Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper reiterated that no local tax dollars would subsidize the Democratic National Convention after auditor Dennis Gallagher sent him a letter about funding concerns.
On Monday, Gallagher sent a letter to the mayor saying rumors have been circulating that Denver will have to subsidize the now under-funded convention.
“As you well know despite the fact that there may be no basis for a rumor, the existence of the rumor is of itself harmful,” Gallagher wrote to Hickenlooper.
He urged the mayor to publicly knock down the rumor.
“I have people buttonholing me in coffee shops, corralling me along the 16th Street Mall, even stopping by my house asking how the city will be able to afford the convention if the fund-raising efforts fall short,” Gallagher’s letter said. “Specifically people are asking me if Denver will have to use tax dollars to back-load any financial shortfall or even if the city is planning to use bond money to subsidize any shortfall.”
Hickenlooper was out of town Thursday on a fund-raising trip for the convention, but his chief of staff, Kelly Jean Brough, sent a reply to Gallagher saying the mayor’s office has not heard those rumors.
But not to worry, Brough said. Hickenlooper would treat the DNC no differently than any other convention.
Brough told Gallagher the convention money could come from two places: a $50 million congressional appropriation for security and private fund-raising.
“Those fund-raising efforts are continuing in full force and will undoubtedly continue all the way up to the convention itself,” Brough said.
Denver is $15 million behind on its goal to raise $40.6 million by June 16 for the convention that begins Aug. 25.
The host committee was $5 million short of a $28 million goal March 17.
In 2004 host city Boston relied on 11th-hour fund-raising, bringing in $12 million in the weeks before the convention.
Brough told Gallagher that “fund-raising intake always picks up in the final months before the event, with nominees assisting in the process. Now that there is a presumptive nominee, we have already begun conversations with the Obama campaign about potential fund-raising opportunities for the convention.”
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
