Fiscal Note
The proposed resolution authorizes the Mayor to sign a Torch Relay Agreement with the Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2028 (LA28) to host the Olympic Torch Relay in the City of Madison in 2028. The agreement requires the City to facilitate logistical support for the Relay when it is in the city, including necessary permits, traffic coordination, and event security. It further includes a mutual indemnification clause that the City's Risk Manager and City Attorney will continue to negotiate with LA28. While the indemnification language in this agreement increases the exposure to the City, the City has coverage for this indemnification requirement under its liability coverage subject to the policy’s terms and conditions if the indemnification language cannot be removed.
The cost of supporting the event will be dependent on specific plans and routes of the Relay. Expenditures and funding from external sources will be built into future budget requests or related resolutions. Destination Madison will provide assistance to the City to ensure the required logistical support for the event is financially feasible for the City. No City appropriation is required with the signing of this agreement.
Title
Authorizing the Mayor to sign a Torch Relay Agreement with the Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2028.
Body
WHEREAS, the City of Madison has been invited by the Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2028 (“LA28”) to host the Olympic Torch Relay and Cauldron Lighting in the City of Madison as part of the 2028 Olympic Games to be held in Los Angeles; and
WHEREAS, during this relay the Olympic Flame will make its way across all fifty states, showcasing the cultural and civic diversity that makes our nation unique, before arriving in Los Angeles at the opening ceremony on July 14, 2028; and
WHEREAS, while LA28 will lead the Relay, its success will rely on key support from each host city, described in a Torch Relay Agreement that outlines the primary areas where LA28 will need the City’s partnership to deliver this historic event; and
WHEREAS, the Torch Relay Agreement describes the roles of the parties, including the City’s role in assisting LA28 with the staging of the Relay and associated events and ensuring there is not a conflict with other major events in the city on the day of the Relay; and
WHEREAS, the agreement requires the City to provide logistical support such as a street use permit, traffic and crowd control, law enforcement coordination, sanitation, and medical services; and
WHEREAS, the Greater Madison Convention & Visitors Bureau, d/b/a/ Destination Madison, as the City’s tourism promotion organization for destination marketing, will provide assistance to the City to ensure success and financial feasibility of the event and compliance with the LA28 procedures under terms to be developed before the summer of 2028; and
WHEREAS, details such as the exact route and the process to nominate torch bearers and other participants will be released to the public on a schedule to be determined by the LA28 Committee and their communications team with coordination from Destination Madison;
WHEREAS, the Agreement includes a mutual indemnification clause, requiring the City to defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2028 and their officers, servants and employees, “from all loss or liability for injury or damage, actual or alleged, to persons or property arising out of or resulting from the City’s acts or omissions in the performance of this Agreement. City of Madison APM 1-1 requires Common Council approval before the City indemnifies another party. The Risk Manager and City Attorney will negotiate with LA28 but if that cannot be removed, the Common Council approves indemnification of LA28 and related parties; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the Mayor is authorized to sign a Relay Torch Agreement for the purposes described above with the Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2028 (LA28), and authorizes indemnification of LA28 and its affiliated parties, in a form approved by the City Attorney and the Risk Manager.