LA City Council seeks reimbursements for hosting Summit of the Americas

With Los Angeles hosting this year’s Summit of the Americas next week, the City Council Friday began the process for seeking reimbursements for expenses incurred during the meeting of leaders of countries in North, South and Central America and the Caribbean.

The summit will be held from Monday through June 10 with a focus on “Building a Sustainable, Resilient and Equitable Future” in the Americas. Delegates are expected to arrive Monday and Tuesday, with the main summit events beginning June 8. Some related forums will begin Tuesday.

The summit is organized by the White House and the U.S. Department of State. The Los Angeles Police Department estimated that it’ll cost an additional $3.1 million per day to provide extra staffing during the event, totaling about $15.5 million for the five-day event.

The Los Angeles City Council on Friday asked the City Administrative Officer to report on reimbursement opportunities for expenses, and to collaborate with the police department to explore reimbursement opportunities for security expenses.

According to Garcetti’s office, traffic in and around downtown Los Angeles and LAX will likely be impacted from 10 p.m. Monday through noon Saturday, June 11. The summit will be based primarily at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

“We’re thrilled to host the Ninth Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles and to welcome leaders from across the Western Hemisphere here to focus on our shared goal to secure a sustainable, resilient and equitable future for all our peoples,” Garcetti said. “The Summit will bring not only real benefits to our communities and local economy, but also result in temporary changes to traffic patterns in some parts of the city — and we want to make sure that Angelenos are aware of, and prepared for, these impacts on our streets, highways and freeways.”

The mayor’s office encouraged people to avoid the areas between the Santa Monica (10) and the Hollywood (101) freeways west of the Harbor (110) Freeway, whenever possible.

From Monday at 10 p.m. through Saturday, June 11, commuters should avoid:

• connector ramps from the east and westbound 10 Freeway to the 110 Freeway north;
• the 110 Freeway northbound exits into downtown, including Pico Boulevard, Ninth Street, Sixth Street, Fourth Street and Third Street;
• the 110 Freeway southbound exits for Sixth Street and Wilshire Boulevard;
• Figueroa Street, north and southbound, between Washington Boulevard and Third Street;
• Pico Boulevard, east and westbound, between Union Avenue and Grand Avenue;
• Seventh Street, east and westbound, between Bixel Street and Flower Street; and
• Wilshire Boulevard, east and westbound, between Bixel Street and Flower Street.

People can use the following freeway exits to access downtown between Monday and Saturday:

• exit 16A Santa Fe, 15B Alameda Street, 15A Central Ave, 14B San Pedro Street and 14A Convention Center if traveling westbound on the 10 Freeway;
• exit Convention Center/Grand Avenue/Olive Street, 14A Maple Avenue, 14B San Pedro Street, 15A Central Avenue, 15B Alameda Street, 16A Santa Fe Avenue if traveling eastbound on the 10 Freeway; and
• exit 20B 37th Street and Exposition Boulevard, 20C Adams Boulevard, or transition onto either the 10 or 101 Freeways east or westbound if traveling northbound on the 110 Freeway.

Updates on road closures will be provided on Twitter through Caltrans at @CaltransDist7 and @CaltransHQ.

Buses and trains through Metro and the Los Angeles Department of Transportation may have detours due to the summit, and people can get LADOT updates at @ladotofficial and @ladottransit and Metro updates at @metrolaalerts on Twitter.

Garcetti’s office encouraged people departing LAX to allow additional time to get to the airport, particularly on Monday, Tuesday and Friday. People can check @FlyLAXStats or @FlyLAXAirport on Twitter for the travel time updates.

The United States has not hosted the summit since its inaugural meeting in Miami in 1994. This year’s summit, which is the ninth of its kind, was originally scheduled for 2021 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the U.S. State Department, the meeting promotes regional cooperation and helps address the region’s most pressing issues, including increasing economic competitiveness, enhancing access to technology, countering trafficking and promoting democracy and human rights throughout the Americas.

During the most recent summit — which was held in Peru in 2018 — the region’s leaders committed to fighting corruption, according to the U.S. State Department.

More from Politics