DNC fundraising raises red flags

Donations get dicey if giver has business pending before city

Stuart Steers, Rocky Mountain News

Published January 18, 2007 at midnight

Text size

More Denver Democratic National Convention 2008

Now that the jubilation over Denver winning the 2008 Democratic National Convention is subsiding, backers of the effort will shift into high gear to raise $30 million locally to fund the event.

However, that effort may come with some controversy. In Boston, which hosted the 2004 convention, Mayor Thomas M. Menino was criticized for accepting donations for the convention from half a dozen development companies with business before the city.

Like Denver, Boston was under enormous pressure to raise huge amounts of private money to pull off the convention. That city's large number of homegrown financial firms pledged millions, with household names like John Hancock, Fidelity Investments, and State Bank & Trust heading up the list.

In Denver, companies like Qwest, Comcast and Xcel Energy are playing a similar role. Qwest alone has pledged $6 million.

In a statement, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper said the city wouldn't allow donations to the convention to influence decisions.

Boston's experience may give a hint of what Denver will see in the coming year. Almost every major company in the area was asked to contribute, and six-figure donations came in from a who's who of corporate Boston, from the Boston Red Sox to Dunkin' Donuts.

Menino said he would not solicit contributions directly from anyone with business before city hall, but he still met with representatives of Boston's biggest law firms to drum up $475,000.

Steve Farber, the Denver attorney who co-chairs the Denver 2008 host committee, said many donors here are Republicans who think the convention will be good for the city.

"They know this is great for Colorado and the West," said Farber. "The attention it's gotten in the business community has been huge."

But in an era when big money and politics have become intertwined, the donations can raise eyebrows.

"Any time you're raising massive amounts of money there's the potential for abuse," said Chantel Taylor, director of Colorado Citizens for Ethics in Government.

In a related development, on Wednesday the local stagehands union issued a statement saying it looked forward to resolving labor issues at the Pepsi Center. The stagehands will work during the convention, and their objection to holding the gathering in the normally non- union Pepsi Center held up Denver's bid.

"Denver can be a great place for the Democrats to nominate a winning ticket that will turn this country blue," said James Taylor, who heads Local 7 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. "It's just not right for the party of working people to hold their convention in an anti-union facility."

Subscribe to the Rocky Mountain News