Mayor’s office: Jackson memorial cost L.A. $1.4M

[shel90]

Mayor’s office: Jackson memorial cost L.A. $1.4M – The CNN Wire - CNN.com Blogs


By Paul Vercammen
CNN

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) — The memorial service for singer Michael Jackson cost the city of Los Angeles $1.4 million, the mayor’s office said Wednesday.

Spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton said the costs included putting extra police on the streets, trash pickup, sanitation, traffic control and more for the Tuesday event.

Three thousand police officers — almost one-third of the Los Angeles police force — were on hand to ensure the Jackson events proceeded smoothly, Los Angeles Assistant Police Chief Jim McDonnell said Tuesday.

The city, which is $530 million in debt, set up a Web page asking Jackson fans to donate money to help with the expenses.

On Tuesday morning, hundreds of donors contributed more than $17,000 through the Web site. But then, the high volume of traffic caused it to crash frequently and for long periods of time, the mayor’s office said.

The city, therefore, was unable to collect contributions for several hours on Tuesday. The site also crashed for 12 hours, beginning at 8 p.m. Tuesday — and again, periodically throughout Wednesday morning, the office said.

The Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich does not want taxpayers to pay a penny for the service, his spokesman said Wednesday.

“The city attorney does not want something like this happening again, the city paying (the initial costs) for a private event,” said spokesman John Franklin. “That’s especially in a cash-strapped city, where people have been furloughed or even lost jobs.”

Michael Roth, spokesman for AEG — which own Staples Center and put on the event — could not be reached for comment



I dont think the citizens should pay for this at all!

What do you think?

 

[Oceanbreeze]

Mayor’s office: Jackson memorial cost L.A. $1.4M – The CNN Wire - CNN.com Blogs


By Paul Vercammen
CNN

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) — The memorial service for singer Michael Jackson cost the city of Los Angeles $1.4 million, the mayor’s office said Wednesday.

Spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton said the costs included putting extra police on the streets, trash pickup, sanitation, traffic control and more for the Tuesday event.

Three thousand police officers — almost one-third of the Los Angeles police force — were on hand to ensure the Jackson events proceeded smoothly, Los Angeles Assistant Police Chief Jim McDonnell said Tuesday.

The city, which is $530 million in debt, set up a Web page asking Jackson fans to donate money to help with the expenses.

On Tuesday morning, hundreds of donors contributed more than $17,000 through the Web site. But then, the high volume of traffic caused it to crash frequently and for long periods of time, the mayor’s office said.

The city, therefore, was unable to collect contributions for several hours on Tuesday. The site also crashed for 12 hours, beginning at 8 p.m. Tuesday — and again, periodically throughout Wednesday morning, the office said.

The Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich does not want taxpayers to pay a penny for the service, his spokesman said Wednesday.

“The city attorney does not want something like this happening again, the city paying (the initial costs) for a private event,” said spokesman John Franklin. “That’s especially in a cash-strapped city, where people have been furloughed or even lost jobs.”

Michael Roth, spokesman for AEG — which own Staples Center and put on the event — could not be reached for comment



I dont think the citizens should pay for this at all!

What do you think?

I think that it's a shame that so much money and attention is being paid to this man. Others have died and we didn't make this much of a hoopla over them. This is getting rediculous! I also agree that the tax payers should NOT pay for this, but who should?

 

[Jolie77]

I agree. The citizens of Los Angeles taxpayers SHOULD not be paying for MJ's funeral.

The Jacksons (well not all of them do but some to a degree) have a lot of money and surely, they can be able to afford to pay for MJ's funeral expenses. I also think it is absurd for the funeral to run up to $1.4 million dollars. We all come in the world with nothing and we all should exit out of this world with something little than having a price that is just outrageous.

 

[deafskeptic]

I think LA is between a hard place and a rock in this situation. According to your post, LA is strapped for cash.

They did ask for donations of money to help with expenses of MJ's funeral. Apparently so many people wanted to donate the money that they crashed the site.

I would prefer that the taxpayers didn't have to pay for this at all but I can see where the city is coming from as it's 550 million in debt.

 

[Banjo]

I agree. The citizens of Los Angeles taxpayers SHOULD not be paying for MJ's funeral.

The Jacksons (well not all of them do but some to a degree) have a lot of money and surely, they can be able to afford to pay for MJ's funeral expenses. I also think it is absurd for the funeral to run up to $1.4 million dollars. We all come in the world with nothing and we all should exit out of this world with something little than having a price that is just outrageous.

The headline is rather misleading. The city did not pay for the funeral.

To quote,

costs included putting extra police on the streets, trash pickup, sanitation, traffic control and more

Basically, the city decided to put 1/3 of its police force to make sure everything went smoothly. Did they ask the city to help out with the funeral?

If not, then the city is to blame.

 

[Reba]

I dont think the citizens should pay for this at all!

What do you think?

I agree. The estate of MJ should pay for the funeral and memorial expenses. When police escorts charge for their funeral services, they bill the families for their services. If the survivors of a person killed in action in war, or a grandmother who died of cancer, or a family that was wiped out in a house fire can pay for police escorts, then so can MJ's family.

 

[Jolie77]

The headline is rather misleading. The city did not pay for the funeral.

To quote,


Basically, the city decided to put 1/3 of its police force to make sure everything went smoothly. Did they ask the city to help out with the funeral?

If not, then the city is to blame.

Thanks for clearing this up.

Yeah, the headline is misleading. In this case, If they DID not ask the city to help out with the funeral and yet the city took up the tab for this, then why did the city go ahead with it knowing that the costs of this memorial service would be outrageous and to put the city's finances in a much bigger hole? At this point, we don't know about this yet.

 

[pek1]

Pony up, Jackson family. You charge an arm and a leg for all your shows, you can pay for this one yourselves.

 

[TWA]

The city grossly overestimated the amount of police needed. From what I understand, there were almost as many cops as there were fans. WTF is up with that?

And it's not like Michael Jackson never generated any money for the city of Los Angeles. How about all the shows he did there that brought in millions of tourist dollars? How about all the millions in taxes he paid while living there? All the contributions he made to LA culture and lifestyle (as disturbing as it can sometimes be...)?

But the city is whining about a lousy million bucks because they are so inept at management? Asking the public to pay is a joke--we already pay for stuff like this; it's called TAXES.

 

[shel90]

The city grossly overestimated the amount of police needed. From what I understand, there were almost as many cops as there were fans. WTF is up with that?

And it's not like Michael Jackson never generated any money for the city of Los Angeles. How about all the shows he did there that brought in millions of tourist dollars? How about all the millions in taxes he paid while living there? All the contributions he made to LA culture and lifestyle (as disturbing as it can sometimes be...)?

But the city is whining about a lousy million bucks because they are so inept at management? Asking the public to pay is a joke.

I understand that MJ generated dollars to the city but shouldnt the family be responsible for funeral expenses?

If the city needs to ask for help, why cant it ask their resident celebrities to help?

 

[kokonut]

What a waste.

 

[TWA]

Shel, I believe that the $1.4 million is solely the cost of putting an unnecessary amount of police officers on duty. AEG paid for the actual funeral costs, though I'm sure they stand to make tons of money when the funeral is made into a DVD special or something...).

But your question is actually about who should foot the bill of security, which is completely different from the cost of the funeral itself.

I understand that MJ generated dollars to the city but shouldnt the family be responsible for funeral expenses?

If the city needs to ask for help, why cant it ask their resident celebrities to help?

 

[Cheri]

This must be a joke! Why should the people have to pay for it?

It doesn't have anything to do with the funeral expenses, It has something to do with how much the city had done for MJ's memorial service, like putting in three thousand police officers at the event, and how they had to picked up trash, keeping the traffic under control. Don't the city of LA care about the safely of everyone?

MJ had lived in California since 1997, and had supported so much charities, and had never asked for anything in return. The nation came to stop to honor MJ and I sure cannot believe that the city is complaining about the costs. They sure have no heart. :roll:

 

[Reba]

Shel, I believe that the $1.4 million is solely the cost of putting an unnecessary amount of police officers on duty. AEG paid for the actual funeral costs, though I'm sure they stand to make tons of money when the funeral is made into a DVD special or something...).

But your question is actually about who should foot the bill of security, which is completely different from the cost of the funeral itself.

Then AEG should pay for the extra police hours and trash clean up, just as they would for any event they put on. When AEG puts on concerts at Staples Center, don't they pay off-duty officers for traffic control, security, etc.?

 

[Cheri]

I think that it's a shame that so much money and attention is being paid to this man.

I really wish I knew why people are always so critical of MJ. When Princess Diana had passed away, her funeral were watched by billions of people globally, and the inauguration of President Obama and yet I don't see anyone complaining about it. MJ never had a childhood and he lived his life through cameras and music. Give him a break. I believe he deserves every penny.

Just my two cents.

 

[TWA]

I don't know the answer to that question, Reba. If I had to guess, I would think they have some sort of contract worked out with the city to provide an agreed-on amount of officers for each event, but you never know. These are, after all, civil services, and AEG pays tens, if not hundreds, of millions of tax dollars each year to receive those civil services.

That's what irks me the most about this whole thing. The city is asking someone to "pay" for this, when in reality, it was already paid for with tax dollars on March 13th. Because the city is so poor at managing its finances they can't make good on the services they are supposed to provide.

If a private company ran their business like the city of Los Angeles, they would be run out of town.

Then AEG should pay for the extra police hours and trash clean up, just as they would for any event they put on. When AEG puts on concerts at Staples Center, don't they pay off-duty officers for traffic control, security, etc.?

 

[kokonut]

Well, Kalifunny is run by a bunch of incompetent politicians.

So, there.

 

[Reba]

...MJ had lived in California since 1997, and had supported so much charities, and had never asked for anything in return. The nation came to stop to honor MJ and I sure cannot believe that the city is complaining about the costs. They sure have no heart. :roll:

A young American soldier was also buried that day. He sacrificed his life for his country. The nation did not come to a stop to honor him.

The least MJ's family and AEG can do is foot the bill for the extra police service, just like any other person would have to.

 

[Reba]

I don't know the answer to that question, Reba. If I had to guess, I would think they have some sort of contract worked out with the city to provide an agreed-on amount of officers for each event, but you never know. These are, after all, civil services, and AEG pays tens, if not hundreds, of millions of tax dollars each year to receive those civil services.

That's what irks me the most about this whole thing. The city is asking someone to "pay" for this, when in reality, it was already paid for with tax dollars on March 13th. Because the city is so poor at managing its finances they can't make good on the services they are supposed to provide.

If a private company ran their business like the city of Los Angeles, they would be run out of town.

I don't know about the LA police specifically but most police departments don't include special events in their city budgets. Usually off-duty police are hired by funeral homes, concert venues, carnivals, sports events, etc., for their services. They are not paid by the city for those "extra" hours.

How much a municipality is willing to cover without billing the parties probably varies by each community but I think something like the MJ memorial service goes beyond the normally scheduled police duties.

 

[Cheri]

A young American soldier was also buried that day. He sacrificed his life for his country. The nation did not come to a stop to honor him.

People don't know him, or ever heard of him only that he had passed away the same day as MJ did. And I'm aware that he's a soldier that gave his life serving this country and to all of us he's a hero, but being in mourning may be different than being in mourning for MJ maybe because MJ is well-known to the nation, than Brian is.