Everything is for sale, and this summer's Democratic National Convention in Denver is no exception.Quite a public-spirited bunch, as Vaughan details.
More than four dozen national corporations have signed up as sponsors of the convention - everyone from Allstate to Xerox. And almost all of them have the same thing in common: They either have business with the federal government or they lobby on pending issues.
To date, the Democratic National Convention Host Committee has lined up 56 corporate sponsors.
It is not a phenomenon unique to the Democrats or Denver. A slew of corporate donors have lined up for the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis, and 20 of them also are sponsoring the DNC.
They include companies like 3M, Allstate, AstraZeneca, AT&T, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co., Ford, Merck, Qwest, the Service Employees International Union, US Bank, Visa and Xcel Energy.
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The committee staging the Democratic National Convention is concerned that Denver's fundraising efforts have been hampered because local officials also are raising money for several cultural events that are expected to be part of the week-long event.Don't you dare touch Cinemocracy!
The host committee was about $5 million short of its March fundraising goal of $28 million, and is supposed to have about $40 million raised by June. Meanwhile, the city is planning and trying to raise additional money for several cultural events.
"Every host city can and should develop a plan to showcase its culture, diversity and attributes on the international stage that a political convention offers," the DNC Committee said in a prepared statement Friday. "Numerous host cities from conventions past have had tremendous success in this regard, and we think that's a good thing.
"But to ensure a successful convention for all parties, fulfilling the contractual obligations that brought this convention to Denver in the first place must remain the top priority.
"Given all the host committee and the city have to support during convention week, we would hope they would be very selective in limiting both the number and costs of any auxiliary events requiring their support."
Extra public events around convention week, Aug. 25-28, could cost as much as $4 million, according to documents obtained by The Denver Post, though Hickenlooper's convention liaison, Katherine Archuleta, provided new figures Friday that she says are more current. Those costs include:
• $2 million for greening initiatives in conjunction with convention week.
• $1 million for an arts event and a film festival, known as DialogueCity and Cinemocracy, though Archuleta says only half that much is needed.
• $550,000 for symposia the mayor hopes to use to woo additional private and corporate donors. Archuleta says the event can be held for $415,000.
• Up to $250,000 for a "Green Sunday" concert at Red Rocks the Sunday before the convention featuring "world famous entertainers." A "Green Sunday Expo" also is in the works. Archuleta says concessions at these events should largely cover the costs.
Host committee spokesman Chris Lopez said officials there remain focused on their convention obligations, and that other city departments and organizations, such as the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs and the Denver Film Society, are raising the money needed to fund the public events.
"Any dollars the host committee has raised have gone to the convention expenses," Lopez said.
Archuleta says the extras are meant to give more people an opportunity to participate in the convention, and that care has been taken to keep the host committee freed up to fulfill its goals.
"The fundraising (for the extras) is not in competition at all with the fundraising that is going on with the host committee."
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