After a week-long war of words that led Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to jump into the tiff between USC and the Coliseum Commission over a long-term lease agreement, a d tente of sorts was reached Wednesday when the Coliseum Commission emerged from nearly two hours of closed session ready to prepare a counteroffer for USC “as expeditiously as possible,” according to commissioner Bill Chadwick, the Los Angeles Daily News reports.
After hammering out deal points, the commission has directed Coliseum attorneys and outside counsel to prepare a document, which the commission will call for a meeting to review within 24 hours of its completion.
Chadwick said he expected USC to have the response to its offer to pump $100 million into the stadium in exchange for taking over operation – one the commission rejected in August – “well before” the next scheduled meeting, Jan. 9.
The Coliseum’s move was viewed as a positive sign by USC senior vice president Todd Dickey, who earlier in the afternoon told the Coliseum Commission that if it didn’t have an offer by this morning, the school would be prepared to sign an agreement to play next season at the Rose Bowl.
The Rose Bowl Operating Company, which runs the Rose Bowl, plans to review USC’s one-year lease proposal in closed session during its meeting tonight, though officials say any action is unlikely.
