Convention center should be run by private entity, says budget chief

The city could save up to $37 million over five years, according to City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana, who also says that booking policies should be changed in order to attract more conventions. In a new report Santana proposes that the mayor and city council begin looking for a private firm that could be in place starting next summer. Santana, whose office has been struggling to close $200 million-plus deficits, has been pushing for the city to hand over certain operations to private interests. From the LAT:

Anschutz Entertainment Group, currently seeking to build a new downtown football stadium, has expressed interest in recent years in running the convention center, which is located next to two key AEG assets: Staples Center and the L.A. Live entertainment complex. AEG's NFL stadium plan would involve the demolition and reconstruction of one wing of the convention center.

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Santana's proposal quickly drew negative reviews from the city's labor officials. Service Employees International Union Local 721, already fighting a plan to turn the Los Angeles Zoo over to a private operator, signaled it would do the same with the convention center. "We are against handing control of an important public asset like the convention center to a private operator," said union spokesman Lowell Goodman.