EDITORIAL : ARENA ROUNDABOUT CITY'S STYLE HAS BROUGHT NEGOTIATIONS TO THE VERGE OF COLLAPSE.

THE negotiations for a new sports arena at the downtown Convention Center have been held under a shroud of official confidentiality, so we can't say whether the proposal is good for Los Angeles.

But we do know this isn't the way to run a city. The 15 princes and princesses on the City Council are making a royal mess of the city's negotiations with the owners of the L.A. Kings, who want to invest more than $200 million to build a 20,000-seat home for the hockey team and the Lakers basketball team.

Consider: Council members called upon Mayor Richard Riordan to abstain from the negotiations because he owns property near the Convention Center. So, Riordan withdrew and the city lost the participation of the top citywide elected official, a seasoned negotiator who could have been uniquely effective.

Next, the council didn't delegate the negotiations to a trusted, capable lieutenant. It did the job itself. But a funny thing happened: The city's delegation kept growing as more and more people elbowed their way in.

And as that was happening, the two sides weren't getting closer to agreement. Council members kept adding demands.

Furthermore, the council's actions have had the practical effect of being a serial meeting in violation of the intent of the Brown Act, the state's open-meeting law.

Of course, the council says it can't negotiate in public, only in private. But, with council members taking these opportunities to specify the political price that the development will have to pay for their support, the council really is making its decision on the arena behind closed doors, before the public is briefed on any deal.

But the situation is even worse than that. The proposal might die before getting to an open meeting.

Team owners and investors have thrown up their hands in frustration at trying to do business with the city, and let it be known that they would like to withdraw their proposal and find a different location, outside Los Angeles.

We still can't say whether the proposed deal is good for Los Angeles, but we wouldn't blame the team owners if they walked away and left the city high and dry.

They would be feeling some of the same emotions, and for some of the same reasons, as so many people from San Pedro to the San Fernando Valley who are talking about leaving the city high and tax-dollar dry. Doing business with this council-run City Hall is even harder than fighting it.