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CC - ACTION ITEM: (1) Discussion of Options for City Council Participation in Preparation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics; and (2) If Desired, Retention of the Existing Ad Hoc 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics Preparation Subcommittee and Consideration of Appointments thereto; or (3) If Desired, Appointment of One Member of City Council to Work with City Staff on the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics Preparation; and/or (3) Other Direction to the City Clerk as Deemed Appropriate.
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Meeting Date: February 23, 2026
Contact Person/Dept: Jeremy Bocchino, City Clerk
Heather Baker, City Attorney
Phone Number: (310) 253-5851
(310) 253-5660
Fiscal Impact: Yes [] No [X] General Fund: Yes [] No [X]
Attachments: Yes [] No [X]
Public Notification: (E-Mail) Meetings and Agendas - City Council (02/19/2026)
Department Approval: Lisa Soghor, Assistant City Manager (02/17/2026); Heather Baker, City Attorney (02/17/2026)
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RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council (1) discuss options for City Council participation in the preparation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics; and (2) if desired, retain the existing Ad Hoc 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics Preparation Subcommittee and consider appointments thereto; or (3) if desired, appoint one Member of City Council to work with City staff on the preparation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics; and/or (3) provide other direction to the City Clerk as deemed appropriate.
BACKGROUND
The City Council has traditionally appointed Council Member(s) to represent the City on various “outside agencies” and on City Council Subcommittees. On January 12, 2026, the City Council made appointments to various subcommittees.
The Ad Hoc 2028 Summer Olympics Preparation Subcommittee was created on January 9, 2023 for the purpose of advising and consulting with City staff on the implementation of projects and programs related to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and Paralympics (collectively, “Olympics”). Preparation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup was added to the scope of the Subcommittee on January 27, 2025. Under current Council direction, this Subcommittee will be dissolved after preparation and implementation of event activities has concluded. Current members are Mayor Puza and Council Member O’Brien.
At the January 26, 2026 City Council Meeting, there was consensus by City Council to reconsider the appointments made at the January 12, 2026 City Council Meeting for the Ad Hoc 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics Preparation Subcommittee. This item was discussed and considered by the City Council at its meeting of February 9, 2026. A consensus of the City Council was interested in options for all five members of the City Council to play a part in preparing for these large-scale events. The City Attorney expressed the need to evaluate options in the context of Brown Act requirements. The Council voted to direct the City Attorney and City staff to return to the February 23, 2026 meeting with viable options for City Council participation in the preparation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics. Council further voted to place a pause on the meetings of the existing Subcommittee after February 11th until this item returned to City Council for discussion and direction.
DISCUSSION
Options for participation by the City Council in the preparation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics are limited by the requirements of the Brown Act, which requires meetings of the City Council (i.e., a quorum or majority of Council Members discussing City business) be noticed and open to the public. The City Attorney’s Office and City staff (collectively, “Staff”) evaluated potential structures that could possibly include all members of the City Council outside of a City Council meeting. For example, Staff looked at whether the preparation activities could be sufficiently segregated or siloed into categories (e.g., transportation and mobility; public safety; cultural and economic resources; etc.) to be handled by multiple City Council ad hoc subcommittees with no City Council Members serving on more than one subcommittee. After careful review and consideration, the City Attorney’s Office determined that such a structure is not viable within the confines of the Brown Act due to the inevitable overlap between categories and issues among those categories, with all activities coming together for a single event. The overlap of subject matter within multiple subcommittees leads to potential “serial meetings” in violation of the Brown Act.
Serial Meetings
A serial meeting occurs when a quorum or majority of the Council indirectly discusses City business, even though they are not all present in the same place at the same time. This can occur in two ways. First, the “daisy chain” meeting occurs when person A discusses a topic with person B, who then discusses the topic with person C, and so on. At the end of the chain, a quorum of the Council has discussed and deliberated on the issue.
The second version of a serial meeting is known as the “hub and spoke” meeting. In this case, one individual makes a series of individual contacts with other individuals serving as an intermediary among them and, by doing so, enables a collective discussion among a quorum or more of a body.
Both types of serial meetings are likely implicated by virtue of having multiple subcommittees working on preparation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics. However, it is especially likely that one individual who separately contacts a majority of members of a body will inadvertently share ideas among the majority when multiple Council subcommittees share City staff, who would become the “hub” of a hub-spoke serial meeting by ultimately working with more than a quorum of City Council on a single event where the segmented areas of the event necessarily will have some overlap. City staff would most likely need to share information with a quorum or more of Council Members for this structure to work and in doing so, would run afoul of the Brown Act.
Options
In light of the limitations of the Brown Act, Staff has identified the following viable options for Council participation in the preparation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics.
1. Retain the Existing Subcommittee: If desired, the City Council may retain the existing Ad Hoc 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics Preparation Subcommittee. This structure was specifically recommended to comply with Brown Act requirements. If the City Council retains the existing Subcommittee, it should consider the appointment of Council Members thereto.
2. Designate a Single Council Member: If desired, the City Council could designate one Council Member (e.g., the Mayor, the Vice Mayor or a single Council Member) to work with City staff on the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics events.
3. Bi-Weekly or Monthly Reports at City Council Meetings: If desired, City Council could direct City staff to put a regular item on the City Council agenda on a bi-weekly or monthly basis to provide an update to City Council on preparation activities and receive feedback from the full City Council. This option could be utilized independently (i.e., dissolving the subcommittee) or it can be used in combination with Options 1 or 2 above.
Staff also considered whether establishing separate subcommittees for each of the events (i.e., one for 2026 FIFA World Cup and one for 2028 Summer Olympics) with different Council Members appointed to each in order to allow for more participation among the Council was feasible; however, this option is not recommended due to potential overlap in activities and participating organizations resulting in similar concerns due to Brown Act limitations.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with the discussion and direction on this item.
ATTACHMENTS
None.
recommended action
MOTIONS
That the City Council:
1.A. Appoint ______________ and _____________ to the Ad Hoc 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics Preparation Subcommittee; OR
1.B Leave the Ad Hoc 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics Preparation Subcommittee as currently constituted;
OR
2. Designate a single Council Member to work with City staff on the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics events;
AND/OR
3. Direct City staff to put a regular item on the City Council agenda on a bi-weekly or monthly basis to provide an update to City Council on preparation activities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics events and receive feedback from the full City Council;
AND/OR
4. Provide other direction to the City Clerk as deemed appropriate.