Catering, Fundraising and Other Woes Plague Democrats’ Convention

By Jessica Peck Corry, 7-11-08

As national Democrats prepare for their party’s convention in Denver next month, they find themselves questioning a longtime ally for liberal causes: The New York Times. The controversy arose after a Times report Sunday highlighted concerns with Democratic National Convention planning.

The Times referenced a 28-page contract that asked caterers to provide food in

"at least three of the following five colors: red, green, yellow, blue/purple and white." Garnishes could not be counted toward the colors.  No fried foods would be allowed.  Organic and locally grown foods were mandated, and each plate had to be 50 percent fruits and vegetables. As a result, caterers are shying away.

The Denver 2008 Host Committee struck back, saying the above requirements were actually only voluntary suggestions. 

"No food service establishment or business is being told what to serve," said Parry Burnap, the committee’s greening director, in a press release. "We are merely creating a voluntary option to demonstrate the connections between good nutrition and a healthy environment, to highlight the healthy and environmentally responsible character of our city, and provide voluntary choices that respond to consumer preferences for healthy, local or organic food while promoting Colorado growers."

But, according to one caterer I talked with - a woman who regularly caters for local political events - she gave up on submitting a vendor proposal after learning that the "green" goals of convention organizers would amount to dozens of pages of paperwork that would have also mandated new expenses for her growing business.

With red tape like this, it’s no wonder the convention planning committee has been forced to dump several convention-related parties.  Of course, outrageous cuisine requirements defined by their eagerness to protect the common good were just part of the problem.  Competition and cost efficiencies are not a priority for a political party determined to please everyone from environmentalists to the big business lobby.

Officials, including Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, also disputed the Times allegation that convention planners are now $6 million in the hole, calling the charges against Democrats "uninformed criticism."

But was it?

Mike Dino, CEO of the convention’s host committee, told the Rocky Mountain News that

it could be related to earlier published reports where he believed they would need between $5 [million] and $10 million more than what the contract between the host committee and the DNCC dictated.

But then there are facts that the party’s leaders cannot ignore, spin, or deny. While small businesses are being forced to jump through endless hoops to meet "voluntary" goals, when it comes to office accommodations for the DNCC, no expense was spared.

When the DNCC opened its Denver headquarters months ago, organizers opted for expensive downtown real estate at a cost of $100,000 a month, the Times reported. And this doesn’t include the $50,000 a month to rent furniture, another cost cited by the Times. For a couple hundred grand, the committee certainly could have bought some pretty nice office furniture that it could have donated to non-profits once the convention wraps.

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper - ever the philanthropic darling - and his friends in power once sold Denver taxpayers on the concept of hosting the convention here, saying the four-day event could drive $160 million into the local economy.

Yet, convention fundraising was more than $11 million short of a its $40.6 million goal in mid-June.

Even with lethargic fundraising, Democrats are now focused on the 75,000 seat Invesco Field as the spot where presumed nominee Barack Obama will give his acceptance speech on Aug. 28.  The move could cost organizers $3 million.

While a few million now may not sound like a lot, the tab appears to be ballooning by the minute.

Editor’s note: Jessica Peck Corry’s weekly blogs are part of NewWest.Net/Politics’ “Diary of a Mad Voter” feature, a group blog, published in partnership with the Denver Post’s Politics West intended give a glimpse into the hearts and minds of several independent-minded voters and thinkers in the Rocky Mountain West in the ‘08 election cycle. For more columns check in with www.newwest.net/madvoter. And for more information on each of the bloggers, click here.