Thursday, January 11, 2007

AP misses the main labor issue

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

In the main AP article today on Denver’s convention win, the AP makes a significant mistake:

In the end, Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean enlisted the help of labor leaders in Washington, including AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union. A compromise was negotiated to staff the Pepsi Center entirely with union labor for the duration of the convention, effectively taking the last major obstacle off the table. Continue Reading...

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Don’t believe reports of more delays

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

There’s an AP story on some sites, for example, here on MSNBC, which says:

“The Democratic National Committee is pushing back a decision on the site of its 2008 national convention until next month.” Continue Reading...

Sunday, January 07, 2007

Jim Taylor vs the Democratic Convention

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

Jim Taylor’s issues with Denver’s bid to host the 2008 Democratic Convention is starting to strike some nerves, as seen in the comments below. Here’s an overview from Time:

The talk of Denver is how the 2008 Democratic Convention, which would be a perfect showcase for this newly left leaning region, may be thwarted by a local labor leader so passionate he once picketed a Bruce Springsteen concert. That concert was being held in the city’s Pepsi Center, and Jim Taylor, head of Local No. 7 International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, thought that the Boss shouldn’t perform in an arena that refused to sanction unionized workers. The Pepsi Center still doesn’t have union labor — and it is the proposed site of the Democratic Convention Continue Reading...

Saturday, January 06, 2007

Willhite: Significant Progress

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

Denver’s Debbie Willhite says negotiations are making progress:

A decision on where to hold the 2008 Democratic National Convention is not expected for at least another week, but local organizers are more optimistic that an agreement can be reached on labor issues that have held up Denver’s bid. Continue Reading...

Saturday, January 06, 2007

Denver by default

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I just don’t see how the convention can go to New York after this:

Referring to Denver as the city “which everybody says is the odds-on favorite,” Mr. Bloomberg emphasized the difficulty of raising enough money to cover the costs of playing host to the convention, sounding very much like a man reluctant to win his own bid.
…
“I have no idea what they’re going to do,” Mr. Bloomberg told reporters, referring to Democratic officials. “As I said, we’d love to have them, but I don’t think the city can put itself on the line in this day and age to guarantee” the $80 million to $100 million needed for such a convention. Continue Reading...

Thursday, January 04, 2007

No decision until later this month

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

From WNYC:

New York and Denver are neck and neck in competition for the Democratic National Convention, in 2008. But both cities face fund raising challenges, so Democratic party chairman Howard Dean has said he’ll hold off announcing the winner until later this month. Continue Reading...

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Denver labor leader not facing reality

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

I’m sorry, but you can’t believe how amusing I find it that Jim Taylor, the local Denver labor leader who is holding up Denver’s bid to host the 2008 Democratic Convention, is at this extremely late date trying to get Denver to switch its proposed site from the non-union Pepsi Center (but which will have union staff during the convention) to the union Colorado Convention Center:

“The big spaces there could work,” said Jim Taylor of Local 7 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.
…
The last Democratic convention to be held at a convention center was in 1984 at San Francisco’s Moscone Center. Debbie Willhite, director of the Denver 2008 host committee, said problems with that convention led the Democrats to insist on holding the gathering in a large arena. Continue Reading...

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Denver and union leader still talking

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

The latest on Denver’s negotiations with it’s local labor leaders. From the Denver Post:

Negotiations to ease labor issues and save Denver’s bid for the 2008 Democratic National Convention have made little progress despite a decision on which city will host the convention expected soon. Denver and host committee officials have been in contact with local stagehands union leader Jim Taylor for about two weeks. But Taylor still objects to holding the convention at the Pepsi Center, another union official said.
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Leslie Moody, president of the Denver Area Labor Federation, said Taylor and national labor officials want to hold the convention at the Colorado Convention Center. Continue Reading...

Monday, January 01, 2007

How we got here

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

There have been a lot of new readers since this blog started over a year ago, so here’s a summary of how we got to two cities, Denver and New York, both vying to be the host of the 2008 Democratic National Convention:

I started the blog on November 7, 2005, just after DNC Chairman Howard Dean announced that the convention would be held Aug 25-28, 2008, just after the Summer Olympics, which was a great date both for both financial and political reasons, and eventually forced the GOP to start their convention on Labor Day. New Orleans was the first city openly discussed, but Denver, as they have all year, was first in expressing interest, forming a Host Committee, and accepting an invitation to bid for the convention. But even by late November, 2005, questions about Denver’s labor issues began to surface. By mid-December, 35 cities were invited to bid to host the convention. Continue Reading...