City Told to Up Its Ante in Bid for GOP in ’92 : Politics: Leaders asked in private meeting to commit $3 million in tax money to stay in running for next year’s Republican Convention.

San Diego leaders, here to celebrate Gov. Pete Wilson’s inauguration, were told privately Monday that their bid to host the 1992 Republican National Convention may be doomed unless the city kicks in an extra $3 million in tax money to underwrite the event.

The surprising assessment came from second-hand sources, including White House Chief of Staff John Sununu, and was relayed to the San Diegans in a closed-door meeting at the downtown Hyatt, just hours after their favorite son took his oath as the 36th governor of California.

Mayor Maureen O’Connor said chagrined city leaders immediately rejected the idea of committing public funds, saying they have promised taxpayers not to use their money to help pay for the political and economic plum.

O’Connor and Councilman Ron Roberts later told reporters that the impasse may spell doom for San Diego’s convention chances.

“Right now, I wouldn’t bet on it,” O’Connor said, when asked if San Diego still had a chance to be selected. She demonstrated how San Diego leaders felt by the sudden turn of events by theatrically--albeit lightly--slapping a reporter in his face with her gloves.

Added Roberts: “ ‘Optimistic’ would be the wrong kind of feeling right now. I’m a little disappointed.”

The political intrigue involving the White House was played out against the backdrop of Wilson’s triumphant inauguration, a political coup that San Diego leaders have predicted would finally earn their city an overdue measure of political respect.

Throughout the weekend, Wilson’s own people had underscored the point by talking up the convention and handing out buttons saying, “For Pete’s Sake, Do It In San Diego: Convention ’92.” Barely five minutes after the inaugural ceremony, Wilson spokesman Bill Livingstone assured reporters that San Diego was a cinch to be awarded the convention, which is up for a vote Friday before the GOP’s convention site selection committee in Washington.

In recent weeks, San Diego had emerged as the odds-on favorite to capture the convention with a bid worth about $8 million, Republican sources said. The city pledged $2 million worth of services, with the amount to be reimbursed through the sale of souvenirs and services such as hospitality tents; prominent Republicans promised to raise another $6 million privately.

Republican sources said President Bush strongly favors San Diego, although its new waterfront convention center is too small and has obstructed views, because of the political liabilities attached to rival bids from Houston and New Orleans.

They said Bush wanted to avoid his home state of Texas because newly elected Gov. Ann Richards delivered a blistering personal attack on Bush during the 1988 Democratic Convention. The President also wanted to avoid New Orleans to shun any connections with former Ku Klux Klansman David Duke of Louisiana.

But all that changed when the rival cities sweetened their bids with a $12-million guarantee to the GOP for convention expenses, said O’Connor. Both Houston and New Orleans are said to be using taxpayer money for the bigger guarantee.

Now, Republican leaders apparently want San Diego to match that offer--and use $3 million in tax funds to boot, because they are afraid the private fund-raising effort may draw down political war chests, O’Connor said.

That idea was reinforced in discussions between Sununu--in town to appear at the Wilson inaugural--and Jack Flanigan, vice president for government relations with the Irvine Co. development firm of Orange County.

Flanigan, who is assisting San Diego with its convention bid, said Sununu emphasized his commitment to bringing the political event to San Diego but also hinted at deteriorating support from other quarters.

He quoted Sununu as saying, “I am concerned that I may be one of the last guys in the White House at this point who is convinced that this should go to San Diego. None of this has gone to the President.”

Flanigan, in turn, broke the news to a number of San Diego leaders meeting at the Hyatt Monday afternoon. Among those hearing about the new financial pressure were O’Connor; Roberts; retired banker Gordon Luce; hotelier Anne Evans and Councilwoman Judy McCarty.

“I’m not quite that pessimistic,” Flanigan said about San Diego’s chances. “In the political process, it’s never over until it’s over. I think that San Diego is one of the three (cities) in the mix, but it is at a significant competitive disadvantage all of a sudden because the other cities have apparently upped the ante.

“My impression--and there’s no hard and fast rule in all this--is, in order for San Diego to be competitive, if our information is true . . . I think San Diego has got to look for public sector money because I don’t think the private sector money is there,” he said.

Flanigan said Republican leaders are worried that extracting an additional $3 million from San Diego politicos would leave very little left for the myriad of state and federal races that need money in 1992.

“If you were able to find a large number of corporations that are willing to pay $100,000 to support the convention in San Diego, they may not be forthcoming for other RNC (Republican National Committee) programs,” said Flanigan. “That’s a real amorphous objection . . . no one knows the impact.”

Roberts said Monday that he has asked Wilson’s top aide, Bob White, to intervene with the new governor to help out his hometown. Despite such leverage, both he and O’Connor appeared crestfallen by the latest twist.

“We’re in the fourth quarter, and the ball’s on the goal line and the rules just changed,” said O’Connor.

Ernest Angelo, a high-ranking Republican National Committee member from Texas, said Monday that he had heard of the White House request and felt it might offer a window of opportunity for Houston, the city he hopes will be named as host.

“I’ve been hearing that there’s a substantial amount of support for San Diego, but I’ve also heard they may have difficulty coming up with the money,” Angelo said from his home in Midland, Tex.

“Coming up with the money” would not be a problem in Texas, Angelo said. He said that, if the convention is not held in San Diego, it will “undoubtedly” be held in Houston and that New Orleans is probably out of the running.

He said that Ann Richards, the newly elected Democratic governor in Texas, would not pose the political liability that some may think.

“I don’t consider Ann Richards a liability,” Angelo said. “She’s certainly a liability to the state but not to the convention.”

Ralph Frammolino reported from Sacramento and Michael Granberry in San Diego.