Councilwoman Jan Perry said she'll handle negotiations with AEG about reimbursing at least some of the $3.2 million taxpayers spent on the Michael Jackson memorial.
The City Council's Public Safety Committee Monday discussed the expenses. Top city legal and financial advisers recently submitted a report to the committee, calculating that the memorial cost Los Angeles taxpayers $3.2 million. That figure includes $2 million in police overtime.
But the report also mentioned that the event injected $4 million into the local economy, in part through a spike in business at restaurants and hotels throughout the city.
Although the city had "no ordinance in place providing for cost recovery," as the report noted, City Attorney Carmen Trutanich has been determined to seek reimbursement from Anschutz Entertainment Group, which organized the July 7 memorial at Staples Center.
"I think that there may not be an ordinance that specifically calls that out, but there's plenty of theories of the law that date back to the beginning of our legal structure that give us the legal basis for going after reimbursement," Trutanich told City News Service without elaboration.
AEG President Tim Leiweke, who previously had accused the city attorney of trying to "bully" his company, challenged Trutanich last week to file criminal charges against AEG or stop hinting it broke the law.
"Prove it or drop it," he said in an interview with the Daily News, adding that Trutanich "has been going around for five months defaming me and our company and we did nothing wrong."
Testifying before the City Council in July, Trutanich said his investigation into the issue had "taken an unanticipated turn that raises both civil and criminal aspects." He offered no public explanation, going instead into closed session with the Council.
