EDITORIAL : SHOW AND TELL ON ARENA THE PUBLIC NEEDS TO KNOW DETAILS OF CITY COUNCIL TALKS.

NOW that the City Council has decided to forge ahead with efforts to reach a deal for a sports arena at the Convention Center, it's time for the council to publicly reveal more of what has been discussed so far in private.

In a 13-2 vote Wednesday, the council said it will seek an agreement with owners of the Kings hockey team, who would like the city to provide land for them to build a privately financed sports and entertainment complex.

The lopsided vote reflects an obvious truth: Most council members' objections and reservations were settled during closed-door negotiations. The public has a right to know what was said in those secret meetings, and to decide whether the council has bargained well.

The public ought to make no mistake; the deal already has been cut, even though a final, legally binding pact hasn't been written. Even though the council action Wednesday was an agreement in principle only, there have been important commitments made by negotiators on both sides.

For example, there's a cap on the potential cost to taxpayers if the city underwrites the cost of providing the land; there's a guarantee that a percentage of jobs and contracts will be for minorities and women-owned businesses; and many other points.

Council members should spill the beans on the negotiating points, explaining in detail why they believe they are beneficial. It's essential for the public to make up its own mind about whether this is good enough.

We ourselves are not prejudging it, even though it does have the potential to bring positive effects for the city as a whole. But that can't be assumed, especially not with this council, which seems much less interested in running city government in a businesslike way than in running it for favored interest groups to assure the 15 council members of continued strength in their fiefdoms.

Based on some of the comments so far from officials inside City Hall, the city hasn't done all its homework on the arena. There's wishful thinking about having pro teams, and the hit-or-miss approach of throwing more money into downtown blight-reduction plans that have yet to pay off. The Convention Center, itself a huge investment of public resources, runs millions of dollars in the red every year.

We trust Kings owner Edward Roski and investor Philip Anschutz will make sure that the $250 million complex makes economic sense and turns a big profit for them over time. They are businesspeople.

The council, on the other hand, continues to fly blind. Meanwhile, the people want assurances that their money is being well spent, and it's up to the council to show them.