LA has all the leverage in negotiating its Olympics contract. Why the rush to sign one? – Los Angeles Times

To the editor: I am not sure why the Los Angeles City Council is in a rush to sign a contract with the International Olympic Committee to host the 2028 Summer Games. (“Six reasons to worry about the 2028 Olympics,” Opinion, Aug. 10)

Small time frames are frequently used in negotiations by one party to get a favorable settlement by not allowing the other side to effectively evaluate offers and information. Since the city of Los Angeles really has the leverage in this negotiation to take on something other than it proposed (the 2024 Olympics), I would delay signature until we have time to pull together financial data to properly evaluate the contract.

We should not take on a burden like this, including the risk to the city budget, without taking our time to evaluate the proposed contract. Any council member who voted for this is not operating in the public best interest.

Why the rush? Why the short deadline? Sign a memorandum of agreement and defer contract signature at least six months to ensure that we don’t turn this into a financial disaster like those that have been inflicted on other Olympic hosts.