LA city attorney investigates Jackson memorial costs

Newly elected Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich is seeking to show his muscle at City Hall as he vows to investigate the city’s role in the Michael Jackson memorial. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

Frank Stoltze: In an interview at City Hall, Trutanich said he understood the city’s interest in accommodating the Jackson family.

Carmen Trutanich: We’re talking about human beings, and a family that’s suffered a great loss, and a city that’s trying to respond appropriately.

Stoltze: At the same time, Trutanich wants to know why AEG, the entertainment company that produced the memorial, wasn’t required to get a permit before it closed streets, and why the city bore more than a million dollars in public safety costs.

Trutanich: If the law provides that anyone is responsible to reimburse the city of Los Angeles for what has been expended in their benefit, then I will do my job as the city attorney of Los Angeles.

Stoltze: Trutanich said he’ll act at the City Council’s direction.

Trutanich: Although I am authorized in certain circumstances to bring lawsuits without the council’s permission, I think in this circumstance where we’re talking about issues that involve their purview to decide whether to waive fees or not waive fees or issue a permit or not issue a permit, it's something that the council must necessarily weigh in on, and that’s why I’m going to brief them.

Stoltze: A close ally of Trutanich, Councilman Dennis Zine, has said AEG should share the costs.

Zine’s introduced a motion asking the city to review those costs. Councilwoman Janice Hahn’s introduced a competing motion that asks how much the city may have earned from Jackson fans who traveled to L.A.