Convention headaches

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The LA Times pulls varied issues together and decides holding conventions is hard:

Municipal leaders were jubilant when they won the right to hold this year's event. But the convention is raising questions about whether this perennial booster town has bitten off more than it can chew.

The host committee is as much as $10 million short in fundraising, and financial difficulties have forced it to cancel two dozen parties for delegates. Denver officials are scrambling to deal with the logistical challenges of Barack Obama's acceptance speech being held at an outdoor stadium instead of in the arena where the rest of the convention will take place. Even special daisies that the city bred partly to show off for the convention are failing to sprout.
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Local political leaders and the host committee insist everything is fine, and that any bumps along the way will be overshadowed by the attention showered on the city next month.
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[Denver Mayor John] Hickenlooper referred to the event as the "blasted convention" and compared it to a summer he spent painting a house for which he was never paid. "If we'd known back then what we know now, we'd never have done it," he said, before quickly adding, "and what an incredible shame that would have been."

Last month the host committee said it was $10 million short of its $40-million target, but it now refuses to discuss fundraising totals.

Given that the Obama campaign increased convention costs by moving the last night to Invesco, I would certainly expect them to help close the money gap.

Denver Daisies a Dud

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Back in the optimistic days of spring:

The city with a namesake omelette now has a namesake flower.

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper unveiled the "Denver Daisy" on Tuesday along with a flower-planting effort and new initiatives aimed at leading residents down a more environmentally friendly path.

Hickenlooper, during an Earth Day news conference at the Denver Botanic Gardens, said the daisy was created and named in honor of Denver's 150th anniversary. The plant is formally called Rudbeckia Denver Daisy.

He said that thanks to the sponsorship of KeyBank, 300,000 seed packets will be distributed throughout the city. Packets will be given to students in Denver elementary schools and inserted in the May issue of 5280 magazine.

The mayor said daisies planted this spring would leave the city "awash in color" during the Democratic National Convention in August, and for generations to come.

But in the dog days of summer:

It was the sort of civic idea that nobody thought would cause problems.

Last April, in honor of this city’s 150th anniversary, Mayor John Hickenlooper unveiled a newly cultivated daisy variety called the Denver daisy. He promised to distribute free seeds throughout the city and vowed that Denver would be “awash in color” by the time the Democratic National Convention hit town in August.

But much to the consternation of citizen gardeners, the Denver daisy apparently does not much like the city for which it is named.

The plight of the yellow flower was raised at a city meeting this week by municipal officials who said their own efforts to grow the flower had failed miserably.

“It’s like having a cake, and you can’t light the candles,” Councilman Charlie Brown said. “I’ve been a gardener for 40 years, and all I’ve got is a bare spot.”

You can read more about the Denver daisy here.

Now Denver's only $11 million short

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Two days ago Denver was reported to be up to $15 million behind its fundraising goals for the 2008 Democratic Convention. Today: $11 million short. Progress? Not enough to give it even a whiff of positive spin:

The Denver Host Committee continues to lag in its convention fund-raising efforts, missing a Monday goal of raising $40.6 million, falling short by almost $11 million. The committee reported raising $29 million at the close of business on Monday, a disappointing showing for a committee that had promised to have more in the bank by now. - NY Times

Some of the problems have nothing to do with the late-decided primary:

Rick Ridder, a Denver-based Democratic strategist who has helped the city's convention efforts, said the shortfall is a significant concern.

"Without a doubt, there was tentativeness on the part of a lot of major companies because they didn't know who the nominee was going to be," Ridder said. "And frankly, Denver is not a major corporate center. Many of the corporations who contributed to Boston (site of the party's 2004 convention) just haven't seen advantages to coming here." - AP

But Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper certainly isn't giving up. He was in Kansas City recently:

He had less than an hour to be at The Capital Grille to meet with five high-powered movers and shakers and either extract money from them for the Democratic National Convention or get them to hook him up with other potential donors. The clock was already ticking. This trip - the last fundraising effort before the Denver 2008 Host Committee hits its Monday deadline to raise $40.6 million - would be quick. Essentially 24 hours of meetings stacked upon meetings stacked upon meeting.

And the outcome?

"They liked me. This was a successful evening. They're all going to work for our success. One guy will write a check," Hickenlooper said. "I don't know yet, but he gave me his card and said, 'Send me your information and I'll write you a check.' So whether that's $25,000 or $50,000 - he's a fairly small restaurant owner - so I don't know if it will be really big dollars, maybe $5,000 or $10,000."

$10.99 million to go...

A message from Mayor Hickenlooper

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As we turn the page....

A message from Mayor John W. Hickenlooper and the Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee:

Number of Visitors: While as many as 50,000 visitors are anticipated between Saturday, August 23 and Thursday, August 28 - including delegates, assorted guests and 15,000 members of the media - it is important to remember that this is less than the number of people that come downtown for Rockies' Opening Day or for a Broncos game. Denver has hosted games in all three downtown stadiums at the same time, involving close to 150,000 people. The Convention visitors - who won't all be downtown at the same time - will spend significant amounts of time inside the Colorado Convention Center, Pepsi Center and other event venues. Downtown restaurants will be open for business - and should be able to easily accommodate local diners as activity on the Convention floor takes place between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Street, Residential and Commercial Access: We are working very hard to ensure that downtown residents and workers can get around and access their buildings with ease during the Democratic National Convention. Because of the Pepsi Center's location in the Platte Valley, transportation- and security-related impacts on downtown will be minimized.

• When people talk about a "security perimeter," what they are really talking about are areas around the Pepsi Center that may require additional screening or security measures. Those areas will be finalized and announced closer to the Convention, but please know that our intention is to minimize any impacts on roadways, businesses and residences. More updates will be provided to businesses and residents near the Pepsi Center - and the general public - over the coming weeks.

• While there will be some modest traffic impacts in the downtown area during the Convention, it will not tie up the downtown. Downtown workers should not have difficulties getting to or leaving work, particularly since the main hours of Pepsi Center activity (4 p.m. to 9 p.m.) do not correspond with standard morning or evening commute times. The bottom line is: Downtown will be accessible
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Free Speech: We support the rights of people to express their views safely and in a manner that respects the rights of others along with local, state and federal laws. The 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston attracted 10,000 demonstrators. Some peaceful demonstrations are anticipated in Civic Center, Skyline Park and other downtown parks during the week of the Convention.

• As a point of reference, approximately 75,000 to 100,000 people gathered in Civic Center Park for a May 2006 rally, and it did not inconvenience downtown businesses, residents or City services. The annual set-up for the Downtown Denver Partnership's Taste of Colorado will also begin in Civic Center on the Wednesday of the Convention week.

• A designated parade route - the details of which will be announced by June 12 - will provide organizations that want to march toward the Pepsi Center a safe means to do so in a manner and timeframe that minimizes mobility impacts on downtown businesses, residents and visitors.

Freewheelin the Convention - 1000 Bikes For All To Use

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The Host Committee along with Humana and Bikes Belong Coalition held a press conference at the Denver Convention Center yesterday afternoon. Host Committee President Eldra Wedgeworth, Mayor John Hickenlooper and Host Committee Director of Greening Parry Burnap were on hand for the event.

In order to reduce the environmental impact brought by the convention 1000 bikes will be dispersed throughout the city. The bikes will be available to not only convention goers but also visitors and residents of the city.

Bike stations are set up at various points around participating cities, universities or corporate campuses, with each station housing a collection of bikes which are equipped with an onboard CPU which will track and convert distance traveled, duration of the ride, calories burned and resulting carbon offset. Each station is accompanied by an unattended kiosk through which participants can “check in & out” a bike. Once the user is finished, they simply return the bike to any Freewheelin station in the program.

After the convention is over Humana will donate 70 of the bikes along with the checkout kiosks to the city of Denver. They are also working with the Twin Cities' wonderful Democratic mayors to do the same thing for the Republican National Convention.

Mayor Hickenlooper, Bikes Belong's Executive Director Tim Blumenthal
and Director of Greening Parry Burnap

After the press conference I spoke to Parry Burnap the Host Committee's Director of Greening. She explained to me the differences in focus between the Host Committee's Greening Team and the DNCC Greening Team. The DNC is in charge of greening at the Pepsi Center and transportation to and from Denver. The Host Committee is focusing on transportation to and from the hotels and events as well as overall greening efforts throughout the city.

Burnap said that shuttle buses will run back and forth between the various locations but that the delegates can get back and forth however they like. This includes bikes, light rail or any other form of transportation they can find.

Parry told me that she's familiar with DCW and had some nice words to say about the site.

Colorado add-on likely for Obama

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We noted earlier this month that current Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and former Denver Mayor Federico Pena were the two candidates running for the Colorado add-on position to be picked on May 17. Pena supports Obama, Hickenlooper was Uncommitted, and the winner was in doubt.

Well, we were told today that Hickenlooper has withdrawn his name for the position, which guarantees it for Pena, and will give the add-on vote to Obama once it becomes official on Saturday.

Update: Here's the story from the Denver Post.

Colorado Add-on Superdelegate: Battle of the Mayors

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Colorado will pick its add-on superdelegate on May 17th. The two remaining candidates are current Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and former Denver Mayor Federico Pena.

Mayor John Hickenlooper and former Mayor Federico Pena will likely face off this month to be named Colorado's one at-large "superdelegate" to the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

The two are the only nominees for the slot, which could have national implications because superdelegates likely will decide the contest between Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama.

Unlike delegates who are pledged to a candidate based on the outcome of their state's primary or caucus, superdelegates are free to vote for whomever they think has the best chance of winning in November.

Pena is a national co-chairman for Obama's presidential bid and Hickenlooper has not committed to either candidate

A third nominee for the at-large slot, Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, bowed out after saying he believed the mayor of the convention host city should be the at-large superdelegate.

Romanoff is a supporter of Clinton. "When I found out the mayor was on the ballot, I asked for my name to be withdrawn," Romanoff said.

Colorado Democratic Party Chairwoman Pat Waak said Pena's name was submitted by superdelegates committed to Obama and that Romanoff's name was, in turn, submitted by Clinton backers. It isn't clear who submitted Hickenlooper's name, but the mayor said he did not actively seek the position - Rocky Mountain News

Hickenlooper is a rock star in Denver and in any other year would be a shoe-in to be named as the add-on. A lot could change between now and May 17th that could decide who gets the nod.

Park Permit Lottery a success - Unless you're Recreate 68

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The on-going saga of Denver's park permit plan for the convention took a big step yesterday when the permits were decided on by a lottery. A previous attempt at the lottery on Tuesday was halted after a Recreate 68 member realized they weren't on the list even though they had applied multiple times. Problem solved? Hardly! Recreate 68 didn't get the permit they wanted for Civic Center Park.

"We're having our protest at Civic Center," said a livid Glenn Spagnuolo, a lead organizer for the group Re-create 68. "We're not going to give up Civic Center park to the Democrats. . . . They are creating a very dangerous situation."

Re-create 68 and its affiliates packed the random lottery with applications to better its chances, but the single entry by Jenny Anderson for the host committee won for Sunday, Aug. 24. The convention will be held Aug. 25-28 at the Pepsi Center.

Spagnuolo has been meeting monthly with city officials for a year, hoping to win the right to use Civic Center throughout the convention. He says 50,000 war protesters are coming for a march from Civic Center to the Pepsi Center on Aug. 24.

He said Thursday that he would not respect the host committee's permit and would occupy the park, even if it forced police to intervene. - Denver Post

Yesterday we received the following statement from Mayor Hickenlooper's office regarding the lottery

We worked to hard to develop a process that is fair, equitable, open and transparent – with built-in safeguards (including the public’s participation) to catch any errors. That system worked on Tuesday – enabling discrepancies to be detected and addressed without impacting the integrity of this process.

In our analysis on Wednesday, we identified the source of the problem. The data itself was accurate, but had been incorrectly sorted by the spreadsheet, creating errors in the lottery cards. Because of that, the lottery process started over from the beginning on Thursday.

City staff went through an exhaustive process on Wednesday to identify the source of the problem, create a new database, and cross-check all of the data, lists and lottery cards multiple times – with observers present. An hour before today’s lottery started, individuals and organizations requesting permits had the opportunity to review all of the lists and cards themselves, ensuring everything was correct. The process – involving more than 200 requests for more than 200 available slots in 12 venues – went smoothly.

Looks like it may be an interesting start to the convention.

Convention planning on track

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

With all of the primary craziness going on we'd like to take a moment to talk about the main reason for this site... the Democratic National Convention.

As Denver marks the one-year anniversary since the city was selected to host the 2008 Democratic National Convention, the Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) announced that planning for the four-day event is on pace or ahead of schedule across the board.
"It's remarkable how time flies," said Leah D. Daughtry, CEO of the DNCC. "And with just eight months to go, we have not a moment to waste. But we have certainly made the most of every hour of every day during this last year. From assigning hotel rooms to mapping our transportation system to engaging the community in our planning, our team has worked tirelessly to ensure we are on pace or even ahead of schedule on all fronts. All of this progress would not have been possible without the steadfast support from our partners here in Colorado - in particular, Governor Ritter, Senator Salazar, Representative DeGette and Mayor Hickenlooper, the Mile High City's best ambassadors." - Press Release