City of Inglewood Hollywood Park Professional Football Stadium Initiative & Referendum Questions (June 2015)

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A Hollywood Park professional football stadium referendum measure was not put on the ballot for Inglewood city voters in Los Angeles County, California, on June 2, 2015. The union backing the referendum petition struck a deal with the developers and ceased collecting signatures.

Earlier this year a Hollywood Park professional football stadium initiative, known as the City of Champions Revitalization Initiative, qualified for the Inglewood city ballot, but it was approved directly by the city council, precluding the necessity of an election.

This measure amended the zoning of the 238-acre site of the former Hollywood Park racetrack, allowing for the construction of a proposed, 80,000-seat pro-football stadium, a performing arts center and additional office and retail space.

The approval of this zoning and the stadium project by the city council spurred opponents of the project to begin circulating a referendum petition to overturn the council's decision and put a stop to the project unless voters approve it. The referendum petition was backed by the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, and labor union members circulated the signature petitions to get the project on the ballot. Ultimately, the union used its signature petitions as bargaining chips and struck a compromise with the developers, who signed an agreement reserving stadium jobs for union workers.

Elections law required the union members to collect 6,000 valid signatures by March 26 in order to qualify the referendum question for the ballot.

The project had the backing of Rams owner Stan Kroenke and developers Stockbridge Capital and Wilson Meany. These sources funded a committee called Citizens for Revitalizing the City of Champions to gather the signatures required to put the initiative on the ballot.

Artist's rendition of proposed development

Unlike some development proposals that request city subsidies, the proposal would be privately funded, which was expected to make it more popular with the voters. The city did tentatively agree to reimburse $60 million from tax proceeds to the developers for infrastructure, such as sewer system additions and road construction.

Since plans for the stadium got underway, the developers looked to the NFL to allow a team to move to Los Angeles, giving the city its own pro football team after two decades without one. Stan Kroenke expressed strong interest in moving his team to the LA location. NFL's decision on the Rams, the Raiders and the Chargers is outlined below.

Aftermath

NFL approves teams to move to LA

On January 12, 2016, NFL owners voted 30-2 to allow the Rams to move to Los Angeles. Their home stadium will be in the $1.8 billion stadium development project in Inglewood backed by Rams owner Stan Kroenke, which was made possible through an initiative that qualified for the June 2016 ballot, but was approved directly by the Inglewood City Council. The NFL owners provided the San Diego Chargers the option of joining the Rams at the Inglewood stadium. The team was given a year to consider the option. If the team declined after a year, the Oakland Raiders would be given the same option.

Another Los Angeles stadium development project was approved through a similar initiative process in Carson. This project had the backing of the San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders, but it was passed over by the NFL in favor of Kroenke's stadium.

Support

Note: Those who support the stadium development project and supported the initiative allowing it are referred to as supporters in this article.

Citizens for Revitalizing the City of Champions was the group behind the original initiative to launch the stadium project. The group was funded and backed by Rams owner Stan Kroenke and developers Stockbridge Capital and Wilson Meany.

Champions Initiative, "The City of Champions Revitalization Project: An introduction," January 28, 2015

Officials of Hollywood Park Land Company (HPLC), the land owner working with Stan Kroenke, said, "The City of Champions project will create thousands of jobs for residents of Inglewood and Southern California.”

Chris Meany, HPLC senior vice president, stated:

“	The project also will generate tens of millions of dollars annually in tax revenue for Inglewood. The initiative specifically states that all of the construction jobs for the stadium, performance venue, retail and office space will be union. We also have agreements regarding labor with other important local unions. We are proud of our commitment to union labor for construction, anticipate long-term union jobs after construction, and also underscore the fact that local hiring provisions for the project will bring new opportunities to Inglewood residents and businesses. We are focused on delivering a world-class and unparalleled project in Inglewood that will have outstanding job and other economic impacts throughout the Southern California area.	”
—Chris Meany, HPLC senior vice president

Opposition

Note: Those who opposed the stadium development project initiative and supported the referendum petition to stop it are referred to as opponents in this article.

Opponents

The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, was behind the referendum effort to get this project before voters. Ultimately, however, the union used its referendum signatures as bargaining chips to strike a labor deal with developers.

The Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), which owns StubHub Center, has publicly criticized the use of the initiative process to move forward with both the proposed Hollywood Park stadium development in Inglewood and the stadium proposal in Carson.

Arguments against

This referendum question was motivated by a disagreement about labor contracts with the developer behind the project. The union wanted a signed agreement directly with the developer and with Rams owner Stan Kroenke that unions workers would be hired for the stadium construction and that union workers would be given positions in operation and maintenance after development was complete. Rusty Hicks, secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, said, “If we get a signed written agreement with them, we will take the [referendum] petitions off the street." This is exactly what happened in the end.

He continued, “If the NFL Players Association has taught us anything, it’s that when it comes to NFL owners you better get it in writing before you play."

According to AEG Vice Chairman Ted Fikre, the chief concern of AEG is that the indirect initiative process bypasses important environmental reviews and public input when used to authorize large development projects. Fikre said, "As one of Carson's biggest investors and business stakeholders, AEG has an interest in advocating for a responsible approach to major developments in the community. We feel it is only reasonable to ask and expect that a project of this magnitude, like others before it, be thoroughly vetted in a transparent public review."

Although admitting there was nothing city officials could do to stop a valid initiative petition, AEG inisisted that each city should commission studies on the projects and should encourage public input and a public vote to heighten awareness and discussion.

Raiders/Chargers Stadium Project in Carson

See also: City of Carson Raiders and Chargers Professional Football Stadium Zoning Initiative (2015)

Another initiative petition in the city of Carson, approved by the city council on April 21, 2015, amended zoning to allow the construction of a $1.7-billion, 70,000-seat stadium near the intersection of the 405 Freeway and Del Amo Boulevard. This stadium project was being backed by the San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders, who planned to potentially share the stadium.

Hicks explained that his union did not have the same objections to the stadium project in Carson. He said, “Chargers and Raiders came to us very early on and said we want to construct this stadium with good union jobs and once it’s done we want the people working there to have good union jobs. The developers (of the Hollywood Park stadium) did not make that same outreach early on." Moreover, he said that his organization was told that there would be time for a discussion and an agreement before the initiative was approved and this did not happen. He concluded, "We were told everything was OK, and then on the 24th the [sic] accepted it outright without any written agreement.”

Hicks, however, clarified that the unions were not taking sides between the two proposed stadiums. He explained, “This is a request and demand we’re making (that) is no different than what we would make of any developer or any owner building a stadium like this. At the end of the day, this is not a position of supporting one group or one facility over the other, one team over the other. This is about making sure good jobs are attached to these projects.”

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing local ballot measures in California

Initiative

Citizens for Revitalizing the City of Champions turned in 20,000 signatures on January 26, 2015. According to election law, the group only needed 8,400 of these signatures to be valid - 15 percent of registered city voters - to qualify the initiative for a special election. The Los Angeles County registrar's office certified that more than enough of the submitted signatures were valid and prepared a statement of certification to present to the city council at its meeting on February 24, 2015. The city council scheduled a further discussion of the initiative for the following meeting, where studies on the economic and environmental effects of the proposed stadium were presented. At this meeting, the city council could have either enacted the initiative themselves or put it on the ballot for a voter decision. They chose the first option, precluding the necessity for an election.

Referendum

Members of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, needed 6,000 valid signatures by March 26, 2015, to qualify the referendum question for the ballot. This date lands 30 days from the council's vote on the initiative, as prescribed by law. If they succeed, the city council will be given a chance to take back their resolution to approve the initiative allowing the stadium project. If they decide not to do this, the question will go before voters.

Related measures

• City of Carson Raiders and Chargers Professional Football Stadium Zoning Initiative (2015)

See also

• Local zoning, land use and development on the ballot
• June 2, 2015 ballot measures in California
• Los Angeles County, California ballot measures

External links

Suggest a link

• Los Angeles County Elections Office website
• Revitalize the City of Champions Initiative website, accessed February 3, 2015

Additional reading

• Los Angeles Times, "Costs of fast-tracking NFL stadium plans in Carson, Inglewood revealed," May 5, 2015
• Turf Shotimes, "Rams Owner Stan Kroenke Spent $1.7m Just To Fast Track The Vote On His Inglewood Stadium Pl," May 6, 2015
• Los Angeles Times, "Op-Ed Lack of transparency on NFL stadium proposals," April 13, 2015
• International Business Times, "NFL Los Angeles: Rams Riverfront Stadium Sacrifices County Funding To Keep Pace With California Project," April 2, 2015
• Los Angeles Times, "Editorial Let Inglewood voters decide on an NFL stadium at Hollywood Park," February 23, 2015
• Orange County Register, "NFL teams suddenly lining up to explore moving to Los Angeles," February 21, 2015