In the latest chapter of a long-running lawsuit in federal court, Regency Outdoor Advertising has filed a demand for a jury trial to determine if the city owes the company at least $10 million in profits lost because the  company was denied permits to put up new billboards more than 10 years ago.

A U.S. District Court judge ruled three years ago that the West Hollywood billboard company could not pursue the claim for lost profits, but that ruling was overturned earlier this year by the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals.   A settlement conference on the issue  of damages was held last week in district court with attorneys for the city and Regency, but no agreement  was reached.

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Mural permitted through Portland's public art easement program

The legal black hole into which public art murals have fallen is a source of frustration and even anger for L.A. artists, art organizations, and politicians in areas where murals are significant elements of cultural history and objects of community pride.  Sometimes called the mural capital of the world, the city is rapidly losing that distinction to such cities as Philadelphia, which have thriving public programs to encourage new murals and preserve and restore existing ones endangered by ravages of weather and vandalism.

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Billboard illegally erected near downtown Los Angeles

You might think that Clear Channel, the world’s biggest billboard owner and a company that promotes itself as a responsible member of the communities it operates in, would not oppose a bill currently pending before the California State Senate that would levy fines and require disgorgement of revenue from companies that illegally erect or modify their billboards and other outdoor advertising signs.  However, you would be wrong.

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Regency Outdoor Advertising billboard on Robertson Blvd.

Almost $700,000 in Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) funds has been paid to private law firms defending the agency and city of Los Angeles against a lawsuit a West Hollywood billboard company filed more than ten years ago over the CRA’s denial of permits for two new billboards.

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Five billboard company lobbyists, clockwise from lower left: Ken Spiker, Jr.; Mark Waronek, Laura Brill, Steve Afriat, Kristen Montet Lonner

For the first three months of 2010, the five major billboard companies in L.A. paid $379,000 to firms lobbying on their behalf, according to reports filed with the City Ethics Commission.  At that rate, those companies would exceed the $900,000-plus spent in 2009 by almost 60 per cent by the end of this year.

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