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LA city controller subpoenas LA28, demanding financial documents
The Los Angeles City Council unanimously voted in late March to research what it would take to create a Bureau of Police Oversight, moving accounting and audit roles out of the police department and into the controller’s office.
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In a rare move, Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia says his office issued a subpoena to Olympics organizing committee LA28 Friday, demanding it hand over documents detailing its finances, contracts and budgets for venue construction projects.
The action comes after LA28 failed to include a detailed list of its contracts in its recent budget report to the city, despite a contract requiring their disclosure.
The Games Agreement between the city and LA28 requires the committee to submit the name, type, amount, term and purpose of each contract it has entered into worth more than $1 million. It also requires the organizing committee to give updates on venue improvements, including schedules and budgets.
The controller issued a request for those details in a letter to LA28 in August, but says the organization still hasn’t satisfied its obligations. The city of Los Angeles is the financial backstop for the Games, and will be on the hook for cost overruns if LA28 doesn’t turn a profit.
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“The Controller’s Office completed a review of all LA28 documents within the City’s possession and determined that the financial documents requested are either incomplete or wholly absent,” Mejia’s office wrote in a press release issued Friday.
LA28 did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.
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There is precedent for city controllers issuing subpoenas, but they’re not common.
Former City Controller Ron Galperin told LAist that he only issued a subpoena while he was in office one time.
“It’s a power that controllers don’t necessarily exercise a lot, but when it’s the right time, it’s an important tool,” he said.
Galperin told LAist that when he issued the subpoena, he worked with the city attorney’s office.
It’s unclear if the city attorney worked with Mejia’s office to subpoena LA28. LAist asked the controller’s office, but has not yet received a response.
LAist has reached out to the mayor’s office, city attorney, chief legislative analyst and city administrative officer’s office for comment.
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