Denver, Site of DNC: The Scramble To Pay For It
May 15th, 2008
By DR. CLARISSA PINKOLA ESTÉS, Assistant Editor, TMV Columnist
What with the city of Denver trying to make space for Freedom of Assembly and Freedom of Speech for the thousands of protesters who say they’ll be showing up at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August… including “Recreate ‘68″ and “Code Pink” and “Free Mumia”…amongst others
too, there appears to be a slow-down in raising the promised private money to pay for the convention.
Denver is a small-big town. People joke and say it’s a cow town that outgrew the cows part, but still has the friendly flavor of a small town… despite the fact that Denver and suburbs now hold about 1M people. It’s true though. The people here, for the most part, surely would give you the shirts off their backs if you were in need.
Nonetheless, fundraising for the Democratic Convention is lagging by 55 Million dollars. (The Republicans have their convention paid up already.)
Lots of possible reasons for uncertainty. Foreclosures are up in Colorado by 23% through Jan-March 2008. Frontier, our hub airline at Denver International Airport (DIA) is proposing wage cuts up to 10%.
Regarding DIA, the main chute through which tens of thousands of people will be pouring into Denver for the DNC in August, there still seem to be occasional problems with security and screening. Just this week three federal agents ran through security stops without notifying TSA workers they were agents in pursuit. This caused a shut down of the entire airport
for just under an hour before all traffic resumed. The agents were pursuing two persons ’suspected of trafficking in counterfeit goods.’ The incident is ‘being reviewed.’
In other news, property taxes in Denver have risen to unprecedented heights to pay for light rail and FasTracks installations, and other of Mayor Hickenlooper’s visions for the city. The cost of food in land-locked Colorado and Denver has risen alarmingly over the past few months. The cost of gasoline has nearly doubled in the two years, deeply affecting working families and small businesses who need their cars and vans to create income.
Colorado, including Denver, continues to experience one of the worst droughts on record, with water being rationed for watering and gardening. Water bills for just usual water use have skyrocketed over the last three years.
Into all this comes a real challenge to entice donors to part with their money for what is likely to be a one-time-only event…one that will fatten the small downtown of Denver, with its hotels already at overload capacity with conventioneer’s reservations… but is unlikely to fill the coffers much farther out. Some hope the DNC PR will attract other businesses to headquarter here. Others say that’s a heck of a long shot.
Mayor John Hickenlooper and his proponents for the DNC, have fundraising deadlines. According to The Denver Post,
The host committee fell $5 million short of meeting its March fundraising goals, and still has to reach $40 million by June. Fundraising difficulties are one reason mid-size cities such as Denver are often overlooked for hosting political conventions.
Recently, the Democratic National Convention Committee raised concerns publicly about Denver’s fundraising for other events, such as an arts event and film festival, and a concert at Red Rocks.
The DNCC took the unusual step of airing its concerns in a written statement, which very pointedly said the city ought to be selective in staging auxiliary events and keep focused on its contractual fundraising obligations.
That very public hand-slap seemed to take Hickenlooper aback, who told The Post, “They should call me and talk to me about it. I’m happy to sit down and explain to them that obviously we understand the importance of putting on a good convention.”
Hickenlooper, who has largely taken the lead on fundraising, has said he remains focused on raising money for the convention, but if a potential donor is interested in supporting something other than a political convention, he steers them to the cultural events.
The mayor has promised that no taxpayer money will be used to pay for this convention. That’s good, for there are many Republicans, Independents, Libertarians and people who are disenfranchised from any political leaning, who definitely don’t want to finance what one old cowboy I talked to, called: “the Dems’ Prom Night.”
Also, Denver taxpayers, many aggrieved at their high taxes to pay for things they have no time for, no easy access to, nor interest in –within the downtown city proper– will hold the mayor to his promise.
Some local pundits speculate that if there were suddenly a clear cut Democratic candidate ‘right this minute,’ the 55M more in financial funding needed for the DNC in Denver would start pouring in. Others have a wait and see attitude.
The host city and the Republicans have already met their fundraising needs for their convention in St. Paul, Minn.
This entry was posted on Thursday, May 15th, 2008 at 10:33 pm and is filed under John Hickenlooper, Denver Democratic National Convention, Newsweek Blogitics. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
