Months earlier than he grew to become chief of workers to Mayor Karen Bass, Chris Thompson was a registered lobbyist at Metropolis Corridor tasked with ensuring that preparations for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Video games ran easily.
As senior vice chairman of governmental relations for LA28, the non-public group placing on the Video games, Thompson had weekly conferences with then-Mayor Eric Garcetti’s staff, and mentioned federal funding, transportation and safety with metropolis workers, in response to emails reviewed by The Occasions.
Now, Thompson says he’ll keep away from these points at the same time as he runs Bass’ 200-person workplace throughout the crucial first yr of her administration. An inside memo despatched to mayoral workers by an lawyer in Bass’ workplace cited the looks of a battle of curiosity due to earnings Thompson acquired from LA28.
“We have now a succesful workers,” Thompson stated in a quick interview. “We’ve obtained loads of individuals who can deal with these points.”
These statements don’t reassure watchdogs involved in regards to the metropolis’s potential legal responsibility with regards to the Video games. LA28 is chargeable for elevating cash and paying for the $7-billion occasion, however metropolis and state taxpayers are on the hook for price overruns.
Shopper Watchdog President Jamie Courtroom stated the Bass administration wants to make sure that Thompson isn’t the “ultimate choice maker” due to his work for LA28. Courtroom additionally stated Thompson ought to wall himself off from Video games-related points for your entire time he works for the town.
“Metropolis Corridor could have the Olympics’ largest booster within the driver’s seat,” Courtroom stated.
Extra broadly, Thompson’s soar from LA28 to the mayor’s workplace raises the query of how Bass’ workplace will strategy the Video games, an occasion that may assist make or break political careers. Up to now, she has used the Olympics as a benchmark to speak about homelessness, vowing that the town’s encampments shall be passed by 2028.
Bass stated Thompson’s background with LA28 “wasn’t in any respect” a think about his hiring.
Chris Thompson, proven along with his spouse, Prashanti Thompson, is L.A. Mayor Karen Bass’ chief of workers.
(Courtesy of William Cole)
“The issue was the size of time I’ve recognized him,” she stated. The 2 each labored in Washington, D.C. — Thompson beforehand served as chief of workers to Sen. Dianne Feinstein and labored for the late Rep. Julian Dixon. He additionally labored at Southern California Edison.
Since becoming a member of Metropolis Corridor, Thompson has restructured the mayor’s workplace to align with the administration’s deal with homelessness. Mercedes Marquez, chief of housing and homelessness, reviews to Bass, Thompson stated, so there’s a “direct line of accountability.”
Those that know Thompson stated he’s not notably ideological and centered on outcomes. “He’s not a real believer,” stated one political advisor. “He desires to get issues carried out. He’s an issue solver.”
Requested about these descriptions, Thompson stated he’s a lifelong Democrat and that integrity is paramount to working in authorities. “However actually what good is an ideology should you don’t get issues carried out, proper?” he stated.
The memo despatched in December by mayoral counsel David Michaelson about Thompson’s previous function with LA28 stated Thompson shouldn’t be given any metropolis paperwork in regards to the Video games. The memo stated that Erin Bromaghim, who labored on Video games-related points underneath Garcetti, would proceed in that function.
Eric Sheehan, a member of NOlympics, a gaggle that opposes L.A. internet hosting the Video games, referred to as it a “bit foolish” to assume that Thompson might keep away from engaged on Video games-related points for the following yr due to all of the methods — huge and small — that the town is planning for the Olympics.
Metropolis departments, as an example, might search cash for some Olympics-related points within the annual metropolis price range that Bass will unveil in April. The Los Angeles Police Division has already submitted a request for $1 million for staffing wants associated to planning for the Video games and different large-scale occasions within the 2023-24 price range.
On a bigger scale, the town and county are in search of to fast-track transportation initiatives by 2028.
NOlympics has beforehand criticized the ties between LA28 and the mayor’s workplace. One in all LA28’s board members, Jeffrey Katzenberg, helped increase hundreds of thousands to help Bass’ marketing campaign for mayor and is credited with serving to her beat rival Rick Caruso. Katzenberg has additionally been a powerful voice within the metropolis’s strategy to homelessness and policing.
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Requested in regards to the relationship between LA28 and the town, Thompson pointed to the varied metropolis officers tasked with vetting agreements between LA28 and the town, together with the chief legislative analyst and metropolis administrative officer.
He additionally stated the safety of taxpayers is a core tenet of the agreements signed between LA28 and the town.
LA28 officers declined an interview request about Thompson however pointed to an announcement launched by LA28 Chief Government Kathy Carter, by which she described Thompson as “an distinctive colleague.”
Some Olympics specialists didn’t see Thompson’s recusal for the following yr as notably notable and stated the extra essential city-related choices associated to the Video games will come nearer to 2028.
“The heavy lifting, the element on how is every part goes to look — every part from safety, metropolis cleansing, particular allowing, all of that — that’s all stuff that will get labored out within the final couple of years,” stated Michael R. Payne, a former head of the advertising and marketing division on the Worldwide Olympic Committee.
Payne additionally stated it’s useful to have somebody within the mayor’s workplace who has a background with planning for the Video games. He pointed to the 2004 Athens Video games and stated that the sports activities director on the organizing committee left to turn into the top of Olympic operations inside the metropolis.
Nonetheless, like different Olympics, the Athens’ Video games far exceeded its price range, which many consider contributed to Greece’s financial downfall.
