Los Angeles is busy preparing for the 2028 Olympics, but critics say the games are an outrageous expense filled with empty promises.
Eric Sheehan with the group NOlympics L.A. told KNX News, "When Eric Garcetti launched this bid for the Olympics, he said he was going to end homelessness on the streets of L.A. by the time the Olympics come here, and then Casey Wasserman, the chair of the bid started saying it's not our job to solve homelessness."
Sheehan said that based on what he has heard about Mayor Karen Bass' homelessness program, Inside Safe, the outlook isn't any better under her administration. "What we're seeing is most of the folks who enter Inside Safe, don't leave it in permanent supportive housing or permanent housing of any kind," he said.
According to Sheehan, every Olympics comes with politicians and event leaders making 'grand suggestions' about what the games will do for the city. When those promises fail to materialize, a lot of money is wasted.
"Most Olympics tend to go over budget," Sheehan said. "Thanks to an Oxford study, we know that for a fact, and L.A. thinks it's special, but it's just like every other global city. When it brings the Olympics, and it doesn't protect itself from the financial drawbacks and makes itself the public backstop for a privately financed and privately run game, L.A. is bound for a disaster."
He points out that in 1984, officials limited the city's financial liability to $5 million, but this time, it's unlimited.
"While L.A. '28 claims that it's a no-bill Olympics, that's simply not true. They're going to spend $100 million building a false platform to run track and field inside the L.A. Coliseum, considering spending $5 billion to hustle up the renovation of our Civic Center. They're pouring concrete and calling it a temporary stadium," said Sheehan.
Sheehan is also not buying into the Paris positive afterglow. "The Los Angeles Olympics, the way that the folks we speak to see them is a massive party that Los Angeles doesn't need that's actually going to drive tourism down like it did in Paris."
He points out that the negative impacts of the games have already begun for some locals. "We're already seeing ICE and Homeland Security invited into our city, which has a massive number of undocumented folks who are going to be subjected to that violence and criminalization."
Mayor Karen Bass and the organizing committee insist that they think the games will be a success and can turn a profit.
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