The Cost of Saying Goodbye: Who Should Pay?
Michael Jackson's death will cost the city millions

from CityWatch and Kon Kaye's OurLA.org

July 7, 2009

In the midst of the salutes and celebration some LA folks are getting steamed … about what it's going to cost the City for cops and cleanup.

One Northwest Valley taxpayer fired off a hot letter to the City Council. “This is an outrage and an insult,” she wrote, “to all the citizen homeowner taxpayers in the City and County of Los Angeles! The city and county, according to you, is bankrupt!”

And, here's what the AP reported on Monday.

“Michael Jackson's ex-wife Debbie Rowe will attend the pop superstar's memorial service.

Former Jackson business associate Marc Schaffel said on ABC's "Good Morning America" that Rowe was confirmed for VIP seats. Rowe is the mother of Jackson's two oldest children.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry said she'd "love it" if the Jacksons helped defray some of the city's expected costs associated with Tuesday's memorial, but that officials hadn't heard from the family.

Perry said the city didn't immediately have an estimate of those costs. More than 1.6 million fans registered online for a chance to attend the Staples Center ceremony, and only 8,750 names were chosen. Los Angeles officials are concerned about other fans clogging city streets.”

And this, from OurLA:

Outrage Builds over Paying for Michael Jackson Memorial Extravaganza

from Ron Kaye - EDITOR'S NOTE: My email inbox is loaded with comments about City Hall starting the fiscal year with a $320 million deficit and still footing the bill for the Michael Jackson memorial extravaganza at Staples Center when many stand to make huge profits exploiting his death. Some note the mayor, City Council president and police chief are all out of the country. Monica Harmon, a passionate Eastside activist and strong LAPD supporter, sent out this email blast along with this list (city-fee-waivers.PDF) of 1,000 fee waivers approved in the last year.

by Monica Harmon
OurLA.org writer

Thankfully we are all on the same page and outraged the taxpayers of Los Angeles are footing the bill for  the Jackson memorial. 

AEG stands to make millions on this event, had a $17 million insurance policy on Michael Jackson and received millions of dollars in tax breaks from the city.  I've attached a document of 1,000 special event waivers City Council have passed some for non profits but many for corporate companies that could easily afford the fee but the city absorbed their cost.

LAPD has already had their budget cut. For 12 days officers have been stationed at four locations 24/7.  It is absurd they get the burden of the cost of this event.

The most incompetent and irresponsible statement Jan Perry made at the press conference on Friday was this: "Perry said the cost of police protection for "extraordinary" events like the memorial is built into the Police Department's budget, but she still solicited help for "incremental costs."   Does she not know LA is in a financial crisis?   Not one politician has had the courage or leadership to speak out for the taxpayers of LA and say this is not right.

Media web site blogs are posted with negative statements from Angelenos who agree with us. Yet, why aren't the reporters who we all know and are blind copied on this e-mail here reporting it? Do they not read their own blogs?

Thank you for the feedback and to those who stated they are taking this issue to their neighborhood council boards.   Contact your council member and ask others to do so.

Click here for information on how to contact your Councilmember.

And check out Tuesday's City Council Agenda: (Item #65 council spending $500,000 for another "study."  Concilmember Parks waived $60,000 for a fireworks show, $1,218,055 for new Bureau of Street Lighting positions, $70,000 to fund a park, and $200,000 on a Traffic plan, Councilmember Perry waived fees for Farah Fawcett memorial service, and more special event waivers.

And consider these other articles and / or OPINIONS, collected by the PPL (the Police Officer's Union in LA):

Staples Center at core of wide security cordon in downtown L.A.

A city accustomed to outsized public spectacles headed into uncharted territory today, uncertain how fans would respond to a carefully planned public memorial to singer Michael Jackson -- an event expected to cost nearly $4 million in city services alone. Authorities were throwing a wide cordon around Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, hoping that would keep away crowds who lacked tickets to a 10 a.m. memorial service featuring some big names, among them Kobe Bryant, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Hudson, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson, Brooke Shields and Stevie Wonder. Thousands of police officers and firefighters were being assigned not only to that event, but to the Jackson family compound in Encino, the home Jackson rented in Holmby Hills and to Forest Lawn Memorial-Park in the Hollywood Hills, where the family was to hold a private service at 8 a.m. Los Angeles Times

Chief says ready for "anything" at Jackson service

Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton says the department will have more officers on the streets of downtown for the Michael Jackson memorial service than it had for last months' Lakers victory parade. Bratton tells CBS' "The Early Show" before the service at Staples Center that officers "really just do not know how may people will actually show up" and that officers "are prepared for anything." Police have warned those without tickets to the event that they will not be allowed anywhere near Staples Center. Bratton says the cost of security is coming out of city money, and expressed hope that some of the same business donors who helped pay for the Lakers parade would help defray the cost of the memorial. Associated Press

L.A. Councilman: City should be reimbursed for Michael Jackson memorial

Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine said today that concert promoter and Staples Center owner AEG should pay all the expenses for Michael Jackson's memorial tribute, and the cash-strapped city should be reimbursed for the cost of deploying police and fire crews to secure the streets around the event. Zine said the city is in the midst of a budget crisis and cannot afford to spend millions to secure the event. "This is not an emergency. This is a memorial service for a celebrity who died a week ago," Zine said. "We are cognizant of AEG's need to honor the memory of Michael Jackson, but they should also be cognizant of the taxpayers' needs."  Los Angeles Daily News