Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia issued a legal demand Friday for the organizers of the 2028 Summer Olympics to disclose more information about the organization’s finances — including bank statements, detailed plans for venue construction and the size of contracts with outside vendors.
Mejia’s subpoena, issued under his City Charter authority, came two and a half weeks after officials at LA28, the Olympic organizing committee, rejected his previous request to disclose the information.
Mejia demanded the information, much of which was also requested by The Times, as required in the 2021 contract that defines the working relationship between LA28 and the host city of the 2028 games.
LA28 officials had no immediate comment.
Leaders of the Olympics organizing group have said previously that while they had not disclosed all of the information in their annual reports — as required by the so-called Games Agreement — they had provided the information to other city officials, including Mayor Karen Bass and the city administrative officer and chief legislative analyst.
“LA28’s refusal to comply with my Office’s request after years of withholding information that they are contractually obligated to provide to the City of L.A. is unacceptable,” Mejia said in a statement. “My responsibility is to protect taxpayer dollars, and I will use my full authority under the City Charter to assess the City’s financial exposure of hosting the 2028 Games.”
The information that Mejia wants is supposed to be contained in annual reports that LA28 issues to its officially designated city “liaisons” — the mayor, city attorney, and top administrative and legislative officers.
The Times found in its own review that LA28 had given vague and sometimes incomplete information. Among the missing details: progress on roughly two dozen venues around Greater Los Angeles and details about contracts of more than $1 million for services such as security and pre-production work for the opening and closing ceremonies.
Mejia’s office said in a press release Friday that it needed those details and more “to ascertain the financial status of the 2028 Olympic Games.” The statement added: “As the City’s accountant, auditor, and paymaster, the Controller has a responsibility to protect City of L.A. taxpayers from the impact of the LA28 Olympic Games.”
Under the city’s agreement with LA28, Los Angeles will be obligated to cover any losses, should the Olympics fail to break even or make money. The city would cover the first $270 million of losses, the state of California the next $270 million and the city any losses of more than $540 million.
Because of that potential financial liability, Mejia’s office said that “Angelenos deserve full transparency from LA28 related to all spending and revenue incurred in the process of planning and executing the 2028 Olympic Games.”
LA28 officials have reported that they have collected revenues — particularly from corporate sponsorships and ticket sales — that exceed projections. They have said the games remain on track to turn a profit, with excess funds promised to youth sports programs in Southern California.
The City Council has received and accepted multiple annual reports from LA28, raising a few questions but no major objections. The council did not intercede, for example, two years ago when LA28 stopped its previous practice of naming contractors that it had paid more than $1 million.
But the city’s chief administrative officer and chief legislative analyst in September asked for more details, calling information about the contracts “limited.” The two top City Hall bureaucrats said LA28 previously objected to disclosing the contract details, saying the disclosure could be “financially detrimental and a risk to its future competitive contracts partnership and sponsorship activities.”
Section 217 of the City Charter grants the controller and other city officers the power to order individuals to produce documents and to attend hearings, with subpoenas issued via the City Clerk’s office.
Other city officials mostly have remained quiet in the dispute about LA28’s financial reporting. But Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement prior to the controller’s subpoena that she backs the release of more financial information.
City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto’s office said in a statement to The Times last month that she “supports the Controller’s efforts to obtain the financial information necessary to understand the full scope of LA28’s finances and the City’s potential fiscal exposure.”
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