LA 2028 Olympics | The Massive Infrastructure Push to Get the City Ready

A lot of people are wondering whether Los Angeles will be ready for the 2028 Olympics because of staffing shortages, especially on the police side, and other factors like transportation and homelessness. Our guest today is Artin Sodeifi, who's a commissioner with LA County. He's here to tell us what kind of investment the county is making to be ready for the Olympics. This is going to be a big undertaking, and that's why we need to make situational changes. There is a very good coordination going on with the federal government and the state and local governments as well. I'm Siamak Karami. Welcome to California Insider. Artin, it's great to have you. Welcome. Thank you so much for having me, Siamak. You are a commissioner in LA County, and the Olympics are about to come to LA. A lot of people are wondering, are we ready, and can we do this in LA? Oh yeah, absolutely. So there is a very good coordination going on with the federal government and the state and local governments as well. Just to give you kind of a clear example of how prepared LA is, or LA County as a whole, there's a $30 billion investment currently being underway for LAX. That's a $30 billion expansion project. They're going to be adding a new gate. They're going to be making the- $30 billion. $30 billion. Yeah, it's staggering. But the good news is, not just this helping the current status of the airport flow in terms of traffic and transit, but accommodating the huge number of people that we're going to anticipate for the Olympics. And what about other things like the security? People are concerned, especially with the shortage of police officers, because there's a hard time recruiting and budgets also. So interesting you brought that up, because LA28 is seeking approximately 45,000 volunteers starting summer of this year, 2026, in order to bring more attention and resources to address the need for such a huge event. But security detail, I believe, is covered. $1 billion is being invested by the federal government for security. That's notwithstanding the local presence. That's notwithstanding ambassadors that are going to be also present. And ambassadors are not necessarily security. They are individuals that have good, accurate knowledge regarding what events are happening and what information should be given to tourists or participants for the events. This 45,000 you mentioned, is it the ambassadors? Or is it going to be on top of the ambassadors? Yeah, so the 45,000 are volunteers that are anticipated to work beyond the actual people that are retained by LA28 staff. And some of those positions can be occupied in an ambassador role. So LA is recruiting 45,000 volunteers to actually help with the Olympics? Correct. That is their target goal. And look, this is going to be a big undertaking, okay? We're talking about 50 events at Olympics. In 1984 in LA, it was about 23 events. We're talking about more than twofold increase in the number of athletes, 15,000. 15,000 athletes are going to come here and they're going to compete. And that's why we need to make situational changes, especially with our traffic, right? Our transportation. Part of the initiative is to propel a transit-friendly environment. So people can use public transit. There's a lot of contractual arrangements going on right now with LA Metro. And the reason why that's happening is because if somebody wants to attend an event, there's not going to be enough real estate for all cars individually to come park near given stadiums, right? So the public transit system is going to be beneficial in twofold, in my opinion. Number one, it's going to be a cheaper way to access things because, you know, the transit rate is generally cheaper than commuting from a far distance with gas. And paying for parking too. And paying for parking, very good. But also the transit system will bring you next to the gate. Whereas if you're parking the car, you have to wait for the shuttle and then you have to make another commute walking. So I believe this will help, A, bring more people invested in that mode of conduct or mode of transportation, rather. And this might change, at least in some cases, the people's outlook in public transit moving forward for LA County. What about the LA Metro? You know, there has been some concern about safety on the Metro. And is it going to be at a level where everybody can use it? So as we speak, there are a lot of contracts that are being entered into by municipalities in LA County with LA Metro to kind of consolidate the transportation system. That includes upgrades for transportation. That includes better efficiency. And I presume with a $1 billion investment in security detail, we're going to have security at stations or possibly even on these transit devices like buses, for example. Homelessness is another issue for LA. Do you think there is a way for LA to resolve that? Well, look, LA County right now has approximately 70,000 people that are homeless, OK? There was a measure on the ballot in 2016 that passed. Measure, I believe, HHH. $1.2 billion, OK? Now, that money is earmarked to create shelters for purposes of housing homeless. As of 2025, there's only 14,000 units that have been built. There's 70,000 homeless people. But thus far, after nine years, as of last year, only 14,000 units have been built. I don't believe that is an ultimate solution to homelessness. It's helpful. It's definitely beneficial. We're getting 14,000 people housed or sheltered. And you also have to consider this, CIMAC. Most of the people that are homeless in LA County are unsheltered, OK? So if you compare it to New York, most people in New York that are homeless are sheltered, right? So it does address that paramount issue. But I believe we need to go ahead and address the root cause of homelessness. There is a misconception that most of people that become homeless fall into homelessness because of mental illness or substance abuse disorder. And that's not the case. That's about 20% of people that fall into homelessness, at least in LA County. The majority, about 60%, is economic-based. So we're talking, you know, higher cost of living, higher rent, you know, income not stabilizing or keeping in proportion with rising costs generally. So do you think this issue will be there during the Olympics? How do you think the city will deal with homelessness while the Olympics are here? That's a very good question. So the Olympics obviously is a central event, exceptionally important event. So there are contingencies in place, right? So let's give you some perspective on the homeless. Most of the homeless are in the area of train stations, bus stations, things where conduits of public transit happen, and obviously under the overpass as well. That condition in itself doesn't necessarily cause a conflict with existing homeless population and tourists or participants seeking to go to Olympic venues, right? For example, the athletes will have a dedicated carpool lane to get to the events. Public officials. So as well, public officials related to the Olympics. So there's not going to be interference with the games. Obviously, the homeless population is free to go where they want. But I don't believe it'll interfere, you know, of a material consequence to Olympic transit. What about the looks of it for LA? Because that's another thing that people have been kind of looking at LA and California with the homeless issues. What are your thoughts on that? Yeah, so I can tell you that LA County is working hard to address some of these things in terms of presentation, right? So I'll give you a couple examples. As part of the LAX expansion project, they're adding four outdoor park areas as part of a beautification and more of an integration of the population or transit population at ILX. Beyond that, there are fan zones that are being created. They're using Paris 2024 as a model. Those fan zones will obviously be placed in areas that are, let's say, further away from a lot of trafficked areas or very busy areas. Kind of dedicated areas that will entertain fans, will have a mechanism to view the event, even though they might not actually be at an event. So they will have TV screens and they would have projectors? Probably projectors as well. But these are dedicated fan zones. I don't believe the positioning and composition of the LA County plan in congruence with LA28 would impinge or rather create a situation where there's direction towards areas that are either populations where homeless typically stay, like Skid Row, for example. I believe they would be situated in areas that are commute-friendly, but also in areas that are safer. There's not a lot of frequency of homelessness in that area. You mentioned homelessness. You mentioned that the county spent the HHH money, went to housing, but not many people got the housing. What are your thoughts on that? Would you think the money got wasted? What should have been done with that money? The fundamental problem, in my opinion, or the issue, is not necessarily the $1.2 billion. The issue stems from the delay, because there's zoning compliance issues, there's environmental compliance issues, there's construction delays, in the sense that a county of 70,000 homeless over a nine-year period of getting 14,000 units for housing for the homeless is not a rate that is sustainable or going to markedly fix the homeless problem or sufficiently address it. So although that is a valid approach, I believe there should be other uses of funds in order to target things that are the more immediate effects or the foundational impacts that draw people into homelessness. Not necessarily dealing with homelessness because it has already occurred, but addressing the root cause so we eliminate that catch-up opportunity. We can't keep building to house more homeless if the root cause never subsides or is addressed. So getting to them before they lose their home, essentially before they're in the street. The dynamics, the situational construct, in terms of housing prices, in terms of cost of living, has to be reasonable. Otherwise, the sheltering system can never catch up with the need to shelter homeless. You mentioned that in LA, from what you have seen, 60% is financial and the 20-something percent is mental illness and substance abuse. We have heard from others that it's the other way, but what kind of data are you guys seeing that you're seeing more poverty-related homelessness in LA? Because everyone has their statistics and it would be good to know if you guys are seeing certain data. Here's the way I can reconcile that. There might be a conflating of data because the people that end up dying, for example, the homelessness on the street, about 45% is because of drug overdose or alcohol abuse leading to death. That's a staggering statistic, so approximately half of the 70K. What I can also say, and this is as a little tangent here, dovetailing, a lot of these individuals are unsheltered, as I mentioned, the majority, and about 10% or so live in their cars. Some people that have jobs still live in their cars. Correct. So they're trying to make a living, but their circumstances are not where they should be. And sadly to say, many homeless people die because they're killed in car accidents. And the reason that's happening is because a lot of them live under overpasses or freeways, and a lot of them, as I mentioned, are under drug abuse conditions. So that creates a situation where these accidents that are happening occur because of their state of affairs. You mentioned we need more shelters. Do we have enough? Because some people have told us the shelters are not full, but then we've also heard from some others that they said we don't have enough shelters. The proposition, the measure HHH, right? That added, as of 2025, about 14,000 units, okay? That action or that objective will not necessarily realize a stoppage in the homeless issue, right? It's like a mitigating factor. It's like a band-aid over the problem. The amount of shelters also being built, as I mentioned, is dictated or restricted by zoning compliance matters, environmental compliance as well, and construction delays, right? Unless and until there's a way to make those systems, those subsets more expedient or more streamlined, then just a strict sheltering approach is not gonna solve or sufficiently address homelessness. Now, some people might wonder, isn't the county in charge of those permits or the city? How come we cannot expedite these permits for these facilities? Do you have any thoughts on that? LA County has, it's the biggest county in the United States. It has a lot of resources, a lot of smart people, a lot of departments. I believe there's ways to improve that process. I believe there are ways. We just have to figure out ways to improve those. In terms of the money side of this, there is a cost to doing all of this, and do you think LA will benefit from it? Can you tell us the money side of it? Well, I can tell you that LA County projects to sell about 13 million tickets for the event, which is a very, very high sum, and that will obviously benefit, I believe, LA County. So that's the short term, right? The long term benefit of having the Olympics here is that by having more attention and direction to people's mind towards public transit, we will save, you know, or what would be occasion, it would be less traffic accidents, would be less congestion, less need for public services to tend to traffic accidents. I mean, I can keep going with that correlation. So that's a long term consequential change. And I believe that will happen. As I mentioned, the LAX expansion project, you know, there's going to be a new terminal, Terminal 9. There's going to be upgrades to existing terminals. Those are jobs. There's going to be a train system that will be a conduit for transitors from getting from end to end in the airport, which will save a lot of time, eliminate the need to get in your car, at least for people using that system. So those are jobs. Those are existing people that need to be there permanently, individuals that need to go ahead and service the train or other appliances or mechanisms within the expanded airport. So that's going to be an economic boom right there because LAX is an international airport. So you think some of this infrastructure that's getting built right now, it's going to have long term benefits for the county? Absolutely. Absolutely. And in fact, one of the concerns that are voiced by the public with respect to the LAX airport is a traffic loop that creates a lot of congestion. And by the design and projection of this type of expansion project, that will be greatly mitigated or reduced because... So the loop will go away or traffic will come in a different way? Traffic will come in a different way. They're looking for more expansion of space in terms of leveling different pathways of travel. By adding another terminal, which would be approximately 12 to 17 more gates, you are basically spreading out the populace of that location, which will alleviate congestion as well. So that is a material change and a good improvement. After people come to these games using the train system, the metro, they're going to like it. They might use it. Are you guys planning that long term, people in LA are going to shift after the Olympics to use the public transportation? So there's two points of consideration. We're talking about two sets of categories of people. The people that are just coming to LA to watch Olympics and the people that are actually living here, right? I believe that if there is a substantial change in terms of accessibility of public transit, for example, there's going to be a public transit system directed towards the LAX, which is a great idea in my opinion, because that'll obviously mitigate the existing situation over there with traffic, but also further public transit because a lot of people want to use planes to travel. So that aspect in mind and the expansion of metro contracts with many municipalities in LA County will obviously put this at the direct attention of the populace. And yes, I believe it will have some impact, some improvement, and some more people will be transitioning to public transit. So do you see this Olympic coming to LA? This is a major event. You mentioned 15,000 athletes are coming. Do you think this is going to create a boom or a big opportunity for businesses in LA? So it is essentially going to create an immediate economic boom for businesses because they have to service the tourists, the participants, the locals, and any other individuals that are officiating the event. So yes, in the short term, it will provide a measurable boom. In the long term, it remains to be seen. I can tell you that at these fan zones and other spots where they're setting up apparatus to bring people together, yes, you will have obviously vendors there that will be selling likely food, but time will tell to answer your question more clearly whether or not the economic boom will translate. In the long run. This must be an opportunity for LA to change the perception, especially after the fires. Do you think there is an opportunity for LA to show a new face to the world? I think so. I think essentially what people that are participating or traveling to different places in the world need to realize or appreciate is that unless and until they've been to that area and had a firsthand experience of that city, of the activities of that city, or of the dynamics, they shouldn't exclusively rely on optics, sound bites, or images about that area. So that judgment call, I believe is best left to the people attending the event and enjoying the event. Do you think LA was misrepresented after the fires, especially during the fires and over the last few years? Because there's a lot of bad news about California and a lot of bad news in LA with homelessness, with the fires. You've heard the expression generally in journalism, right? If it bleeds, it leads. So that suggests that in general, I'm not pinpointing any news outlets, but the more connotative and more salacious a situation is, the more press it will get, the more attention it will get, right? And those optics and that image will override substantive, let's say, analysis of this city or its state of affairs, right? So the image of the fires and the homelessness, yes, that is a image that has been portrayed or demonstrated or derived from this area, but it's not exclusive. You know, there's a lot of intrigue and interesting things about LA County and California as a whole. I mean, we have well over 500 cities in the state and it is pretty dynamic in the sense that not one city necessarily bleeds into the other city. You know, they have their own character and style, which makes the state intriguing in that capacity. So again, I don't believe to, let's say, a persisting issue like homelessness and an issue regarding wildfires will override public consciousness or ability to appreciate the good in California. What is it like for you to be in this commission and seeing the issues? Because you have some level of insider view versus before you joined. Have you had issues where you changed your opinion of what you see? My background is in law, so I am very analytical about making conclusions. I don't draw conclusions from just straight impulse or emotion, but I do see that there are certain priorities that are, let's say, more repeated in terms of the LA County ambit, at least to the extent of my position in that realm. And I agree that in a county as large as LA County, there are many facets that we have to consider and try to prioritize effectively. For people that are just voting every two years or four years, you're sitting on this commission, you have some inside information. What do you see the priorities should be from your perspective? Yeah, look, I think we talked about homelessness. That is a very important consequential issue to the county and the state as a whole. We need different levels of approach to addressing homelessness. Sheltering is a good and valid approach, but we also need complementary actions to be taken. So that's definitely important. Transportation, so that is key. Look, I've been stuck in 405 traffic like many other Americans or Angelenos, because I feel you. I know it's a pain. So we have to figure out a way that is for us convenient, better access, and something that we can develop a habit about. The issue is, I mean, if you look at New York and LA, right, the transportation system in New York has been effective, has been quite effective. We have to figure out innovative ways, correct ways, and practical ways to get that done here. We have the brainpower, we have the resources. We have to integrate those things and make that happen. What do you think is missing on that front? Why do you think people, we cannot build the transportation like New York? Is it the people's habits or are there other things? Both, all of the above. So it's the habit, right? I mean, let's call it as it is. If I want to go visit my friend and he's three blocks away, I'll get in my car. That's habit-driven, okay? So that's number one. Number two, we need the infrastructure to change or we need to upgrade to existing infrastructure, right? If we don't do that, then obviously the population, you know, is obviously gonna feel the pains of delayed transport, congestion, car accidents. So those are things that we can change. We have the ability, we just need the initiative. Artin, you got involved with the LA County Commission. How did you get involved? Well, I had a deep interest in serving the county in some capacity. I wanted to become a commissioner. So I did seek out that opportunity, go through the channels, including filling out an application, being interviewed to get into that important position because, you know, we, this commission, Local Governmental Services Commission, has an important role because we provide recommendations to the Board of Supervisors. And we see many different types of topics or needs throughout our meetings. I do want, and I do have an affinity of helping my community. And I would encourage others to find a mechanism, a way to give back to this country, whether on the local, state, county, federal level, in order for a nation of this caliber to subsist and promote good values and retain our freedoms, we need to advance both through our own personal and professional life, but collectively as Americans. You know, the state of California right now is having a very competitive race for governor. And I truly hope that we choose an individual that truly represents the priorities and needs of the people. Politics has become divisive. This is, you know, a clear issue that we're facing. One of the reasons, in my opinion, it has become divisive is people are tethered to Team A or Team B. Or they hear labels and those labels don't promote cooperation and understanding. They actually create division. I don't think that's a way to unify. I mean, these are the United States, okay? There's a reason why that's embedded in our country's name. We can't work together. We should look beyond labels, beyond past stances, and understand what is it we all need and how we can best achieve it. Artin Sadeifi, LA County Commissioner. It was great to have you on California Insider. It was a pleasure to be here. Thank you, Siamak. Thank you. Tell us what you think about this conversation with Artin. Do you think LA is ready for 2028 Olympics? And do you think this is a good opportunity for LA to improve its brand image globally? You can always write to us at siamakacaliforniansider.com or comment. We'll read all of your emails and comments. I'm Siamak Khorrami. This is California Insider. We'll see you next time.