Council Delays Vote on Greek Theatre Pact

LOS ANGELES — Anticipating a bitter legal challenge, members of the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday put off voting on a proposal to rescind the operating agreement of the Greek Theatre until today’s meeting.

The council, at the urging of Councilman Joel Wachs, will consider overturning its agreement with the Greek-Nederlander Inc., which last month received a five-year extension on its contract to run the theater.

If the City Council decides not to act, Los Angeles voters will be asked in November to approve a referendum requiring the council to hire the lowest bidder to run the theater.

The referendum drive was sponsored by Universal House of Blues, which argued that the council unfairly and illegally extended the Nederlander contract.

Nederlander, meanwhile, is prepared to file a temporary restraining order to keep the city from rescinding the contract. The group also hopes to block a referendum on the grounds that signatures on petitions supporting it were obtained under false pretenses.

City election officials confirmed Monday that they had certified enough signatures to put the issue before voters on a November referendum, at an estimated cost of $1.8 million.