SO California is broke.............

[Vteckidd]

And they spent 1.4 MILLION on the Michael Jackson funeral.

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? They dont even have the money to pay people (sending out IOUs last week) and they drop 1.4 million on some celebritys funeral.

Why wouldnt his family pay for it?

This is ridiculous! If i were in california, i would be throwing everyone out of office next election.

LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles spent $1.4 million to provide security, traffic control and other services for Michael Jackson's memorial service, city officials said as they looked for ways to have others help the financially troubled city pick up the bill.

The amount included $1.1 million in overtime pay for the 4,173 officers who worked to secure Staples Center, Forest Lawn cemetery and other areas that attracted fans and members of the media, the Police Department said in a statement.

City officials said Wednesday that the remaining amount covered traffic control, cleanup and other costs related to Tuesday's public memorial service, which was attended by a total of more than 17,000 fans and watched by tens of millions of people around the world.

Matt Szabo, a spokesman for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, hailed the tally a success. He said it was "far less" than the initial estimate of $4 million.

Nonetheless, city attorney Carmen Trutanich said his office was investigating how the city can legally press third parties to pick up at least some of the tab.

Trutanich aims to have a report ready for the City Council by Friday, said spokesman John Franklin.

The city has also set up a Web site urging fans to make tax-deductible donations through credit cards, PayPal or check to help defray costs.

Fans have thus far donated $17,000, but contributions have been hampered by technical problems, Szabo said in a statement.

The site received so many hits that the servers crashed Tuesday night and several times Wednesday, Szabo said. The city's information technology department is working to rectify the problems.

Anticipating about 250,000 people would converge on downtown streets for the service, the Police Department deployed 3,240 officers starting at midnight. When only about 1,000 fans showed up, police brass let about 1,000 officers go early.

AEG Live, the owner-operator of Staples Center, has not committed any money to the Jackson memorial, which it organized and promoted. Company spokesman Michael Roth did not return messages on Wednesday.

City Controller Wendy Greuel called on the City Council to create a policy declaring who should pay for city services associated with such events.

In a letter to the emergency management department, Greuel criticized the nearly $49,000 expense for police officers' lunches, which were ordered from a restaurant located 80 miles from Los Angeles.

Greuel said her office called a local sandwich shop that could have provided box lunches for less than $17,500. The purchase would have had the added benefit of supporting a local business, she said.

The Jackson memorial was the second recent event that resulted in extraordinary costs at a time when the city is a half-billion dollars in debt and facing employee layoffs.

Last month's victory parade for the NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers cost an estimated $2 million.

AEG Live gave $1 million to the city for that event and other private donors stepped in.

[Revmaynard]

OMG. I can't believe that shit. The food that was ordered 80 miles away just blew my mind. It's just sad where some peoples priorities are.

[Total_Blender]

It seems that AEG Live should be responsible for the bill since they were the ones in charge of the memorial. They could then sue the MJ estate or the Jackson family or whoever it was that contracted them for the event.

It sucks for the state that they are stuck with the bill, but had they not provided security for the event, it could have gotten really ugly. LA has a history... you guys are probably too young to remember the riots in '92...



or the Watts riots in 1965:



The last thing CA would want would be a repeat of this... and with thousands of MJ fans rushing the Staples Center that situation could get ugly really fast.

[btstone]

im literally sitting here scratching my head in disbelief

[David88vert]

None of you realize that Los Angeles and California are two SEPERATE entities with seperate budgets? California did not spend 1.4 million. Los Angeles paid the cops out of their city budget. The state of California is broke and handing out the IOUs, not LA.

[btstone]

None of you realize that Los Angeles and California are two SEPERATE entities with seperate budgets? California did not spend 1.4 million. Los Angeles paid the cops out of their city budget. The state of California is broke and handing out the IOUs, not LA.

Just a question, how is LA doing to well, but Cali is broke.

I know ATL is struggling but GA is also. The major cities and the states they reside in kinda go hand in hand, correct?

[tony]

Just a question, how is LA doing to well, but Cali is broke.

I know ATL is struggling but GA is also. The major cities and the states they reside in kinda go hand in hand, correct?

Really? You don't understand how that is possible? Interesting.. especially since you're so vocal in the Politics section.

California should stand as the example of how NOT to run a state.

[btstone]

Really? You don't understand how that is possible? Interesting.. especially since you're so vocal in the Politics section.

California should stand as the example of how NOT to run a state.

LOL. what a dumbass. i have made a total of 5 post in the politics section. very vocal huh?

and yes, i dont uinderstand. how cana state be broke, but its major cities thriving. that is a very legit question. cities and states depend on each other for things. kind of like a young child and parents. when you were 10 yrs old, your economic stance was what ever your parents economic stance was.

i hope that cleared up your dumb ass post

[tony]

LOL. what a dumbass. i have made a total of 5 post in the politics section. very vocal huh?

and yes, i dont uinderstand. how cana state be broke, but its major cities thriving. that is a very legit question. cities and states depend on each other for things. kind of like a young child and parents. when you were 10 yrs old, your economic stance was what ever your parents economic stance was.

i hope that cleared up your dumb ass post

I'm the dumbass but you don't comprehend how a state can be strapped for cash but not a city within that state. Your own analogy answers it genius, the children are independent. By your rationale if the United States is in an economic downturn then every state in the country must be struggling, when states like Alaska and Texas are able to pay their residents dividends.. or is the idea of a dividend hard for you to understand too?

Simply stated, the individual cities are sovereign to an extent. Heres a link to a dictionary so you can understand the big words in my post http://www.m-w.com

[Vteckidd]

None of you realize that Los Angeles and California are two SEPERATE entities with seperate budgets? California did not spend 1.4 million. Los Angeles paid the cops out of their city budget. The state of California is broke and handing out the IOUs, not LA.

You. Missed the point.

La is broke too I think 500 million deficit.

La is in Cali the whole place is broke

Does la not collect taxes?

[Total_Blender]

You. Missed the point.

La is broke too I think 500 million deficit.

They really did need to provide security for the event. Somebody screwed up spending $45 large for lunch, but still the amount they spent on security is a drop in the bucket compared to the damages had they not provided security. They would have spent 1.4 million on just one lawsuit had someone been injured or killed due to lack of security.

[Vteckidd]

They really did need to provide security for the event. Somebody screwed up spending $45 large for lunch, but still the amount they spent on security is a drop in the bucket compared to the damages had they not provided security. They would have spent 1.4 million on just one lawsuit had someone been injured or killed due to lack of security.

why are they in business of providing security to a PRIVATE Funeral?

If MJs estate wanted to have a public viewing they should have been made to hire private security IMO. Or the Staples Center should have had to pay for it.

I mean i understand what you are saying, i just dont see how they can pick up the tab in times like this where the state is collapsing.

Real question:

Did NY pay for Biggies Funeral? What about 2Pacs? Farrah Fawcett?

[tony]

I actually agree with you Mike, he's at the MJ is at the top of the billboard charts right now and his estate should be footing the bill. That said, how much revenue if any did the city make from his memorial? Nobody talks about that..

[Vteckidd]

I actually agree with you Mike, he's at the MJ is at the top of the billboard charts right now and his estate should be footing the bill. That said, how much revenue if any did the city make from his memorial? Nobody talks about that..

thats true, I think right now they are saying they didnt make anything because

A) the tickets were free
B) Im sure the food and beverages sold at the Staples center has nothing to do with LA city making anything

I bet the small businesses around there saw a boom in business which absolutely relates to generating city income (sales tax). But 1.4 million dollars worth?

I guess if the city ends up making a buck its all a moot point, but i dont see that happening

[Total_Blender]

If the city denied MJ's public funeral, there would have been some sort of public gathering anyway, whether MJ's people organized it or not. MJ really has a cult following like no other entertainer before or since, and LA was the epicenter of his fan base. The fact was that MJ was going to draw a crowd, whether it was a well-organzied, orderly event or a loosely organized, anarchic mob... people were going to show up.

[Vteckidd]

If the city denied MJ's public funeral, there would have been some sort of public gathering anyway, whether MJ's people organized it or not. MJ really has a cult following like no other entertainer before or since, and LA was the epicenter of his fan base. The fact was that MJ was going to draw a crowd, whether it was a well-organzied, orderly event or a loosely organized, anarchic mob... people were going to show up.

Ok so then you have your regularly scheduled police (not collecting overtime) disperse the crowd, or tell them to form in a park somewhere. That would not have cost 1/100th of what this did.

There was other ways to do this

[tony]

I bet the small businesses around there saw a boom in business which absolutely relates to generating city income (sales tax). But 1.4 million dollars worth?

Not from 15k-20k people I doubt the city would leave with a net profit.

[Vteckidd]

Not from 15k-20k people I doubt the city would leave with a net profit.

If the average person spent $20, and LA sales tax is 7%, thats $1.40 in sales tax collected.

$1.40 x 20000=$28000 in revenue *EEK*

Everyone would have had to spend $1000 for them to BREAK EVEN

$1000x1.07=$1070

$70x20000=$1,400,000

[David88vert]

My point was you stated Cali in the original title, but the article clearly said LA was footing the tab. They are 2 different entities.
Different states have different ways of collecting tax revenue, and at different rates. It is always a blend from multiple sources, and may or may not be similar to county collections.