diving competitions.

When Goodell showed me around on a spring day, kids were practicing their dives into a foam pit and swimmers from as far away as New Zealand were warming up for a pro meet that was about to start.

Goodell pointed out that one of the images on Mission Viejo's seal is an Olympic torch. "So we believe in this," he said. "We're an Olympic city."

Let's talk economics

The mayor is already getting to experience some of that Olympic spirit again — the city council recently spent some $8,000 to send Goodell and a consultant to Australia to pitch Mission Viejo and its training facilities at a meeting of the Oceania National Olympic Committee.

Goodell said he'd also like to see the city hire someone to take charge of coordinating sports tourism efforts, akin to the visitors bureaus that exist in other O.C. cities, like Anaheim and Huntington Beach. Right now, he does some of this work himself, but much of it falls to the city's recreation director. "It's not really in his job description," Goodell said. "It's a whole nother job and a whole lot of work."

Kids practice dives on land at the Marguerite Aquatic Center in Mission Viejo.

(

Jill Replogle

/

LAist

)

How much money does the city stand to make off of this venture? Goodell has said it's too early to know. But Mission Viejo has commissioned several economic studies of large events held in recent years at the Marguerite Aquatic Center.

One of them calculated that attendees at a 2019 U.S. Masters national swim meet spent a combined $471,269 in the city and generated close to $38,000 in sales tax. However, the authors also noted that some portion of that spending likely occurred outside Mission Viejo city limits.

The city has just four hotels, which Goodell said is a problem. "We end up exporting a lot of hotel room nights out to our neighboring cities and they love us for it," he said.

As for facilities, the city owns the Marguerite Aquatics Complex but the nonprofit Mission Viejo Nadadores Foundation runs the operation. According to tax filings, the foundation pays nothing to the city to rent the facility and any fees paid by outside groups to use the facilities for training and competitions goes to the Nadadores.

The aquatic center is generally not open to the public. There used to be an open swim time, but this year the city has been unable to find lifeguards to staff it, said Nadadores executive director Michele Mitchell.

Mitchell, who's a former Olympic diver, said the foundation and the city had a "symbiotic relationship." For example, she said, the Nadadores diving team recently raised $200,000 to add permanent bleachers alongside the diving pool and that that upgrade will become city property. She also said the foundation had contributed $1 million toward the recent renovations.

Mayor Goodell said, in the long term, the city's investment in promoting itself to Olympic athletes amounts to "pennies" compared to the economic and community benefits he expects to flow in.

"We have a lot of opportunities to use our facilities better, to create more opportunities for not only people to come here and enjoy this place, but also our residents to enjoy the feeling, the participation, and to come to watch some of the greatest athletes in the world compete."

Not everyone thinks this is a great idea

At the March City Council meeting, several residents spoke up against Goodell's lobbying trip to Australia. "This appears to be a taxpayer-funded joyride," said resident and former mayor Cathy Schlicht. Another resident called it a "boondoggle."

Councilmember Cynthia Vasquez voted in favor of paying for the trip, but she told LAist she's not yet convinced the city's Olympic recruiting venture should be a top priority. "I just want to be sure that we're being fiscally responsible and that there's not just that financial return, but also a return on the public good," she said.

An economist's viewpoint

Economists like Victor Matheson are often critical of the touted benefits of big events like the Olympics, largely because of the often huge initial cost of building stadiums and other infrastructure.

"So, for example, the Olympics need a 10,000-seat swimming facility that will never, ever be used except for the Olympics," said Matheson, a professor at College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts. That example is on the nose — for the L.A. games, the plan is to install a temporary pool in USC's Dedeaux baseball field to hold the diving and swimming events.

But the calculus is different, Matheson said, if the facilities already exist, which they do in Mission Viejo, and if they are, and will be, used by the community in the future.

Marketing material in Mayor Goodell's city office.

(

Julie Leopo

/

LAist

)

The other, big thing to consider, he said, is the opportunity cost. "What would you have been doing otherwise with your facilities and your money," he said. For example, if hotels have empty rooms, then it's great if a team comes in to use them. If that team is taking up rooms that other guests would have otherwise booked then there's really no gain.

Goodell said bringing in Olympic athletes to train could temporarily displace some local sports teams and practices, "but we can be very flexible, too."

Mitchell from the Nadadores said foreign athletes generally come to train for only a few weeks, and that since the local swim and dive teams have access to the aquatic center around the clock, they can shift to accommodate more bodies.

What's the price of Olympic spirit?

Mission Viejo's plan to recruit Olympic athletes isn't all about money, it may be even more about stimulating the Olympic spirit and civic pride. Matheson said civic pride does have economic value, but not all that much.

"I think mayors get a little bit of stars in their eyes," he said of the Olympic pull. "I don't think it's a negative, but don't count on this making the L.A. suburbs wildly rich either."

Goodell and Mitchell, though, say the opportunity to have top athletes in the community is priceless. "It's a once in a 40-year opportunity to have the experience," Mitchell said, referring to the last time the Olympics were held in L.A., in 1984.

She noted that when she competed in the Olympics, in 1984 and 1988, she and other athletes visited hospitals, libraries, and elementary schools to meet with locals and talk about "Olympic ideals." She thinks it would also motivate kids to get "off the couch and off their phones and get involved in pick your sport."

Who's wooing whom?

Mission Viejo already has at least one team that seems sold on the idea of making the city its training base for the 2028 L.A. Games — and maybe longer. "Mission Viejo would be the perfect base for us," the New Zealand national swim team's Gary Francis told LAist.

"It gives us the opportunity to, you know, go down and swim in San Diego, go up and swim in San Francisco, Santa Clara," he said. "The fact that swimming is part of the culture around here, that's really good for us."

Francis said more than hotel stays, he'd like to arrange for homestays in Mission Viejo — for the cultural value, but also because it would be cheaper for his team. "Our federation [Swimming New Zealand] is really a pauper federation and a lot of our swimmers have to pay for everything themselves," he said, noting that travel expenses had doubled in recent years.

"It's always logistically hard for us," he said. Francis envisions an athlete exchange, where Southern California athletes might get the chance to visit and swim in New Zealand. "We have to make friends, he said. "What we can offer in return is a lot of hospitality."

L.A. County leaders on Tuesday greenlit public transparency about payouts to county executives in response to LAist revealing a secretive $2 million settlement with the county’s CEO.

County supervisors unanimously approved a proposal by Supervisor Lindsey Horvath to have the county proactively inform the public about such settlements once they’re finalized and to look into creating a public website to describe them.

Among other things, the approved motion requires that all future settlements with county executives include language making it clear the agreement will be proactively disclosed to the public.

The backstory

The directive cited coverage by LAist revealing that two months ago, county CEO Fesia Davenport had quietly gotten a $2 million settlement payment from the county. As reported by LAist, Davenport’s settlement deal was labeled “confidential” and was not publicly reported out by the county.

The settlement was in response to her claims the supervisors harmed her reputation and caused her distress by putting a measure before voters — which was approved — that will create an elected county executive position. It’s among multiple reforms to restructure county government under last year’s voter-approved proposition, known as Measure G.

Davenport did not return a message for comment.

‘Public trust’ cited

“Transparency is central to strengthening public trust, without exception,” Horvath said in a statement after Tuesday’s vote. “Since joining the board, I have actively taken steps to ensure the public is included in the work of the county, especially concerning the use of public funds.

“Creating a clear process for department executive settlements is a commonsense action fundamental to good governance.”

David Loy, legal director of the First Amendment Coalition, commented on the decision, calling transparency the "oxygen of accountability in government."

“There is no reason why the county should not be proactive about posting and disclosing settlements that have been reached, especially with former executives or staff,” Loy said.

Davenport was one of several county executives to receive sizable settlement payouts over the past few years. Four additional county executives received payouts, according to Davenport’s claims that led to her settlement.

Costco now is one of the largest companies to sue the Trump administration over tariffs, hoping to secure a refund if the Supreme Court declares the new import duties illegal.

The Supreme Court is weighing the future of President Donald Trump's tariffs on nearly all imports. Justices seemed skeptical about their legality during last month's oral arguments. Lower courts previously had found Trump improperly used emergency economic powers to set most of the new levies.

Dozens of companies across industries have filed lawsuits to seek refunds in the event the Supreme Court finds Trump's tariffs illegal. The list includes makeup giant Revlon, the canned foods maker Bumble Bee and Kawasaki, which makes motorcycles and more. Now Costco has joined the queue.

"This is the first time we're seeing big companies take their heads out of the sand publicly," said Marc Busch, a trade law expert at Georgetown University. For the most part, small companies have been leading the legal action against tariffs, he said, adding, "It's nice to finally see some heavyweights joining in the fray."

In its suit filed with the U.S. Court of International Trade, Costco did not specify how much it's already paid in tariffs, but the retail giant worries that even if the Supreme Court eventually unravels Trump's tariff regime, it may not be able to recoup all that money.

Costco executives in May had said that about a third of what is sold in the U.S. comes from abroad, predominantly non-food items.

NPR's Scott Horsley contributed to this report.
Copyright 2025 NPR

The L.A. City Council voted 8-4 on Tuesday to continue allowing the Los Angeles Police Department to be armed with 40 mm foam bullet launchers and tear gas.

California law enforcement agencies are required to track and publicly document how they use military equipment, including less-lethal bean bag shotgun rounds, drones and armored vehicles, under state law AB 481 passed in 2022. The law also requires city leaders to approve or disapprove military equipment use annually. That vote came in front of the council Tuesday.

Another law passed after the George Floyd protests of 2020 restricted the use of crowd-control weapons, including tear gas and foam bullets, unless specific criteria are met. In 2020, a federal judge also imposed an injunction restricting LAPD’s use of force at protests, citing the “unfortunate history of civil rights violations by LAPD officers.”

Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez — who introduced an amendment asking city leaders to ban the LAPD’s use of 40 mm foam bullet launchers and tear gas — said military equipment use is allowed only in specific instances but that the police department has deployed the weapons “in ways that should make everyone here on this body pause.” He cited examples of weapons used against journalists and protesters during this summer’s protests against federal immigration activity in L.A.

“In recent months, we’ve watched this equipment deployed in ways that echo the same intimidation tactics we condemn in ICE raids — tactics that erode trust and violate basic legal protections,” he said. “Our residents should be able to exercise their rights without being met with [foam] bullets or tear gas.”

LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell countered that such weapons are "a de-escalation tool, short of using deadly force. The last thing we want to use is deadly force."

He continued: "Taking a tool like this away from us puts us in a very bad position relative to city liability and relative to protecting our officers and the public that we serve.”

In 2024, Los Angeles was liable for more than $50 million in payouts related to civil rights violations and unlawful use of force by the LAPD, according to the city controller’s office.

 ”Rather than be swayed by emotion or swayed by the loud voices of a relative few," McDonnell said Tuesday, "we're here to protect 4 million residents of Los Angeles and all the visitors who come here."

How we got here

After this summer’s anti-ICE protests, the LAPD once again came under scrutiny for its use of foam bullet launchers and tear gas.

An LAist investigation found LAPD used crowd-dispersal tools on people who did not appear to pose a threat and, in some cases, did not appear to be protesting at all. LAist reporters witnessed LAPD officers firing less-lethal munitions into crowds and at protestors running away from police. They did not hear clear warnings about the use of crowd-dispersal weapons during some of the protests and could not locate evidence that adequate warning was provided during subsequent protests.

But at Tuesday’s council meeting, McDonnell said, these weapons are deployed as “a last resort to be able to restore order” and after people have been given time to leave.

The Los Angeles Press Club sued the LAPD after June’s protests, citing violations of journalists’ rights while covering protests. After a judge issued an injunction in that case prohibiting the use of force against journalists, the LAPD filed an emergency motion asking the judge to lift the injunction, stating it required “operationally impracticable standards.” The judge denied the LAPD’s request.

How to watchdog your police department

One of the best things you can do to hold officials accountable is pay attention.

AB 481 requires police departments — including those at transit agencies, school districts and university campuses, sheriff’s departments, district attorney’s offices and probation departments — to provide reports about the use of military equipment.

So how do you know if they're in compliance? It’s simple. Search for the law enforcement agency name and "AB 481" on any search engine, and a public page should pop up. Here’s the LAPD’s.

The city of Los Angeles has been working on major changes to its charter, which is basically the city’s constitution. The changes could bring sweeping reform to how the city works.

The Los Angeles City Charter Reform Commission has been meeting for several months on a wide range of topics, including City Council expansion, ranked-choice voting systems and land-use planning changes.

“It is weedy. It is academic. But the charter touches Angelenos’ everyday lives,” said Raymond Meza, who chairs the commission.

This week, the commission will host a town hall meeting in Echo Park in an effort to get more people involved in the process. It will take place outside on the northeast lawn of the park — weather permitting.

Despite getting a slow start, the commission is hosting multiple meetings in an effort to meet an April 2 deadline to submit proposals to the City Council. It’ll be up to the council to decide whether to place reform proposals on the ballot next November.

The commission has broken reform down into four subject areas, with committees for each.

They are:

• planning and infrastructure
• government structure
• better government
• personnel and budget

“We’re in an exciting moment,” said David Levitus of L.A. Forward, an advocacy group.

“Looking at the charter for reform is long overdue”

Reform Commission

The L.A. City Council created the commission last year after a series of scandals rocked City Hall. Former Councilmember Jose Huizar went to prison on federal corruption charges and secret audio tapes revealed backroom dealing on redistricting.

The panel is made up of four appointees by Mayor Karen Bass, two by the council president and two by the president pro tempore. Those eight selected an additional five through an open application process.

On Thursday, the full commission is expected to take up proposals for a two-year budget cycle and an expedited city hiring process. Advocates of the changes say extending budget planning from one to two years will allow city leaders to better anticipate spending and revenue.

They say the city hiring process is slow and byzantine.

Meza said the Echo Park meeting Saturday is an opportunity for members of the public to learn more about the process and speak at length with commissioners.

“We absolutely want to hear from people what is important to them as residents of the city of Los Angeles when it comes to their expectations of their city government," he said.

How to get involved

For a list of all upcoming meetings, go here.

To submit a public comment, you can email reformLAcharter@lacity.org.

There’s also a survey on the commission’s website at reformlacharter.lacity.gov.