Staples Center to host convention

By Benjamin Parke

Daily Bruin Contributor

Eighty-four hotels, 250 buses on 34 routes, an estimated 50,000
guests and $132 million pumped into the local economy ““ these
are just some of the elements of a national political
convention.

The Democratic National Convention will take place August 14-17
in the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles.

The city last hosted the Democratic Party’s convention in
1960, when John F. Kennedy was nominated for President. Democrats
hope they can repeat such a successful launch of a presidential
campaign from Los Angeles this year, when Al Gore is officially
named the party’s candidate.

“We believe that history’s on our side,” said
Lydia Camarillo, who is chief executive officer of the
convention.

Camarillo said besides the nominations that will take place,
those who watch the event or participate as volunteers will witness
“democracy at its best” as the party’s platform
is discussed.

“The convention is going to be very exciting, so you will
want to tune in or log on,” said Camarillo. “We are
going to be discussing issues important to everybody ““
including students.”

Organizers may be hoping to avoid the outcome of another 1960s
Democratic convention ““ that of Chicago in 1968. Street
protests fueled by outrage over the Vietnam War outside of that
city’s convention were quelled under the direction of
legendary Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.

Commerce Secretary Bill Daley, the son of the former Chicago
mayor, now heads Al Gore’s presidential campaign. Tom Hayden
was one of the famous “Chicago Seven” who faced trial
for inciting a riot in the 1968 protests, and is now a state
senator who represents the district that includes UCLA. He has been
vocal about what he sees as a possible police overreaction to the
protests being planned for this year’s convention in Los
Angeles.

Hayden criticized a $1 million state budget request for crowd
control that included equipment, such as pepper gas and gas
launchers, for the Los Angeles Police Department. He said that the
request ““ which was eventually rejected ““ was
“hidden” within a state budget proposal for the
California Highway Patrol, so that the LAPD could avoid publicity
over the purchase.

Concerns over convention security have been amplified in the
wake of the rioting around the Staples Center that erupted after
the Lakers’ NBA championship victory. But in an opinion
piece, Hayden wrote that protesters don’t necessarily want to
shut down the convention. Lisa Fithian, of Direct Action Network,
agrees.

Her group, which took part in the recent protests in Seattle and
Washington, D.C., is now making preparations for the convention in
Los Angeles, as well as the Republican National Convention in
Philadelphia.

“We want to deliver a message that we want no more
business as usual,” said Fithian. She added that the purpose
of the demonstrations is to “highlight critical issues
locally and globally.”

Fithian said everyone she knows has been encouraging
non-violence for the planned protests. She said that what she was
concerned about was “state violence” ““ such as
the use of painful holds and pepper spray by police, as well as
preemptive strikes against protest groups.

“I don’t consider property destruction
violent,” said Fithian in response to a hypothetical
situation of smashed storefront windows ““ one of the
by-products of the Seattle protests. “That doesn’t mean
I consider it an effective tactic in terms of what our goals are. I
don’t advocate it.”

At UCLA, the Environmental coalition, among other groups, has
sponsored meetings to plan for the demonstrations in August.

Meanwhile, the Democrats are calling for 10,000 volunteers
““ including students ““ to work inside the walls of the
Staples Center. Melanie Ho, of the Bruin Democrats, said that her
group recruited volunteers through e-mail and from tables on Bruin
Walk during the past quarter.

“We’ve been in contact with the Democratic National
Convention Committee and the Los Angeles host committee and the
Democratic headquarters in L.A., and they’re all keeping us
aware of opportunities as they come up,” Ho said. Such
volunteer jobs include driving officials around, helping at fund
raising events, and doing tasks at the convention itself.

Though not technically a protest, a homeless convention will be
held in a nearby area of transitional shelters. Also joining in the
demonstrations may be some union locals. Even the police union, the
Los Angeles Police Protective League, has applied for a
demonstration permit, saying that they feel left out of
negotiations with the federal government over police department
reforms.

In addition to protesting, there should be plenty of
celebrating. On top of the events in the Staples Center, there will
be private parties at various locations in the city.

Such parties have come under criticism for the corporate
sponsorship that is often lined up to pull them off. One party will
be held in a location not too far from UCLA ““ the Playboy
Mansion in nearby Holmby Hills.

Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) is organizing a party at
Hugh Hefner’s mansion for Hispanic Unity USA ““ a
national political organization of which Sanchez is the chair. Her
spokeswoman, Sarah Anderson, confirmed that the party will take
place on August 15th. She would not release the names of its
sponsors.

“I’m going to keep that under my hat, too,”
said Sanchez, when also asked who would be in attendance at the
party. She added that the event is “still in the planning
stages.”

There have already been some significant developments for Los
Angeles in association with convention planning. Roy Romer, the
former Colorado governor who was initially chairman of the
convention committee, was recently selected to be the new
superintendent of the troubled Los Angeles Unified School
District.

The city’s host committee, LA2000, is trying to meet its
commitment to raise $35 million for the convention. Mayor Richard
Riordan and Democratic party officials had promised that no public
funds would be needed for the undertaking, but the host committee
recently asked the city council for $4 million to cover
fund-raising shortfalls.

Organizers are interested in showcasing the city at its best.
Whether the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles this
August ends up looking more like the one the city held in 1960
““ or the one Chicago held in 1968 ““ remains to be
seen.