By Lila Brown, California Black Media
(CBM) – Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass made history at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris this week when she became the first Black woman mayor to ever receive an Olympic flag at the closing ceremony of the two-week-long global competition.
On Aug. 11, Mayor Bass received the Olympic flag as part of the handover ceremony from Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who is also the first woman to serve as mayor of France’s capital city.
“When we do that exchanging of the flag, we will be sending a message to girls all across the world that they can do anything,” Bass said Aug. 10, before the ceremony. “They can run for the gold, and they can run for office, or hopefully they’ll do both.”
Bass said the time she spent in Paris will help her and her team prepare to host the 2028 games in Los Angeles, a top priority for her administration.
“We must continue our urgent work ensuring that Angelenos benefit from the preparation for the Games, as well as in the decades following,” said Bass, before leaving for Paris last week.
“Together, we will showcase Los Angeles — not just the popular tourist destinations, but each of our beautiful neighborhoods and communities. We will leverage the Games to help local small businesses, create local jobs and create lasting environmental and transportation improvements throughout Los Angeles.”
In Paris, during a tour of the media center, Bass answered questions posed by reporters.
“One of the things that I really hope we can replicate in Los Angeles is the 25% commitment that will go to smaller businesses,” she said, responding to a question asked by California Black Media about Los Angeles’s plans to ensure small and minority businesses participate equitably in the procurement process.
“Even the venues here allowed restaurants to have an opportunity. Our focus is on small businesses because we know small businesses hire Angelenos,” Bass added.
Bass also promised that there will be diversity at every level — from the executive of the International Olympic Committee, the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee and even the Los Angeles 2028 Local Organizing Committee.
To achieve this goal, the Mayor’s Office is hosting roundtables with business associations to receive their input on how best to engage their members and other stakeholders regarding procurement and contract opportunities.
Bass said her office and city departments are also working closely with LA28’s Community Business Working Group, which will develop the plan and specific goals for small and local businesses as a key part of their procurement strategy.
When Bass arrived at LAX on Monday afternoon, she joined Angelenos and other well-wishers to celebrate the Olympic Flag’s official return to Los Angeles for the first time in 40 years, alongside LA28, members of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, Delta executives, and members of Team USA.
In France, Bass visited communities away from the Paris city center to examine how they were involved with the Games, touring facilities focused on operational logistics and media relations.
The delegation included L.A. City Council President Paul Krekorian, Councilmember Traci Park, Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, LA Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins, LA84 Foundation President and CEO Renata Simril, and Priscilla Cheng, Senior Vice President for Government Relations at LA28. All three Councilmembers sit on the Ad Hoc Committee for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Councilmembers Park and Yaroslavsky serve as Chair and Vice-Chair, respectively, and President Krekorian was a member of the Ad Hoc Committee when the host city contract was signed.
The 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles will be the first-ever Olympics event held without building new permanent venues. Instead, Los Angeles will rely exclusively on existing and temporary venues. The city is also focused on lowering the overall carbon footprint of the Games by promoting the use of circular building practices and significantly reducing waste at the games.
Los Angeles aims to host a “no-car” Games and will also promote the use of zero-emission vehicles.
“That’s a feat in Los Angeles, because we’ve always been in love with our cars, but we’re already working to ensure that we can build a greener Los Angeles,” said Bass.
Ahead of welcoming the world to Los Angeles in 2028, the city will also enhance water conservation by promoting water efficient fixtures, plant water saving landscapes and enhance existing open and green spaces.
Matt Szabo, City Administrative Officer of L.A., said the mayor’s office is working closely with LA28 to ensure alignment and accelerate the City’s sustainability goals.
“When a city gets to host the Olympics, it invests in the event, and, then, that event invests back into that city for years and decades to come,” said Szabo.
The Los Angeles region recently secured nearly $80 million to electrify Metro buses to reduce air pollution. This followed $900 million in federal funding awarded to strengthen critical infrastructure, expand the Metro Rail system and reconnect communities ahead of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games through a spending package signed into law by President Biden and new grant funding from the Biden-Harris Administration.
In addition, LA Metro will receive $709.9 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Fiscal Year 2024 transportation spending law, which will go toward sections two and three of the D Line (Purple) Subway Extension Project, among other projects. The Los Angeles region will also receive $160 million in new federal grant funding for street and transit infrastructure, traffic safety and to improve connections between neighborhoods. This includes $139 million that will directly improve transportation mobility access during the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games and create lasting enhancements for communities.
Before leaving Paris, Bass met with Deputy Mayor Krista Adams of Brisbane, Australia, to discuss expanding collaboration as Host Cities ahead of the 2028 and 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The 2028 Summer Olympic & Paralympic Games in Los Angeles will be the city’s third time hosting the event. The other times were in 1932 and 1984.
“We are going to hold the Olympics for everybody in our community. We’re very proud of that,” said George Pla, President of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. “We appreciate the best practices that we learned in Paris. We will take that home to Los Angeles and put on a great Olympic Games.”
