Public Won’t Get Convention Party

The public’s chance to be a guest at a Democratic National Convention-related celebration evaporated last week, after organizers couldn’t find anyone willing to provide a site for an open-invitation party.

LA Convention 2000, the city committee staging next month’s convention, spent five months trying to set up the proposed Aug. 11 community festival, said Ben Austin, the group’s communications director.

But concerns over crowds, possible protesters or competing events kept host committee officials from finding anyone willing to provide a location for regular Angelenos to celebrate and kick off the first political convention here in 40 years.

After five rejections, committee officials had no choice but to give up, Austin said. “We feel like it’s Friday night and we’re left without a date.”

Organizers were prepared to pay as much as $150,000 for the public celebration, which would have been an outdoor concert with cultural entertainment and speakers somewhere in the city, Austin said. It was not part of their convention contract with the Democratic National Committee, and promised to be a much smaller affair than other obligatory fetes, including a $1.5-million party scheduled Aug. 12 for 15,000 journalists.

Reluctance to throw or even attend giant parties here is nothing new. With the exception of Fiesta Broadway in May, downtown festivals have all but disappeared in the past decade. The City Council canceled Street Scene, a popular downtown festival, in 1987 after violence marred the event the year before.

And the low turnout at the millennium celebration became fodder for several episodes of “The Tonight Show.”

But Peter Dreier, professor of public policy at Occidental College, blamed fear for the demise of the community party. Not only is there a lack of confidence in the Los Angeles Police Department, he said, but the potential for rowdy protests or worse surrounds convention-related events.

“Any large gathering of thousands of people always has the potential to ignite into something controversial, particularly when it’s [seen as] being sponsored by a political party,” Dreier said. “The same thing would be true in Detroit or Chicago . . . or Philadelphia. They are all going to be nervous about public events that they can’t completely control.

“It gets compounded [here] by the lack of confidence people have in the LAPD to not cross the line between social order and civil liberties,” Dreier added. The first time was in 1923 when police arrested author Upton Sinclair for reading the 1st Amendment at a longshoreman rally in San Pedro, he said.

LAPD spokesman Lt. Horace Frank called Dreier’s explanation “outrageous,” given that cost and other factors unrelated to security played a role in the rejections. “We’re prepared and ready” for the convention, he said.

Austin said the LAPD never raised any security concerns about the proposed party.

While it’s unfortunate that there will be no party for the public, it is not unusual, said Noelia Rodriguez, chief executive officer of LA Convention 2000. There was reportedly no community festival during the last Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, when John F. Kennedy was nominated for president. And Philadelphia’s host committee, which is organizing the Republican National Convention that starts next Monday, is not throwing a public party either, she said. “This was always something extra” for Los Angeles.

The first proposed site was Pershing Square, which fell through because of concerns over potential protesters and traffic congestion, according to city officials.

Next was Gilbert Lindsey Plaza, outside Staples Center, but that would have cost more than the budget for the party, Austin said.

Then came Universal CityWalk. Rodriguez said the site seemed promising until the new subway station opened, which has brought in huge crowds. Afterward, Universal officials decided they couldn’t handle a citywide party on top of the usual visitors, Rodriguez said.

“To avoid overcrowding, we reluctantly passed on this event,” said Eliot Sekular, Universal Studios publicity director.

After the CityWalk idea flopped, the committee tried El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument, home of Olvera Street. Rodriguez said the host committee had been working with the mayor’s office in what had become a last-ditch effort to use the historic park, which is managed by the city.

Rodriguez said the mayor’s office told the committee July 17 that El Pueblo would not be available. “It was an 11th-hour issue. [City officials] were concerned there was less than a month to deal with the issues,” she said.

Rodriguez and Austin would not disclose what the final site was, although a spokeswoman representing the managers of California Plaza on Bunker Hill said they were approached by the committee a few days ago.

“Unfortunately, there was already a concert scheduled to go on that evening,” said Melissa Morales, spokeswoman for Equity Office Properties Trust.

Rodriguez acknowledged that some representatives of prospective sites were worried about protesters, but she would not specify which ones. She said the LAPD was consulted as each site was considered, but officials there never raised concerns about possible protests. Frank couldn’t confirm that Friday night.

With an extra quarter-million dollars or more, they could have found a site, Austin said. But there wasn’t any more funding available, given the contractual obligations.

Added Rodriguez: “We put forth a valiant effort; now it’s time to move on.”

Despite cancellation of the community event, opportunities remain for people to take part in convention-related activities, Austin said.

Volunteers are still needed to assist with convention events, including a volunteer appreciation party after the convention, he said. So far, 7,000 people have signed up. Anyone interested should call (213) 532-7400 or look on the Web at www.lahost2000.org for details.

Any notion that Angelenos aren’t involved is “wrongheaded,” added Peter Ragone, a spokesman for the Democratic National Convention Committee. “People in Los Angeles are playing a huge part in making this the greatest political convention in history.”

To volunteer, call (213) DNC-2000 or log on to www.dems2000.com.

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Researcher Penny Love contributed to this story.