San Antonio looking at convention costs

WE'VE MOVED! Democratic Convention Watch is now at http://www.DemocraticConventionWatch.com

In what I expect may be a common theme among cities, San Antonio's mayor is worried about the cost of hosting the 2008 Democratic Convention:

San Antonio Mayor Phil Hardberger is not ready to throw an offer out to either the Democrats or Republicans without a clearer picture of what it would cost to land either of the conventions.

"I wouldn't rule out making a serious bid for either convention," Hardberger says. "But the truth is that political conventions can cost a city a lot of money."

This is now the second San Antonio city official who has expressed concern about the cost of hosting the convention.

In the same article, a San Diego GOP convention planner talks about the convention's costs:

Fred Sainz says he negotiated the deal to take the 1996 Republican National Convention to San Diego. He is now press secretary for the mayor of that city, which has already passed on its invitation to bid on both 2008 conventions.

Sainz says that 1996 convention cost San Diego $40 million. He says those in 2008 could cost their host cities much more. "It's a different environment now," Sainz says. "With security concerns and other factors, the cost would be way above that ($40 million) now."

It would not suprise me if we lost a few of the 11 cities just for cost reasons.