It’s not a secret that the Los Angeles Clippers and owner Steve Ballmer are attempting to to get out from under the Lakers’ shadows at the Staples Center in Southern California.
Over the past several years, this team has been linked to a plot across from the soon-to-be erected Inglewood NFL stadium.
According to Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, the Clippers’ efforts to build a new arena in Inglewood have also violated California law.
“When the City Council (of Inglewood) voted to enter into an ‘exclusive negotiating agreement’ with the owners of the Clippers in June 2017, it did not include in its meeting agenda a description about the location of the proposed arena or the scope of the project, according to Deputy District Attorney Bjorn Dodd,” Curbed Los Angeles reported on Wednesday.
Dodd continued with rather alarming allegations against the Clippers’ brass and the city of Inglewood.
“The deficiency of the agenda descriptions appears to have been part of concerted efforts between representatives of the city and the Murphy’s Bowl LLC to limit the notice given to the public,” the DA noted.
The DA’s office in Southern California ultimately found that these omissions violated the state’s Brown Act, which notes that the public should be made aware of the specifics regarding the sales of publicly-owned land.
Unfortunately for those advocating against the possibility of a new NBA arena in Inglewood, the DA’s office received these claims too late to take action. If the office had been made aware of these allegations beforehand, negotiations between Inglewood and the Lakers would have been deemed “null and void,” according to Dodd.
This all comes amid public backlash against a potential Clippers arena in the city.
Despite the DA’s stance on the subject Wednesday, there’s not much the office can do about this situation. Their only hope is that public backlash might prevent a deal from actually being completed.