(ATR) The Los Angeles 2024 bid will meet with the city council one last time before submitting its bid book, just as the United States inaugurates a new President.
An LA 2024 spokesperson confirmed to Around the Rings that the bid would not have any members in Washington attending the inauguration of Donald Trump in an official capacity.
"We have a City Council ad hoc committee meeting that morning at City Hall," the spokesperson said to ATR. "The City Council committee is holding its final meeting before the submission of the bid book to review the IOC's host city contract."
The host city contract, seen by ATR, will be reviewed by City Hall so that lawmakers understand the complexities of the document. Los Angeles does not have to sign the document unless elected the 2024 host city by the IOC in Lima this September.
Support and understanding for the document remains important for the bid, given the contentious ending to the Boston 2024 bid in 2015. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said he would not sign the IOC contract without a protection for Massachusetts taxpayers. The same day the United States Olympic Committee moved to drop Boston as the U.S. 2024 host city. Shortly after, Los Angeles became the U.S. bid vying for the flagship IOC event.
LA 2024 has talked at length about establishing ties between the bid and the President Elect. LA 2024 chief executive Gene Sykes told ATR at the Association of National Olympic Committees General Assembly in Doha that the bid remains "confident," about future engagements with Trump. Echoing Sykes, bid leader Casey Wasserman said he "definitely expected" Trump to be an enthusiastic supporter of the 2024 Games.
Trump spoke with IOC President Thomas Bach by phone within a month of being elected. The call was brokered by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. Towards the end of his transition period, a member of Trump’s team told a Washington Post pool reporter that the President Elect "has the Olympics on his to-do list."
While LA 2024 may not have a formal presence in Washington today, there are fans of the bid attending. Among those include members of Congress from California, such as U.S. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from Bakersfield who will play an important role at he U.S. Capitol.
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Written by Aaron Bauer
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