Los Angeles city controller Kenneth Mejia has subpoenaed LA28 officials over what he claims is a repeated refusal from the organization to send over financial records and documents regarding the 2028 Olympics.
Mejia said that his office requested the documents in August and is seeking bank statements, schedules and budgets for venues, along with the identity of contractors and the values and purpose of contracts.
“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 LA is unacceptable,” Mejia said. “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 subpoena was issued on October 16.
Meanwhile, the city could be responsible for extra costs if the Summer Olympics surpasses its budget.
The Games are currently under budget but Mejia said the Olympics have traditionally exceeded stated costs.
In his statement announcing the subpoena, the city was referred to as a “financial backstop” in the event that the Olympics suffered a financial deficit, with cost overruns ultimately becoming the responsibility of taxpayers.
Mejia also noted that the city and its residents are obligated to have complete insight into the spending and revenue taken on during the course of the planning and staging of the Games.
“As the City’s accountant, auditor, and paymaster, the Controller has a responsibility to protect City of LA taxpayers from the impact of the LA28 Olympic Games,” Mejia said. “The City of LA is the financial backstop if the LA28 Games result in a financial deficit, exposing LA taxpayers to potentially unlimited financial obligations. Angelenos deserve full transparency from LA28 related to all spending and revenue incurred in the process of planning and executing the 2028 Olympic Games.”
The statement noted that on August 26, Mejia made a formal request to obtain the financial documents in order to begin conducting a thorough oversight of LA28 as an organization. LA28 officials were asked to submit the documents by September 28, with the information requested being part of a requirement the city and organizers agreed to in 2021.
Mejia’s office said that LA28 officials are in compliance with just two of the nine subsections of the agreement and are currently missing comparisons of financial forecasts in addition to critical paperwork on actual spending.
But on September 28, the deadline of the initial request, LA28 officials said that they shared the requested information with city liaisons, including Mayor Karen Bass, the city attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto, the chief legislative analyst Sharon Tso and chief administrative officer Joseph M. Nicchitta, according to Mejia.
When the Controller’s Office reviewed the documents, it concluded that the information was “either incomplete or wholly absent.”
The Olympics will take place from July 14 to July 30, 2028 and the Paralympics will follow two weeks later, from August 15 to August 27.
Meija’s office said LA28 officials have 15 days to respond to his subpoena and request for the completed set of documents.
