They want to make money selling tickets for the tramway:
> Under the proposal, the studio would share ticketing revenue with the city to support park activities, the company said in a letter to Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department General Manager Michael Shull and Chief Legislative Analyst Sharon Tso. Warner Bros. did not say how much it might charge for the tram ride.
They believe the tourists are causing a problem and that they have a solution:
> Several months ago, Gilbert said, he and a group of Warner Bros. executives drove to Hollywood Lake Park to observe the heavy traffic near the popular landmark. He saw one driver wave a selfie stick while trying to steer a red convertible, he said.
> “We know the problem is getting worse, and the city is looking for a solution,” he said. “We believe we're uniquely qualified. We've been around a long time, we’re local, and we believe we have a good answer.”
$100M buys a lot of cop hours. And the cops will probably recoup their salary by writing tickets to people attempting to visit the sign. An act that is currently illegal. No special interests would be served by that. And it would not feed our city council members’ obsession with literally printing their names on everything they can.
Ticketing the tourists would serve the special interests of the rich idiots who bought properties in the neighborhood despite knowing it was part of the route to the sign.
Additionally, the tramway is a private project that would be built and run by Warner Brothers. No council members would get their names on the tram.
They would for the simple fact of approving a lease arrangement for the city property surrounding the sign. And some increased patrolling would serve the same interests you mention, in a more direct and more immediate way.
They would for the simple fact of approving a lease arrangement for the city property surrounding the sign.
There are many laws against political corruption and everything you've suggested would fall squarely without that category. No politician is going to risk jail and the loss of their pension so they can get their name on a tram. Additionally, what you've suggested is not an allowable part of the permitting process, so WB could simply go to court and get any such naming requirement removed.
And some increased patrolling would serve the same interests you mention, in a more direct and more immediate way
Good luck getting foreign tourists to pay...The increased patrolling would just draw cops away from other locations where there's more serious crime to deter without a meaningful decrease in the amount of tourists. (They've actually tried increasing patrolling before. It didn't work then and it won't work now that selfies are even more of a thing.)
> Under the proposal, the studio would share ticketing revenue with the city to support park activities, the company said in a letter to Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department General Manager Michael Shull and Chief Legislative Analyst Sharon Tso. Warner Bros. did not say how much it might charge for the tram ride.
They believe the tourists are causing a problem and that they have a solution:
> Several months ago, Gilbert said, he and a group of Warner Bros. executives drove to Hollywood Lake Park to observe the heavy traffic near the popular landmark. He saw one driver wave a selfie stick while trying to steer a red convertible, he said.
> “We know the problem is getting worse, and the city is looking for a solution,” he said. “We believe we're uniquely qualified. We've been around a long time, we’re local, and we believe we have a good answer.”