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In a story exploring the bios of the group appointed by Mayor Villaraigosa to report to him on the wisdom of AEG's downtown stadium, the Associated Press's Jacob Adelman cuts to the chase right in the lede:
The seasoned local business leaders picked by the mayor to analyze plans for a downtown NFL stadium on the public's behalf seem to have one thing in common: deep financial, political and civic ties with the company promoting the venue.Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa' s panel includes a former governor who received generous donations from entities connected to the owner of Anschutz Entertainment Group; entertainment executives that have partnered with the firm or its affiliates; and business owners who have served alongside company president and CEO Tim Leiweke on local civic boards and commissions.
Raphael Sonenshein of California State University, Fullerton, notes in the mayor's defense that finding an AEG-neutral panel would be a challenge: "AEG is so enmeshed now in Los Angeles and Sacramento that it would be really difficult to find any people that don't have a conflict of interest." More analysis at Field of Schemes.