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I'm sure Kobe will pay for it, as long as they rename the parade the "Kobe Bryant: Finals MVP Parade"
Sorry couldn't help it
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-spw...,7322867.story
With the city struggling financially, the cost of a potential celebration doesn't sit well with some people.
By David Zahniser and Phil Willon
June 13, 2009
If the Lakers win the NBA championship this coming week, it's a good bet Angelenos will want a parade.
But with cash-strapped Los Angeles looking at the possibility of laying off municipal workers or forcing them to take unpaid days off to counter a budget deficit, some at City Hall are uncomfortable with the parade's price tag, which could exceed $1 million.
"We can't afford to cover the costs," Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry, whose district includes Staples Center, said Friday afternoon. "How could we make a decision about people's jobs and then sponsor the parade?"
Shouldn't the Lakers and the NBA pay for that, she asked?
Council members have been wrestling for years with a proposal for reducing the size of subsidies the city gives for special events, such as street fairs and 10-kilometer runs. A new proposal to do that is pending and could receive a final vote next week. But it would not go into effect until after the best-of-seven series between the Lakers and the Orlando Magic.
The Lakers lead, 3 games to 1, and after Sunday's 5 p.m. PDT game in Orlando it could be all over.
Representatives of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is in Rhode Island at a conference, did not respond to a request for comment.
Councilman Bernard C. Parks, who heads the council's powerful Budget and Finance Committee, struck a more conciliatory tone, predicting the city would ultimately absorb the cost of a parade.
"I don't think we have a choice," Parks said. "This is one of those things that happen once a decade.
"There's going to be a major celebration in the city, and the likelihood is the city is going to absorb the bulk of those costs," he went on. "The city isn't going to have time over the next few hours to negotiate a contract with the Lakers or anyone else."
The last Lakers parade, in 2002, was given the green light after city officials estimated that it would cost $1.1 million -- a sum that includes police protection, traffic officers and cleanup crews.
Parks said that if the Lakers win Sunday, he expects the parade to occur Tuesday, with the procession moving down Figueroa Street from Staples Center to the Coliseum.
For the last week, Parks and his colleagues have been reviewing a proposal to require many city workers to take 26 unpaid days off over the next year -- a scenario that would force many government offices to close every other Friday.
Dozens of layoffs are also scheduled -- a situation that could change depending on the outcome of negotiations with the city's labor unions.
With so little money for basic services, a handful of unions sent a message Friday afternoon that the city can't afford to celebrate right now.
"City employees have been asked by their employers to take a massive pay cut," said Barbara Maynard, spokeswoman for the Coalition of L.A. City Unions, which represents roughly 22,000 workers. "And we do not believe it is appropriate in this economic climate for taxpayers to be funding a parade."
I'm sure Kobe will pay for it, as long as they rename the parade the "Kobe Bryant: Finals MVP Parade"
Sorry couldn't help it
Theres going to be a RIOT
There would be riots if there is no parade.
"I don't think we have a choice," Parks said. "This is one of those things that happen once a decade.
LOL hahahahaha Parks knows this is one and out.
Why can't the Lakers FO pay for it?
You can always count on a LA parade with a few cooked cars.
1 million vs 20 million in damages. easy choice for the city
Bingo except it would be more in damages.
it's not over yet.
How is it not over yet? You said the Lakers were done after game 4 of the WCF. The Magic should have this on lock, according to you.
LA will be destroyed if no parade is held lol
Why not just let the Lakers pay for it?
This is when you know you've won too many championships...it's become old hat.
Only a Laker fan could make the biggest recession in decades all about him and his own self-glorification.
Wow, do you have reading disorder?
How is that about self-glorification? I didn't say the city should or should not hold a parade.
.... what?
You're a Laker fan, too.
No, you only strongly implied that the city government should pay, since to not do so is to be ungrateful and ungracious.
I didn't imply jack . It was a neutral statement.
lol LA
hire a bunch of illegal mexicans to be cops for a day
win/win
And we wonder why LA remains NFLess.
res ipsa locutor
Lakers, city will split costs of victory parade
Neither the Orlando Magic nor a disintegrating city budget managed to forestall the Lakers’ victory parade, which is scheduled to follow a two-mile route from Staples Center to the Coliseum on Wednesday.
The Lakers defeated the Magic on Sunday night, 99-86, to win the NBA championship, but their resounding win did little to quell the griping about who should pay for the celebration.
The growing public debate about the cost of the traditional parade took place against a backdrop of city workers facing layoffs and mandatory furloughs, while fervent basketball fans demanded an opportunity to salute their hometown heroes.
In the end, everybody won and everybody pays.
Both the team and the city will kick in about $1 million each for the festivities, which for the first time includes the significant cost of renting the Coliseum. The Lakers worked with city officials to keep costs down, including ruling out a weekend celebration or a longer parade, according to Tim Harris, the Lakers’ senior vice president for business operations and chief marketing officer.
The city will pay for police, transportation and general staff, said Matt Szabo, spokesman for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The mayor said Sunday that to not hold a parade “is untenable,” even as city officials have been meeting behind closed doors to find hundreds of millions of dollars in budget cuts.
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