LATC a 'story of political connections'

LA Weekly's Steven Leigh Morris looks at how the Latino Theater Company, which had never run a theater and possessed few assets, was awarded control of the city-owned Los Angeles Theater Center downtown. He concludes that "what was announced as an open-bid process had become, by the final act, a tainted and disturbing story of the power of political connections." It's a story of changed rules, overlooked requirements and clout thrown around by a clutch of pols from Anotnio Villaraigosa and Jan Perry (the downtown city councilmember) to Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez. In the end, though, Morris is not unhappy with the choice of LTC:

If Spring Street revitalization can move as swiftly as Latino Theater Company’s learning curve, this plan has a fighting chance. Meanwhile, they’re going to need all the friends they can get.

Not so happy is Tom Gilmore, the downtown developer who lost out to LTC: "The public process was, without question, an absolute sham."