Olympic fever... II

As the Olympic Flame burns bright in Torino, I can't help recall how it has often run through the streets of L.A.”: first, in 1932, then, in 1984, and most recently, in 2004 (Tom Cruise carried it at one point - go figure!).

As folks debate the height of Los Angeles as a city, they often point back to Peter Uberoff and his Olympics. From Traffic to civic pride to culture - the 1984 Olympic games gave Los Angeles its utopia - or as close to it as we've come. And maybe it was all a façade. (Sure, trucks were banned from freeways, but LAPD "moved" homeless folks from around Downtown to clean-up the place. Yes, the LAPD Mounted Unit did what they had to do to make this place look great.)

Sadly, the reminder to City leaders that the Olympic spirit in Los Angeles is something to strive towards is hidden in a dark corner of City Hall. The Olympic Torch of 1984 - the symbol for our city's greatness - is mounted on a wall in the southwest grotto of the City Hall Rotunda. On occasion, if anyone uses the main entrances, they can catch a glimpse as they head out to catch a DASH bus on Spring Street or try to make it to the Red Line Station before the next train arrives.

Perhaps the torch should be moved to the Council Chambers, prominently featured so new councilmembers that show up every 4 to 8 years will be forced to remember what was possible.

Yes, we have other reminders: the benches of Exposition Park with the mark of the 23rd Olympiad and the occasional expenditure of the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles (the non-profit group that oversees and awards the surplus from the Games in support youth athletics in the Greater Los Angeles Area). But those can be forgotten easily.

I say, move the torch to the Ferraro Council Chambers.