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Boston DNC Convention 2004 –
Anatomy of an inevitable taxpayer mugging
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Introduction
Citizens'
inconvenience and business
loss will be only the beginning of this partisan political
boondoggle, the Democratic National Committee's 2004 convention.
Direct costs of outright taxpayer subsidies, indirect
costs imposed by public
employee unions pressure, and implied or perhaps explicit quid pro quo
benefits to corporate large donors are just as inevitable as "cost
overruns" were to the Big Dig -- as we predicted back in the
mid-80s.
This is, after all, Massachusetts. The DNC couldn't
have picked a better sucker.
In the end, Democrat organizers will turn to the state
for an expensive taxpayer bail-out. In this state dominated by Democrats,
so many with presidential aspirations (JFK in '60, Ted Kennedy '80,
Dukakis and his disastrous "Massachusetts Miracle" in '88, Paul
Tsongas in '92, and now John Kerry in '04), inevitably it's like a Boston
Celtics slam-dunk right there in the FleetCenter's hoop. When the time
comes -- despite "the worst fiscal crisis since the Great
Depression" -- we Massachusetts
taxpayers will bankroll an 11th-hour bail-out of the Democrat's
national convention.
That's a FleetCenter event you can bet on.
Here's an historical time-line, so that later there can
be no excuses but lame excuses.
And we will be here to again announce "we told you
so"!
Chip Ford – December 11, 2002
Governor Mitt Romney is right. The Democrats ought to consider a change of venue for their presidential nominating convention this summer.
With a new $600 million convention center set to open in June in the self-contained Seaport District, it has never made much sense to stage the Democratic National Convention at the FleetCenter in the congested North Station area. In light of the terrorist train bombings in Spain, it makes even less sense to pack 35,000 convention-goers into an arena directly above a major railway hub. That's not paranoia; it's common sense....
Predictably, Democrats are already attributing dark partisan motives to the Republican governor's good-sense suggestion. That's nonsense.
(Full report follows)
The Boston Globe
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
One more camera angle
By Eileen McNamara, Globe Columnist
Governor Mitt Romney is right. The Democrats ought to consider a change of venue for their presidential nominating convention this summer.
With a new $600 million convention center set to open in June in the self-contained Seaport District, it has never made much sense to stage the Democratic National Convention at the FleetCenter in the congested North Station area. In light of the terrorist train bombings in Spain, it makes even less sense to pack 35,000 convention-goers into an arena directly above a major railway hub. That's not paranoia; it's common sense.
The Secret Service has yet to reveal its security plans for the convention week, but it is likely that North Station will be closed July 26 to July 29 to the 25,000 regular commuter rail passengers who pass through the station each weekday. In addition, the MBTA stop at North Station will be closed, and automobile traffic will be restricted on the highways that hug the FleetCenter.
The Democrats' rejoinder that the Republican Party plans to hold its convention at Madison Square Garden, directly above Pennsylvania Station, ignores the specific security concerns in Boston. Public confidence in Boston's Police Department has been shaken by the fatal breakdown in crowd control procedures that cost one young man his life in the rioting that followed the Super Bowl last month. A devastating 14-page internal report on police conduct that night raises serious questions about the department's ability to handle large, out-of-control crowds. That two of the city's four police unions are without a contract and threatening to picket the convention only underscores public concern.
Why make a challenging security situation more difficult, when an alternative exists that would eliminate both the danger to visitors and the inconvenience to commuters? The "good camera lines" at the FleetCenter, cited by one Democratic operative to explain the preference for the North Station site, hardly seems reason enough to disrupt commuters who need to get in and out of the city for the less telegenic business of making a living.
Isn't this why we built the taxpayer-funded convention center in the first place? The venue has yet to book the number of conventions projected when the Legislature was being lobbied to fund construction. It is empty during convention week. Macworld, the computer technology showcase, closes on July 14, two weeks before the Democratic National Convention is scheduled to begin. Not enough time, say the Democrats, who insist they need a full month to set up. Not even the Britney Spears national tour needs that kind of time, and she mounts a much more ambitious video presentation than the biography of John F. Kerry.
The Massachusetts junior senator has already wrapped up the number of convention delegates he needs to win the Democratic presidential nomination. Chances are, he will have chosen his running mate by July. This convention, like those in the recent campaign history of both parties, will involve less politicking than partying. It is a four-day television show.
The shuttle buses scheduled to ferry conventioneers between their hotels and the arena could drive as easily to the waterfront as to the FleetCenter. They would even have a place to park. The notion that a centrally located convention site is critical to the success of the party gathering makes it sound as though the convention center is in Lowell and not where it is, a short walk from downtown.
Predictably, Democrats are already attributing dark partisan motives to the Republican governor's good-sense suggestion. That's nonsense. We are either living in a world altered by terrorism or we are not. Forgoing some optimal camera angles and a quicker walk to the bars in the name of public safety is not such a big sacrifice to ask of politicians certain to spend a good portion of those four days trying to convince voters of their commitment to homeland security.
The images have haunted rail commuters for weeks: hour upon hour spent staring out the windows of buses and trains, late for work, stuck in gridlock traffic while delegates to the Democratic National Convention whoop it up in the FleetCenter.
Then Governor Mitt Romney floated the idea of moving the convention site to South Boston, away from the tangle of rail lines and highways near the FleetCenter. Democrats may have brushed off Romney's suggestion, but many commuters at North Station can hardly contain their excitement....
By the time Romney interjected himself, rail commuters had already been complaining that Republicans are planning to keep New York's Penn Station -- near Madison Square Garden -- open during the GOP's convention in August while the Democrats are planning to close North Station for their convention....
Many commuters said they felt ignored, that officials glibly plotted station closings for the sake of the convention without contemplating the possible disruption to their lives....
Unless Democrats act on Romney's advice to move the convention site, many commuters at North Station said they will just leave town.
(Full report follows)
The Boston Globe
Thursday, March 18, 2004
On Romney bandwagon
Commuters back idea to move convention site
By Donovan Slack, Globe Correspondent
The images have haunted rail commuters for weeks: hour upon hour spent staring out the windows of buses and trains, late for work, stuck in gridlock traffic while delegates to the Democratic National Convention whoop it up in the FleetCenter.
Then Governor Mitt Romney floated the idea of moving the convention site to South Boston, away from the tangle of rail lines and highways near the FleetCenter. Democrats may have brushed off Romney's suggestion, but many commuters at North Station can hardly contain their excitement.
"I think it's a great idea," said Frank Walsh, a federal government worker who, according to current security plans, would have to get off at Porter Square on his commute from Concord during the convention and take the Red Line to get to the city.
Rail commuters have been grousing about the nightmare they expect during the convention in July since they learned a few weeks ago that security concerns may force the closure of North Station and a portion of Interstate 93.
Roughly 25,000 passengers who ride the four commuter lines at the station would have to get off the trains north of the city and take buses or the subway into town. They could also drive, braving the throngs of traffic that will surely choke the city that week.
"It would be bedlam to close North Station," said Lorri Seaver, a Newburyport resident who works at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. "It affects all the hospitals, everybody around here. It's like closing a city. How do you do that?"
Many commuters said they felt ignored, that officials glibly plotted station closings for the sake of the convention without contemplating the possible disruption to their lives.
"Had they asked people who actually commute..." one woman snapped last week, making it known that she would have opposed anything remotely like closing North Station.
On Tuesday, Romney spoke up on the topic, saying the FleetCenter lies "in the heart of our transportation system" and that "it would clearly be easier if this convention were being held in the new convention center" in South Boston. Democrats said the convention center would not suit their needs and accused Romney of weighing in too late -- just four months before the convention is to begin July 26.
But at North Station yesterday, many commuters sided with Romney. "Romney's dead-on," Andover resident Jeff Dennis said.
"He's right, of course," said Nathan Moore, who commutes two hours each way from Lynn to Fitchburg, via Boston.
By the time Romney interjected himself, rail commuters had already been complaining that Republicans are planning to keep New York's Penn Station -- near Madison Square Garden -- open during the GOP's convention in August while the Democrats are planning to close North Station for their convention.
"How come New York has fewer concerns than Boston?" queried Salem resident Gifford Campbell, a bartender who stopped at North Station yesterday for a cup of coffee. "It makes no sense to me at all."
Andover resident Tom Raymo has been weighing the injustice during his 45-minute rides, wondering why a major transportation hub could remain open in Manhattan -- the victim of a terrorist attack three years ago -- during the Republican convention while North Station would not.
"I think it's pretty safe to say people think it's pretty outrageous," Raymo said.
The reason, according to a security official familiar with planning for the Republican convention, is that 600,000 passengers come through Penn Station every day, about 24 times more than in Boston. Security planners have reasoned that so many disgruntled people pose a risk.
"It's not going to help with security if people are up in arms," said the official, who requested anonymity.
The Secret Service, which is leading security for the Boston convention, did not comment on the governor's suggested change of venue and insisted no final decisions have been made on North Station or I-93.
"We'll take into consideration the concerns of the people of Boston, and we'll attempt to minimize disruptions," said Secret Service spokeswoman Ann Roman. "An event this size will cause some inconveniences."
Unless Democrats act on Romney's advice to move the convention site, many commuters at North Station said they will just leave town.
Tiffany Clark, whose commute from Beverly would mean taking the train three stops to Lynn, where she'd have to get on a bus to complete the ride into town, has decided life that week would be better in Hampton Beach, N.H.
"Being bused in? No way," said Clark. "All the people I ride with are so aggravated. A lot of them are taking that week off too."
Some say they'll work from home or call in sick, anything to avoid the mess they expect will greet them.
"I am not even getting close to Boston that week," said Victor Hernandez, a state employee. He said he'll work from an office in Haverhill instead.
Bernie Ouimet, a medical-care management worker, said that working from home or taking a vacation are nice ideas but completely impractical for many commuters. "The balance of folks, we just can't take the week off," he said.
Cracking down on everything from scratched fenders to frayed floor carpets, city officials are forcing a beauty makeover on Boston cab drivers as the Democratic National Convention approaches.
(Full report follows)
The Boston Herald
Thursday, March 18, 2004
Dems the breaks: City cracks down on cabs
By Jack Meyers
Cracking down on everything from scratched fenders to frayed floor carpets, city officials are forcing a beauty makeover on Boston cab drivers as the Democratic National Convention approaches.
The Boston Police Department's hackney division has issued new directives to fleet owners and begun rigidly enforcing regulations on vehicles' appearance in anticipation of July's four-day political parley, drivers and owners say.
"At nighttime, they crack down. They go to the airport or South Station," said one cabbie yesterday. "If they see a scratch, they go in the back and pull off the medallion. You can't get it back until you get a re-inspection."
Another cabbie said the department has had a policy mandating taxi firms replace vehicles after four years. The hackney division used to grant extensions of six months if the cab was in good shape, but now no extensions are being issued.
"For the convention, they want us to look better," said the taxi driver, who did not want to be identified.
Larry Meister, vice president of the Independent Taxi Operators Association, said the city has instituted two inspection periods per year as part of its convention-related crackdown.
In a recent meeting between taxi owners and Mark Cohen, director of the Boston Police Department's licensing division, Cohen said cabs can no longer have carpeted floors. New cabs must have vinyl floors or rubber mats. Officials are even enforcing regulations on the paint jobs on cabs to ensure even minimally visible parts are painted to match the taxi's exterior.
"The city's got us literally painting the door jambs," Meister said.
The cost is about $150 per cab plus the vehicle is off-duty for at least one shift while the paint dries, he said.
"They've also been out pulling medallions off for having scratched fenders," he said.
These measures mostly affect the drivers, who lose money-making shifts, he said.
Karen Grant, spokeswoman for Boston 2004, the local committee sponsoring the convention, said the crackdown is being done independently of event organizers.
"This is nothing that the host committee has asked for," she said.
When Democrats proclaim their commitment to national security and the nation's economy during their July convention, they want to do it on prime-time network television. That is why they will do it at the FleetCenter, whatever the security concerns, cost, and inconvenience to the local populace....
Luring the networks to Boston is the chief reason why Democrats have no interest in moving the event from the FleetCenter to the city's new convention center. Because of the pictures and the camera angles, they will ignore calls from Republican Governor Mitt Romney or anyone else to relocate to South Boston.
(Full report follows)
The Boston Globe
Thursday, March 18, 2004
FleetCenter convention is all about network TV
By Joan Vennochi
When Democrats proclaim their commitment to national security and the nation's economy during their July convention, they want to do it on prime-time network television. That is why they will do it at the FleetCenter, whatever the security concerns, cost, and inconvenience to the local populace.
Rod O'Connor, the man appointed CEO of the 2004 convention by Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe, could not be plainer in explaining his priorities: "Will Tom and Katie come to Boston?"
During a recent interview, O'Connor says it looks like the Boston convention will get network coverage for reasons that have as much to do with sentiment as journalism: NBC's "Nightly News" anchor, Tom Brokaw, announced that he is retiring after the 2004 presidential campaign, making Boston his last Democratic convention, and NBC "Today Show" host Katie Couric is involved in a romantic relationship with TV executive Tom Werner, who is also a co-owner of the Boston Red Sox. "I think they'll be here, and if they come, so will Dan and Peter," says O'Connor, referring to CBS anchor Dan Rather and ABC anchor Peter Jennings. Republicans, naturally, have the same goal for their convention, which is scheduled for August in New York City.
Luring the networks to Boston is the chief reason why Democrats have no interest in moving the event from the FleetCenter to the city's new convention center. Because of the pictures and the camera angles, they will ignore calls from Republican Governor Mitt Romney or anyone else to relocate to South Boston. "The arena is a contained area, the sky boxes allow people to shoot down. There are little things like the balloon drop. We came to Boston for the FleetCenter," says O'Connor.
The FleetCenter's stadium seating provides clear sight lines, the luxury suites can be set up as sky box studios to showcase big name anchors, and a tight, packed arena generates the look and sound of excitement -- something that will be sorely needed once the Democratic presidential nominee, John Kerry, starts speaking.
In short, network executives want the FleetCenter venue and Democratic Party officials want whatever they want. "We are good at solving their problems. We want them here. That's how you showcase a candidate," explains O'Connor, who also makes it clear that other problems already associated with the convention belong to someone else, specifically Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino.
Responding to recent news reports about Boston police union members threatening to set up a picket line during the convention, O'Connor says of Menino, "The public contracts are his to negotiate." Noting that union negotiations threatened to disrupt the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, O'Connor says that in the end, "Democratic conventions are good for organized labor." In LA, the disgruntled labor union "was able to use us as leverage."
In the long run, that's good," he contends, an attitude that helps explain why organized labor supports Democrats -- and why organized labor threatens Democrats with picket lines.
O'Connor says there is natural tension -- nothing more -- between national party operatives and the local host committee. The tension is inherent in the fact that "the host committee raises the money. We get to spend it." In the end, says O'Connor, "having things go well is good for Terry McAuliffe, it's good for the city of Boston, it's good for John Kerry. It's good for all of us to have a good convention. If it doesn't go well, nobody wins."
There is a lot on the line for the city, the party, and the nominee. O'Connor labels the brewing controversies "sausage-making" and predicts that it will end in a successful convention, with self-interest the motivator for everyone involved. He calls McAuliffe "a bomb-thrower" but dismisses speculation the Kerry camp wants McAuliffe out as party chair. There is no doubt, says O'Connor, about McAuliffe's commitment to Democratic victory in November: "He will work his ass off for John Kerry. We have to get rid of this guy (President Bush)."
To do that, Kerry will need all the free media he can muster.
Back to you, Tom and Katie, Peter and Dan.
With Governor Mitt Romney's suggestion that they move their national convention, Democratic leaders are lashing out at Romney, accusing him of playing politics with the event to harm Senator John F. Kerry's campaign for president.
The comments mark the first time that Democratic elected leaders -- including Mayor Thomas M. Menino and
US Representative Michael E. Capuano -- are publicly accusing Romney of standing in the way of a successful Democratic National Convention. Menino said the Romney administration has recently begun to put up "roadblocks" to convention planning.
"It's political mischief," Menino said....
"He wants to make the convention worse for the Democratic Party and the nominee," said Capuano, a Somerville Democrat whose district includes much of Boston. He has been involved in convention planning and is widely discussed as a potential Romney opponent in 2006.
(Full report follows)
The Boston Globe
Friday, March 18, 2004
Romney draws Democrats' ire
Convention remarks called 'mischief'
By Rick Klein, Globe Staff
With Governor Mitt Romney's suggestion that they move their national convention, Democratic leaders are lashing out at Romney, accusing him of playing politics with the event to harm Senator John F. Kerry's campaign for president.
The comments mark the first time that Democratic elected leaders -- including Mayor Thomas M. Menino and
US Representative Michael E. Capuano -- are publicly accusing Romney of standing in the way of a successful Democratic National Convention. Menino said the Romney administration has recently begun to put up "roadblocks" to convention planning.
"It's political mischief," Menino said. "I wish that some of the agreements we had in the past were continued. Everybody said it was great to have it in the city, but to continue to put roadblocks up doesn't help."
Convention organizers say the MBTA and the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority have hampered planning efforts by threatening to back off several agreements to supply buses for the convention and remove the aging elevated Green Line near the FleetCenter. Several people involved in planning meetings said yesterday that the turnpike authority also began in January to put up obstacles to the Democrats' use of a crucial sliver of turnpike land near the FleetCenter. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is controlled by Romney, and the turnpike authority is under the purview of chairman Matthew J. Amorello, a Republican who was once a state senator and a congressional candidate.
Romney's comments on Tuesday -- that angry commuters would have Democrats to blame for downtown gridlock if they stick with the FleetCenter instead of holding the convention at the sprawling new facility in South Boston -- are only the latest example of him trying to hurt Democrats and their planning efforts, Capuano said.
"He wants to make the convention worse for the Democratic Party and the nominee," said
Capuano, a Somerville Democrat whose district includes much of Boston. He has been involved in convention planning and is widely discussed as a potential Romney opponent in 2006.
"He's trying to deny any assistance by the state that would make this convention a success," Capuano continued. "Is he a politician trying to help a candidate, or is he a governor of the Commonwealth trying to help make this a success? Which comes first? The answer should be obvious."
Romney's spokeswoman, Shawn Feddeman, said the governor has been supportive of Democrats' planning efforts from the start and will work to achieve a successful convention no matter where Democrats choose to have it. Several Romney Cabinet secretaries and administration officials have been consistently attending planning sessions and are in regular contact with city officials regarding the convention, Feddeman said.
The governor is leaving the logistical agreements to experts at the MBTA, she said. She noted that he has no control over operations at the turnpike authority.
Turnpike authority officials had promised to let the city control a swath of land that once held the elevated Central Artery for protest space and bus parking in the cramped area around the FleetCenter, convention planners said. Yesterday, however, several people involved in planning meetings said that in January, authority representatives began raising questions about that informal agreement, saying that the paperwork was not in order.
Sean O'Neill, a turnpike authority spokesman, said the authority still hopes to be able to make that land available to the city for convention-related uses. The area is now a construction zone, with Central Artery demolition and surface road construction taking place, he said.
"While the site in question sits amidst an active construction zone, the turnpike authority will do what it can to assist the city of Boston in hosting a successful public event," O'Neill said.
Democrats' anger at Romney erupted this week after he went public with his suggestion that the FleetCenter be abandoned in favor of the new Boston Convention and Exhibition Center on the South Boston waterfront.
"I anticipate that when people find it difficult to come in and out of the city they're going to ask a question: `Why wasn't this held at the new convention center?" Romney told reporters Tuesday. "And the answer is, `This is where the party chose to have their convention.' "
Many Democrats concede that the idea has merit in the abstract. But they contend that Romney knew it had been bounced around by convention planners and was rejected as untenable. The Democratic National Convention Committee signed a contract with the FleetCenter in 2002. Now, with just four months before the convention, moving the event would be a logistical and financial nightmare, planners say.
Some Democrats said they were disturbed by the manner in which Romney made his views known. Word was leaked in a television news broadcast Monday night, ensuring that reporters would ask the governor about it at an unrelated event -- the announcement of the new Department of Correction commissioner -- the next morning. Romney then talked about his idea in a National Public Radio interview Tuesday morning.
When Romney addressed the issue in front of television cameras in the Governor's Council chamber, two of his top political advisers -- Rob Gray and Charles Manning -- were in attendance. The governor's political aides rarely attend press conferences held to announce routine appointments.
"He's not the first to propose it, but he was the first to run to the media with it," Capuano said. "He's getting a cheap headline and wants to insulate himself from any criticism, instead of trying to come to the table like a good leader."
Dan Payne, a Democratic political consultant, said Romney is making convention planning difficult as part of his "contribution" to the national Republican Party and the Bush-Cheney ticket. But he said that move comes with a price, since Romney could suffer politically if he serves as governor during a chaotic, poorly planned convention.
"He's going to do his best to make this a messy occasion," said Payne, who helped run the 1988 presidential campaign of then-governor Michael S. Dukakis. "He has done nothing to make it easier for the state to host the convention. If the Republicans were coming to Boston, Romney's attitude would be 180 degrees different."
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, a cochairman of the Kerry campaign and a driving force behind Boston's bid to land the convention, dismissed the idea of moving the convention at this stage as "impractical." But he joked that Kerry would keep it in mind for 2008.
A spokesman for Kerry's campaign declined to comment yesterday.
National press were decrying the cramped workspace they were being offered at the Fleet. Concerns about public access to the area during the four-day convention were bubbling up. The prospect of closing down Interstate 93 and MBTA commuter rail service was starting to sink in....
Yet Menino's nightmare scenario is in part already coming true. Boston looks ill-prepared to deliver on the promises it made to land the convention.
The Democratic National Committee wants no part of Menino's homegrown union crises.
City residents and commuters are being forced to accept second-class treatment.
And the crushing demand for local money - nearly $40 million and counting - is snuffing out the civic and philanthropic activity that makes this city tick....
But instead of a thoughtful pause, or even a moment's consideration, Romney's suggestion this week that the DNC bash be moved to Southie was met with scorn - from top Democrats, from the Globe and Herald editorial boards, and most of all, from Menino.
Because there can be no heroes in Tom Menino's world.
(Full report follows)
The Boston Herald
Friday, March 19, 2004
Tom sticks to the plan, DNC stuck
By Cosmo Macero Jr
I phoned Jim Rooney back in December with a simple message:
"I want to make you a hero."
That the situation surrounding the Democratic National Convention was becoming untenable at the FleetCenter was hardly news to Rooney - a former top aide to Mayor Thomas M. Menino and now chief of the $800 million South Boston convention center project.
National press were decrying the cramped workspace they were being offered at the Fleet. Concerns about public access to the area during the four-day convention were bubbling up. The prospect of closing down Interstate 93 and MBTA commuter rail service was starting to sink in.
And this was all before the T began backing off its commitment to provide shuttle buses and suggesting the eyesore elevated rails would still be standing at convention time.
Rooney knows the politics of Boston like a guy knows his own face.
And so he wisely offered little in the way of an overt pitch to move the DNC to Southie. He merely committed himself to what he knew he could deliver.
"We could do it," Rooney told me. "It would look different. But it could and would be made to look like a good media event."
That 90 days would pass before this reasonable solution got a halfway serious hearing tells us one thing: Tom Menino doesn't need any heroes coming around to fix his mess.
Not Jim Rooney. And not Gov. Mitt Romney.
Yet Menino's nightmare scenario is in part already coming true. Boston looks ill-prepared to deliver on the promises it made to land the convention.
The Democratic National Committee wants no part of Menino's homegrown union crises.
City residents and commuters are being forced to accept second-class treatment.
And the crushing demand for local money - nearly $40 million and counting - is snuffing out the civic and philanthropic activity that makes this city tick.
At Fidelity Investments, the firm's final payment on its $1 million DNC Host Committee commitment comes due on April 1.
The robust public relations folks at Fidelity would never admit as much. But do you think someone there had the DNC in mind last August, when the decision to pull its sponsorship of the July Fourth Boston Pops concert was made?
The list goes on and on.
John Hancock Financial Services - $2 million. FleetBoston - $1.25 million.
Gillette, Citizens Bank, Blue Cross, Liberty Mutual, Raytheon, State Street - $1 million each.
That's a lot of oxygen to suck out of the atmosphere for one event.
It may in fact be too late, and too costly, to do anything now but hope for the best at the Fleet.
Estimates on retrofitting the Southie hall with a seating bowl, staging and network broadcast booths range from $10 million to $20 million. And skipping out on the Fleet could cost the Host Committee up to $4 million.
But instead of a thoughtful pause, or even a moment's consideration, Romney's suggestion this week that the DNC bash be moved to Southie was met with scorn - from top Democrats, from the Globe and Herald editorial boards, and most of all, from Menino.
Because there can be no heroes in Tom Menino's world.
Boston may yet summon the resolve to fix this broken event.
But who's going to fix Boston when it's over?
Imagine the baseball playoffs went the other way; you're heading to Boston to watch the World Series, only to discover the Interstate 93 tunnels are closed and commuter rail service to North Station is halted.
That's the quandary an estimated 17,000 Merrimack Valley commuters are contemplating as word trickles out that the Democratic National Convention might turn Boston into a demilitarized zone this summer.
Security concerns have federal, state and local officials mulling precautions that may slow the daily crawl to a halt for the week of July 26, as some 35,000 party faithful take over Boston's FleetCenter....
"They are going to have to map this out," said Methuen City Councilor Kenneth Willette, a frequent Boston commuter. "I think it's going to be more chaotic than anything the Big Dig incurred," he said. "If I was able to take a train to town, that would be fine. But if they shut down North Station, that's going to be a problem. If they shut down 93, that's going to be a problem. It's just going to be chaos."
(Full report follows)
The Eagle-Tribune
Sunday, March 21, 2004
The funnel effect
By Tim Wacker, Staff Writer
Imagine the baseball playoffs went the other way; you're heading to Boston to watch the World Series, only to discover the Interstate 93 tunnels are closed and commuter rail service to North Station is halted.
That's the quandary an estimated 17,000 Merrimack Valley commuters are contemplating as word trickles out that the Democratic National Convention might turn Boston into a demilitarized zone this summer.
Security concerns have federal, state and local officials mulling precautions that may slow the daily crawl to a halt for the week of July 26, as some 35,000 party faithful take over Boston's FleetCenter.
"I have no idea how I'm going to get to work that week," said Boston commuter Donald Sternfeld of North Andover. "We just all know it's going to be harrowing. We don't know how anybody coming in from the north is going to get into the city. ... It really is a big, fat question mark as to what we're going to do."
And nobody has any answers. The U.S. Secret Service has declared the convention a "national special security event" and is working with state and city law enforcement agents, planners and traffic experts on how to safeguard democracy from the threat of terrorism.
The FleetCenter is snuggled between the brand-new I-93 tunnels and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's North Station. On an average workday, upwards of 60,000 commuters course through that bottleneck from across the state's northeast.
Add into that mix all the nation's Democratic leaders -- and their limos -- and a smattering of highway and subway construction projects. That means Transportation Authority officials and the state's Executive Office of Transportation and Construction have their work cut out for them.
"It has been a really big issue. Our traffic engineers have been working on it every day," said Tom DePaolo, assistant chief engineer in the executive office. "It's hard for us to give a real answer of what's going to happen. It's all coming from the Secret Service saying that there are concerns here, and we're looking at alternatives to address their concerns."
The Secret Service said considerably less when asked this week. The agency would not confirm rumors the North Station and I-93 tunnels might be closed for the convention, while state officials would not rule out the possibility. Agency spokeswoman Ann Roman said only that the Secret Service is working with state officials to address security concerns.
"An event of this size can cause some inconvenience to the city," she said. "But the Secret Service and federal, state and local agencies will take into consideration those effects."
While state and local officials may be consulted, they all said the final decisions rest with the Secret Service.
"They are taking the lead; they have final say," said Joe Pesaturo, spokesman for the Transportation Authority. "We're discussing everything that would be necessary to make this national event safe."
Pesaturo would not be more specific. However, if North Station were closed, detours would be arranged to get T commuter-rail riders to work, say commuter groups that have followed the discussions.
One scenario under discussion is stopping the Lowell line at the Anderson Regional Transportation Center in Woburn and busing commuters from there. The Haverhill line would stop at Malden and commuters could take the Orange Line into the city, according to Jim Gascoigne of the Charles River Transportation Management Association.
There are 13 such associations across the state and a handful are focused right now on the discussions surrounding the convention. Gascoigne's group runs a commuter shuttle bus from North Station to Cambridge, which could be crippled on the Secret Service's say-so.
Other than an I-93 detour at Dewey Square south of the Fleet Center, there are no Big Dig delays expected to complicate the ride for Merrimack Valley commuters. But at the north entrance to downtown, pending work on the subway system's Green Line could mean more buses funneling into Leverett Circle, which is already a mess because of a tunneling project there.
"They are going to have to map this out," said Methuen City Councilor Kenneth Willette, a frequent Boston commuter. "I think it's going to be more chaotic than anything the Big Dig incurred," he said. "If I was able to take a train to town, that would be fine. But if they shut down North Station, that's going to be a problem. If they shut down 93, that's going to be a problem. It's just going to be chaos."
Cutting through the chaos will be as much a matter of communication as coordination, Gascoigne and others said. When the decisions come down, the various MTA associations will get out the word through member businesses and at bus stops throughout the area.
Without specifics on which routes might be closed and when, Gascoigne and groups like his are recommending more generic solutions. Car pools will keep highways clear, buses can be chartered, and, Gascoigne said, the last week in July is also a fine time to take a vacation.
A solution Republican Gov. Mitt Romney proposed -- to move the event to the soon-to-open South Boston Convention Center -- was summarily dismissed by national and state Democratic party officials. The move might ease security concerns, but it would throw the convention organization into disarray, said one state party official.
That's something a Republican governor might like to see in the rival camp, said Massachusetts Democratic Party spokeswoman Jane Lane. The Republican National Convention will be at New York City's Madison Square Garden, which is also located atop a train line, Penn Station.
That's helped fuel Democratic concerns the governor is playing politics with the convention.
"For the governor to wade into this and, out of left field, throw this bombshell into it ... it's clearly a political maneuver," she said. "He's doing the Massachusetts bidding of Bush-Cheney administration. They want nothing less than seeing the DNC disintegrate."
Caught between pressure to control labor costs and the desire to settle union agreements before the Democratic National Convention, Mayor Thomas M. Menino is offering city employees small raises now but considerably larger ones in subsequent years.
Menino hopes the strategy will entice the 28 unions that remain without agreements -- particularly the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association -- to sign contracts before July's convention....
Menino is coming under increasing pressure to settle city contracts before the Democratic convention, to be held July 26-29 in the FleetCenter.
(Full report follows)
The Boston Globe
Monday, March 22, 2004
Contract strategy relies on recovery
Delaying larger raises is risky, critics warn
By Rick Klein, Globe Staff
Caught between pressure to control labor costs and the desire to settle union agreements before the Democratic National Convention, Mayor Thomas M. Menino is offering city employees small raises now but considerably larger ones in subsequent years.
Menino hopes the strategy will entice the 28 unions that remain without agreements -- particularly the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association -- to sign contracts before July's convention. But by offering large raises in future years, the city is banking on a substantial economic recovery, and the willingness of Beacon Hill lawmakers to boost aid to the city.
With a governor seeking to cut taxes and other budget priorities favored by legislative leaders, some analysts say it is far from certain that enough additional money will come from the state to cover the raises. To pay for the contracts Menino is inking this year, the city may have to keep vacant jobs open for several years, dip further into its reserve fund, or make service cuts.
"It's taking a little bit of a chance that the fiscal situation is going to improve," said Samuel R. Tyler, president of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, a business-funded government watchdog group. "It's still going to be tight."
Based on the first batch of contracts signed, with city teachers and police detectives, Menino is seeking to stringently control costs this year. Under those deals, the city is giving modest raises of between 2 percent and 2.5 percent in fiscal 2004, which runs through June.
The $17 million earmarked by the City Council this year for raises should cover much of the short-term cost if similar increases are given to all 17,000 municipal workers. But to get deals signed, Boston is promising larger raises in fiscal 2005, and still larger ones in 2006. Those moves will drive up costs over the next several years.
Dennis A. DiMarzio, Boston's chief operating officer, said the contracts signed so far reflect an approach by the city that includes calculated risks. The only way to get unions to agree to contracts with small raises in the short term -- when the city knows its budget is tight -- is to offer them larger raises toward the end of the contracts, he said.
"This has been a very carefully thought-out approach," he said. "We are being fiscally prudent, but the reality of the labor situation is we have to get contracts done, and we have to take some risks. I think we've done a good job of balancing that so far."
DiMarzio said he thinks it is reasonable to expect steady increases in state aid over the next several years, based on signs of economic recovery. He declined to say how much extra money the city will need to pay for the contracts now being signed. Boston's state aid has been cut by about $80 million over the past two years.
The detectives' agreement calls for roughly 11.5 percent raises over four years. They would get 2 percent raises in fiscal 2003, 2.5 percent in both 2004 and 2005, and receive their biggest boost -- 4.5 percent -- in fiscal 2006.
The pact agreed to by the Boston Teachers Union last week is similarly back-loaded as it raises salaries by roughly 9 percent over three years. Teachers would get 2 percent raises in fiscal 2004, 2.5 percent in 2005, and 4 percent in 2006. In addition, the teachers would receive awards for longevity and education experience that grow more generous over the life of the contract.
Since about 30 percent of the city's budget comes from direct aid from the state, Menino is calculating that the state will begin sending more money to Boston as the economy continues to recover, said Michael J. Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.
But that is far from certain, Widmer said. Additional state tax collections will have to be directed into spiraling health care costs first, he said. And state lawmakers have their eye on any surpluses for other purposes; House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran is trying to build up the state's rainy day fund, and Governor Mitt Romney has committed to rolling back the $1.1 billion tax hike of 2002 by the end of his term, in 2006.
"There's always a temptation to back-load contracts and hope for the best, but it may just be delaying a day of reckoning," Widmer said. "The prospect for any significant increase in local aid is very small. We may see a couple more years of close to level funding."
If that happens, DiMarzio said, it may be necessary to cut services or dip into reserves. He added that it is too early to speculate. The city has a reserve fund of nearly $500 million, but because of a variety of state legal requirements and future financial obligations, Boston officials say they will have access to only about $36 million of that after this fiscal year is over -- a claim that is backed up by the Municipal Research Bureau.
To make matters more dicey, the city may still get pressure to build in bigger raises in the first year of contracts that it has yet to reach agreements on. Several unions -- most notably the patrolmen's association -- say they would not be satisfied with the salary increases that have been offered to the teachers and the detectives. The patrolmen's association is scheduled to meet with state mediators for the first time March 29, after more than four months without a bargaining session with the city.
And it is not yet clear whether the pacts signed by the two bargaining units of the Boston Police Detectives Benevolent Society will be approved by rank-and-file members. Votes that were scheduled for early last week have been pushed back repeatedly -- they are now slated to be held Wednesday -- sparking speculation that union leaders are worried about whether they have the votes to ensure passage.
The detectives' union president, Thomas Montgomery, said the votes were delayed because of last week's snowstorms, and because a few minor changes to the original agreements have been made. He said he is confident that his members will understand that they have to forgo larger raises in the short term because of the city's financial situation.
"I'm optimistic about it, definitely," Montgomery said. "The city was saying that in order to afford the type of percentages we were absolutely set on achieving, they would have to do it that way."
Menino is coming under increasing pressure to settle city contracts before the Democratic convention, to be held July 26-29 in the FleetCenter. The patrolmen's association is threatening to picket outside the FleetCenter if its deal is not in place by then, and national union leaders have begun criticizing the mayor for not finishing the agreements.
DiMarzio said labor leaders are beginning to realize that the city is willing to be fair in what it can offer its workers.
"We're certainly willing to take some risk," he said. "Our confidence level is there that there will be a rebound."
After weeks of tension, Governor Mitt Romney met privately with Mayor Thomas M. Menino yesterday and pledged his support and cooperation in the final months before the Democratic National Convention.
It was the first time Romney and Menino have met privately since the two began trading barbs in the press over issues surrounding the convention....
Romney expressed confidence that the Massachusetts public would accept the
inconveniences resulting from the convention and its security requirements.
"I anticipate that the security plans and transportation plans will be thorough and complete, and people will be able to judge for themselves as to the nature of the convention," he said.
(Full report follows)
The Boston Globe
Saturday, March 27, 2004
Governor and mayor meet about convention
Romney pledges support, cooperation for Democrats
By Frank Phillips and Rick Klein, Globe Staff
After weeks of tension, Governor Mitt Romney met privately with Mayor Thomas M. Menino yesterday and pledged his support and cooperation in the final months before the Democratic National Convention.
It was the first time Romney and Menino have met privately since the two began trading barbs in the press over issues surrounding the convention. For months, Menino has railed at Romney's refusal to help fund the convention and at moves by state agencies that were perceived as roadblocks to convention planning. Tensions heightened 10 days ago, when Romney set off a political firestorm by suggesting that the Democrats move the convention to South Boston, saying that security requirements at the FleetCenter would cause too much disruption. Democrats, including Menino, lashed back at Romney, denouncing the suggestion as impractical and accusing the Republican governor of "political mischief."
But after emerging from yesterday's 90-minute meeting at the Parkman House, the city's Beacon Hill townhouse where Menino often conducts formal business, Romney sounded a conciliatory tone.
"I would note that this is a very important convention for our nation and that the people of Massachusetts will step up and do whatever is necessary to be gracious and generous hosts to the Democratic Party and their delegates," Romney said.
Officials who attended the meeting said Romney was adamant in his pledge to support the Democratic planning process, a strong indication that Romney and Menino have set aside differences in order to put planning for the July convention into high gear.
"The governor sat there and said: 'Whatever we can do to move this along, tell us. We want to be helpful,'" said one official who asked not to be identified.
The meeting -- which included US Secret Service coordinator Scott Sheafe, Boston Police Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole, Romney's development aide Douglas Foy, and David Passafaro, president of the convention's host committee -- was one of several convention planning meetings officials have held. Romney had been invited to past meetings, but sent aides instead. The governor skipped a particularly high-level session in December, when Menino and several Massachusetts congressmen attended.
Staff and aides "meet regularly, and it was time for the mayor and the governor to be directly involved in the conversations," said Seth Gitell, Menino's spokesman.
At yesterday's meeting, security officials outlined plans that are likely to include the shutdown of Interstate 93 and other streets around the FleetCenter.
Sheafe and state and city law enforcement officials are expected to unveil a portion of those plans next week, particularly those which will disrupt traffic and public transportation. The plan will probably include the shutdown of North Station during convention hours, a move that will require the MBTA to provide buses for rail commuters.
"The security details are still being worked, and a joint press conference will be held in the near future where more information will be disseminated," said Ann Roman, a spokeswoman for the Secret Service.
The shutdown of rail and commuter traffic would be designed to eliminate the risk that terrorists could use trains or vehicles to carry out bombings.
Also at the meeting were Carlo A. Boccia, Boston's new homeland security chief, and police Superintendent Robert P. Dunford, Menino's security aide for the convention. Romney and Menino declined to talk about the details of the meeting.
"We got a full briefing from individuals from the Secret Service and federal agencies, as well as state and local agencies," Romney said after he left the Parkman House. "Both security and transportation folks were together. We're working together to make plans for the upcoming Democratic National Convention, and we're very excited about those prospects. I have no announcements at this stage."
Romney expressed confidence that the Massachusetts public would accept the
inconveniences resulting from the convention and its security requirements.
"I anticipate that the security plans and transportation plans will be thorough and complete, and people will be able to judge for themselves as to the nature of the convention," he said.
Scott Greenberger of the Globe staff and Globe correspondent Matthew Rodriguez contributed to this report.
Touted
benefits ‘expectations’
downgraded ...
"I would not go through the process again to get it," said Haller, who is now director of sales and marketing at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel. "I would say it was not worth it. To be honest, having this little NBA All-Star game this year probably did more for the city than the DNC convention did."
Haller's sentiments echo those of other hotel managers and restaurateurs near Los Angeles's Staples Center, site of the 2000 convention. Downtown businesses, they said, were sold on hosting the convention by city officials who projected millions in revenue from rented hotel rooms, bar tabs, restaurant checks and tips, and hours of positive media coverage that would spotlight a once-blighted but revitalized downtown LA and draw tourists.
The Los Angeles convention should serve as both example and warning, some business owners said, for Boston establishments staffing up and hoping for a big boost when the Democrats come to town in July. For all the hype, some businesses just won't see a return, they said....
David Tuerck, executive director of the Beacon Hill Institute, a public policy think tank at Suffolk University, agreed, saying Boston officials need to add the costs of security and other potential convention liabilities to their economic impact projections.
"If the DNC is saying that the delegates are going to spend $150 million, then it's necessary to adjust that figure downward to account for what's lost from the presence of the delegates," Tuerck said.
"Some tourists won't come now because the delegates will be picking up hotel rooms that tourists would have had, and some local residents will be avoiding the area and vacationing elsewhere. All that spending that won't take place would have to be subtracted from spending that will take place in order to arrive at a net effect," he said....
Still, Uno Thimansson, owner of the 285-room Figueroa Hotel, said he will never welcome another political convention back to Los Angeles....
"I don't frankly know why any city would go after a political convention," he said.
(Full report follows)
The Boston Globe
Sunday, March 28, 2004
Unconventional wisdom
LA to Boston: Delegates may bring less money than headaches
By Keith Reed, Globe Staff
LOS ANGELES -- When 35,000 people came here for the 2000 Democratic National Convention, business at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel shot through the roof.
The hotel's 683 rooms were 100 percent full for a week in August, when downtown hotels are usually half empty. Demand for rooms helped double room rates at the hotel, to about $200 a night -- a premium during the sleepy season for the area's hotels.
But don't expect Stephen Haller, the Millennium Biltmore's former director of sales and marketing, to sing the Democrats' praises any time soon. Instead, he describes the convention more like a visit from distant in-laws than one from thousands of paying guests.
It was nice having them, he said, but it was good to see them go. And he wouldn't want them back anytime soon.
"I would not go through the process again to get it," said Haller, who is now director of sales and marketing at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel. "I would say it was not worth it. To be honest, having this little NBA All-Star game this year probably did more for the city than the DNC convention did."
Haller's sentiments echo those of other hotel managers and restaurateurs near Los Angeles's Staples Center, site of the 2000 convention. Downtown businesses, they said, were sold on hosting the convention by city officials who projected millions in revenue from rented hotel rooms, bar tabs, restaurant checks and tips, and hours of positive media coverage that would spotlight a once-blighted but revitalized downtown LA and draw tourists.
Delegates did fill thousands of hotel rooms. But they left bar stools and restaurant tables mostly empty, instead wining and dining at dozens of corporate-sponsored shindigs where they didn't have to shell out their own cash. And the positive stories about Los Angeles's convention success never were written, with coverage instead centering on clashes between hundreds of protesters and police.
The Los Angeles convention should serve as both example and warning, some business owners said, for Boston establishments staffing up and hoping for a big boost when the Democrats come to town in July. For all the hype, some businesses just won't see a return, they said.
"Boston's gonna see," said Duane Burrell, general manager at The Original Pantry Cafe, a 24-hour diner that has been an 83-year mainstay in downtown Los Angeles.
A 1999 report by the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau predicted $132.5 million in economic impact from the convention. A second study the group commissioned after the convention said it generated $147.1 million, about half of which was attributed to direct spending by delegates and on the actual production of the event.
Local boosters of this year's convention have pointed to an estimated $150 million in economic impact from the convention.
But Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., said those projections are misleading. Convention boosters in Los Angeles, he said, only counted revenue generated from hotel-room rentals, but failed to account for what some businesses lost when they shut down because of security concerns or because conventioneers simply didn't spend any money.
"You're just looking at room nights. You have to look at what disruptions there were to the local business community," he said.
David Tuerck, executive director of the Beacon Hill Institute, a public policy think tank at Suffolk University, agreed, saying Boston officials need to add the costs of security and other potential convention liabilities to their economic impact projections.
"If the DNC is saying that the delegates are going to spend $150 million, then it's necessary to adjust that figure downward to account for what's lost from the presence of the delegates," Tuerck said.
"Some tourists won't come now because the delegates will be picking up hotel rooms that tourists would have had, and some local residents will be avoiding the area and vacationing elsewhere. All that spending that won't take place would have to be subtracted from spending that will take place in order to arrive at a net effect," he said.
The positive and negative effects on Boston businesses are already being felt. Last week, the convention host committee announced a list of 50 venues around the city that won the right to host lucrative delegation parties. While those businesses are almost sure to see a benefit, the FleetCenter itself is losing out on about a dozen concerts and other events that would have been held there but had to move to accommodate the Democrats.
Even so, FleetCenter officials said they're still happy to be hosting the convention because media exposure will help them draw more top-tier sports and entertainment events.
"This for us is the Super Bowl of arena events," said Jim Delaney, a FleetCenter spokesman. "How do we know if this is going to help us attract the NCAA regionals that we're bidding on for 2007-2008? It certainly can't hurt."
Some Los Angeles business owners agreed that the convention did not live up to its billing.
"We didn't make any money off of it, let's put it that way," Burrell said.
Original Pantry, which is owned by former Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan, spent about $13,000 installing shatterproof glass windows and hiring three off-duty Los Angeles police officers in anticipation of problems with convention protesters, according to Burrell.
But with protesters marching and police officers lining the streets in all directions, none of his regular customers showed up. Few conventioneers did, either, he said.
At the Wilshire Grand, a 900-room hotel four blocks from the Staples Center, the rooms were packed with delegates. Most of them, however, never stopped by the hotel's four restaurants to spend any money, said John Stoddard, the hotel's general manager.
"The clearest memories I had was that our restaurants and our employees were all geared up to make some money and the business levels weren't near where we expected," Stoddard said.
And filling the hotel's guest rooms didn't come without concessions. The Wilshire Grand gave away most of its meeting space so that the Democrats could hold caucus meetings, gave away one complimentary room for every 50 rooms rented by delegates, and waived the normal 50 cents per call telephone surcharge on all its guest rooms.
Giving freebies to groups that book large blocks of rooms is routine, but hotels usually do so knowing they'll make a lot more money on food and beverage spending by conventioneers. Not so in the case of the Democratic convention, Stoddard said.
"When a convention comes to town that takes up 900 rooms, you give away your space. But the problem was, there was no spending to go along with that," he said.
"All over town, somebody was hosting the delegation and entertaining them. If there was free food and booze someplace, they weren't going to open up their wallets and spend their money here."
About a half-mile away, the famous Cicada restaurant was one of the places getting elusive business from the Democrats. The 14,000-square-foot Art Deco eatery has served as a backdrop for numerous movies, a distinction that made it well known to the party planners that were hired to find venues for Democratic private parties.
"They maxed us out," said Jeffrey Stivers, a manager at the restaurant. Cicada usually takes in about $30,000 a week in revenues in August, but that jumped tenfold when the Democrats were in town, he said.
Rod O'Connor, chief executive of the 2004 Democratic convention, said he expects better results for local hotels, restaurants, and shops in Boston. In Los Angeles, he said, delegates were spread out among downtown hotels and swankier ones on the city's west side, meaning some conventioneers spent more time commuting than they did shopping or eating and drinking.
That won't be the case in Boston, a much more compact city where all the delegates will be staying no farther than three and a half miles from the FleetCenter, said O'Connor, who was chief operating officer of the Los Angeles convention.
He also said that there was probably more than $147.1 million in spending from the last convention, but that the study done afterward didn't count the impact of all the private parties.
"I don't think they did an effective job of capturing the economic impact of all the events that were thrown," O'Connor said. "I think the delegates and convention participants that are coming are spending a tremendous amount of out-of-pocket cash, regardless of where they go to eat."
Still, Uno Thimansson, owner of the 285-room Figueroa Hotel, said he will never welcome another political convention back to Los Angeles.
A few days before the convention started, protesters scaled the side of his building, which is two blocks from the Staples Center, trying to hang a banner, he said. While his $118-per-night rooms filled up and his bar did decent business, he said, the huge police and protester presence overshadowed any positive impact from the convention.
"I don't frankly know why any city would go after a political convention," he said.
See: Convention bust may reach $50m
If experience teaches, here is a lesson for Boston: Sixteen years ago, as national chairman of the Democratic Party, I selected Atlanta to host our nominating convention....
Atlanta kept its word on every count. The 1988 convention was a huge success, and that host city has reaped the benefits ever since....
Apart from the roughly $150 million in revenues estimated to flow from the convention, it is the residual benefits that can come to Boston if a spirit of cooperation and performance are always at the forefront....
Seize the moment. Celebrate Boston.
(Full report follows)
The Boston Globe
Monday, March 29, 2004
Seize the moment, Boston
By Paul G. Kirk Jr.
If experience teaches, here is a lesson for Boston: Sixteen years ago, as national chairman of the Democratic Party, I selected Atlanta to host our nominating convention.
That choice was based, in large part, on the following assurances: Atlanta was a city with a mutually supportive and collaborative public-private civic partnership; its public agencies and employees at every level would work together with a "can do" attitude to provide resources and assistance to convention planners; the Atlanta press corps would work to cultivate a community wide appreciation of the fact that a civic enterprise of such magnitude presented a unique opportunity to forever enhance the city's future.
Atlanta kept its word on every count. The 1988 convention was a huge success, and that host city has reaped the benefits ever since.
Andrew Young, then mayor of Atlanta, later confided to me: "Had Atlanta not successfully hosted your 1988 convention, it could not have succeeded in its bid for the 1994 Super Bowl; and had we not hosted a Super Bowl, Atlanta could never have won the bid to host the 1996 Summer Olympics."
Now, it's Boston's turn. We may or may not aspire to host a Super Bowl (frankly, I am happy just having the Patriots as the champions) or Olympic Games, but Andy Young's observation is instructive nonetheless.
Apart from the roughly $150 million in revenues estimated to flow from the convention, it is the residual benefits that can come to Boston if a spirit of cooperation and performance are always at the forefront. The chance to use the preparations for this summer's convention as the foundation for Boston's increased stature and reputation as a diverse, destination city that pulls together is a unique opportunity too important to squander.
Recent media criticism has taken a negative tone, highlighting the second guessers and potential mischief makers. The glib refrain of resignation "What do you expect? This is Boston!" misses the point. The stakes are much too high. Some perspective may be helpful.
The oldest political party in the world has selected the capital city of Massachusetts, where the first seeds of democracy were sown, to host the first national political convention in its history. As it has turned out, the convention will nominate a favorite son of our own commonwealth for president. The stage is set for a united, national, partisan celebration to take place within the FleetCenter. Not a bad political story!
However, beyond the walls of the FleetCenter, there will be a more important story to be told. Throughout the community, the stage is being set for a local, non-partisan, civic celebration to showcase the qualities, assets, and diverse human resources that have contributed to the richness of Boston's history. Assuming that celebration is also a demonstration of unity and teamwork, that story will provide the promise and vision of an even more exciting future for Boston and all who will enjoy its benefits for years to come.
Fifteen thousand members of the national and international media will join convention delegates and guests as spectators of Boston's civic celebration. Paraphrasing an expression to be kept in mind from now to July 30, "Boston will never get a second chance to make a first impression" on an audience of such breadth and influence.
With four months until the convention, it is not too early to borrow a page from the positive spirit of the Atlanta playbook, to put aside posturing and gamesmanship for teamwork and problem solving, to mitigate the convention's impact on the local infrastructure with some help from state government, and to put aside short term narrow agendas in order to enjoy the long term economic benefits of a successful celebration.
Finally, in the spirit of a grateful Atlanta, it is not too early to thank the generous donors who are making the convention economically feasible, the public authorities charged with maximizing public safety while minimizing public inconvenience, those whose routine daily commute may be altered during convention week for their understanding and flexibility, and the hard working staffs and thousands of volunteers for reaching out with a commitment to show Boston as the vibrant, diverse and inclusive world class city that it is.
Seize the moment. Celebrate Boston.
Paul G. Kirk Jr. is chairman emeritus of the Boston 2004 Host Committee.
A new study suggests that the Democratic National Convention will be worth $28 million less to Boston's economy than convention boosters and city officials originally estimated....
"If a delegate goes to buy a T-shirt from a local shop owner for $10 and that shirt is made in China, only about $3 stays with that shop owner," [John Barrett, director of research at Beacon Hill Institute and principal author of the study] said. "The rest goes to pay the people who made the shirt. That $3 is what you want you want to count."
(Full report follows)
The Boston Globe
Tuesday, March 30, 2004
Study trims value of DNC
Democrats stick with higher estimate of event spending
By Keith Reed, Globe Staff
A new study suggests that the Democratic National Convention will be worth $28 million less to Boston's economy than convention boosters and city officials originally estimated.
The Beacon Hill Institute estimates that convention delegates and other visitors will pour $122 million into the city over six days in July. The study's authors said that number validates the convention as a significant economic generator, but their bottom line is smaller than the $150 million estimate floated in a similar study commissioned by the city and Democratic officials and used to help persuade the business community to donate cash to the effort to land the convention.
Yesterday, convention organizers defended their estimate, saying the new study's methodology was flawed and accusing the Beacon Hill Institute of being partisan.
"The quality of their research is suspect," said Angus McQuilken, a spokesman for the Democratic National Convention Committee. "They're a right-leaning interest group with an agenda, which apparently includes causing trouble for the Democratic National Convention."
The institute multiplied the number of delegates and other visitors expected to come to Boston by the average daily spending by Boston conventioneers in several categories. About 35,000 people are expected for the convention, 5,000 of them delegates and about 30,000 of them news media and other attendees.
Using data published by the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau, the institute estimated that each delegate would spend $342 a day during the convention, while each nondelegate would spend $285.
Based on that, the institute calculated $48.5 million in direct spending over about six days -- the average time conventioneers stayed at the last Democratic convention.
It then added the $39.5 million in cash and in-kind contributions received by the Boston 2004 host committee and $25 million in federal security funds the city received, to arrive at $113 million in new spending in the city.
The institute then used software to calculate the ripple effect of that spending on the local economy to arrive at its $122 million figure.
John Barrett, director of research at Beacon Hill Institute and principal author of the study, said he could not be sure about what accounts for the disparity between his estimate and the convention organizers'. But his study included only dollars likely to "stick" to Boston's economy and not be taken elsewhere after the convention, and that may account for the difference, he said.
"If a delegate goes to buy a T-shirt from a local shop owner for $10 and that shirt is made in China, only about $3 stays with that shop owner," Barrett said. "The rest goes to pay the people who made the shirt. That $3 is what you want you want to count."
McQuilken, though, attacked Barrett's methodology, arguing that political delegates spend more money over a broader area than other conventioneers.
"This analysis looks at other types of conventions, and what it fails to do is compare this convention to other political conventions," he said.
The $150 million estimate "is based on a direct comparison with past political conventions in other cities, not your average software convention," he added.
Since 2001, when Mayor Thomas M. Menino appointed a committee to chase the Democratic and Republican nominating conventions, city officials have been using the $150 million figure to promote the benefits of hosting the high-profile gatherings. The city dangled $20 million in cash contributions from the private sector to help land the convention.
Veterans of past efforts to win national political conventions said the disparity between the two estimates could hurt the city's credibility with business leaders. If the convention doesn't live up to the city's billing, executives might be reluctant to donate to similar efforts in the future, said Jack Kyser, chief economist at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. Los Angeles hosted the 2000 Democratic National Convention, which pumped $147.1 million into that city's economy, according to official data.
"The reason why you are donating to the effort is you see some benefit to your firm and you see some benefit to the community as a whole," Kyser said. "If you don't get the benefit you thought you were going to get, the next time the city comes calling you're going to be skeptical."
Karen Grant, a spokeswoman for Boston 2004, disagreed.
"We have had unprecedented support from the community at large, including businesses, nonprofits, and individuals," she said. "People participate because it gives them an opportunity to show their civic pride."
Regardless of whether the actual number is closer to $150 million or $122 million, Barrett said, the convention will still be well worth the city's effort.
"It's new wages and profits, taxes that are collected," he said. "It's a contribution to people's incomes."
Increased
burden ‘unexpectedly’
mounts ...
‘nightmare’
announced
It's official - July's Democratic convention will bring a long-feared nightmare scenario for Hub commuters with shutdowns of North Station and the Central Artery.
The two gateways to Boston for thousands of daily commuters from the north and northwest will be closed for security reasons at the FleetCenter convention where Sen. John F. Kerry will accept his party's nomination....
About 25,000 rail commuters use North Station daily, while up to 200,000 motorists use the new I-93 tunnel....
U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Somerville) has suggested that businesses take a week off in July to avoid convention-related inconveniences.
(Full report follows)
The Boston Herald
Wednesday, March 31, 2003
Dems the brakes:
DNC will shut down I-93 – and North Station, too
By Ellen J. Silberman and Robin Washington
It's official - July's Democratic convention will bring a long-feared nightmare scenario for Hub commuters with shutdowns of North Station and the Central Artery.
The two gateways to Boston for thousands of daily commuters from the north and northwest will be closed for security reasons at the FleetCenter convention where Sen. John F. Kerry will accept his party's nomination.
North Station will be closed the Friday before the four-day convention - which runs July 26-29 - and remain closed during the entire event, until Democratic delegates leave town, sources said.
The seven-day shuttering will come just as T riders are being detoured onto buses because of a Green Line construction project.
It was unclear last night what stations rail commuters will be directed to use once North Station is closed.
Portions of Interstate 93 and the Central Artery will be closed periodically as well, throughout the convention. The Associated Press reported those closings will occur during evening rush hours. Southbound I-93 runs just feet from the FleetCenter.
Boston Police Department honchos and U.S. Secret Service officials this morning will brief reporters on the transportation plan.
About 25,000 rail commuters use North Station daily, while up to 200,000 motorists use the new I-93 tunnel.
Today's announcement represents the beginning of the campaign to publicize convention-related security and transportation changes so that residents can plan around the inconveniences.
U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Somerville) has suggested that businesses take a week off in July to avoid convention-related inconveniences.
While declining to specifically comment on the convention closure, Big Dig spokesman Sean O'Neill told the Herald recently Route 128 would take the bulk of any traffic shunted off I-93.
"Route 128 is the detour route for emergencies," he said.
Yet that Woburn interchange is miles away from the FleetCenter, and drivers may clamor for the road to remain open all the way to Somerville where they could try their luck on secondary arteries, such as Routes 16 or 99.
"I would hope they would only close it at the bridge," said Ivan Sever of the National Motorists Association, who said Route 1A, leading to the Sumner and Williams tunnels, may prove a better alternative for many drivers.
"It doesn't make sense to go all the way around on 128 and the Pike if you're going from Reading to South Station," he said.
Sever predicted the closure may not be as draconian as threatened.
"I think they'll do it for an afternoon or two when the big shots come in or when they leave. I don't think it'll be for days," he said.
The Herald reported in October that traffic would have to be detoured - at least when Secret Service protectees like presidential contender Kerry and former President Bill Clinton are in the arena.
Neither city nor convention officials would comment on the security plan.
But they have made clear that security will be exceptionally tight given the Democratic event is the first national nominating convention since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Because of the potential security risks and traffic disruptions, Republican Gov. Mitt Romney suggested earlier this month that the convention be moved to a nearly completed new convention center in South Boston.
But Democrats dismissed Romney's comments as political posturing to make his rival party look bad.
State and city officials had hoped for more limited disruption to commuters and had argued that shutting down both the highway and the rail and subway service would create a transportation nightmare the last week of July....
City and state officials declined to comment on the plans, but one person who has sat in on the security planning discussions over the last several months said, "We're just going to have to discourage people from coming into the city that week."
(Full report follows)
The Boston Globe
Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Shutdowns set for convention
North Station, I-93 are affected
By Anthony Flint and Michael Rosenwald, Globe Staff
Interstate 93 will be shut down in both directions for all four evenings of the Democratic National Convention, and North Station will be closed to all commuter rail and subway service, officials involved with security planning said.
The closures are being done at the insistence of the Secret Service, which is in charge of security for the party gathering and will unveil the detailed plan at a press conference today.
State and city officials had hoped for more limited disruption to commuters and had argued that shutting down both the highway and the rail and subway service would create a transportation nightmare the last week of July. But the closure of North Station commuter rail, in particular, became nonnegotiable after the March 11 train bombings in Madrid, according to one of the officials.
The highway, at the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge and at the northern portal of the Big Dig tunnels, will be shut down because it comes within 40 feet of the FleetCenter. Security planners were concerned that there was no other way to prevent a truck bomb from traveling over the bridge and coming dangerously close to the FleetCenter while the convention was in session.
City and state officials declined to comment on the plans, but one person who has sat in on the security planning discussions over the last several months said, "We're just going to have to discourage people from coming into the city that week."
The Secret Service and Boston police will appear at a briefing on the security and transportation arrangements set for 10 a.m. today. The major precautions that are expected to be unveiled include:
l Shutting down I-93 near the FleetCenter for the evening sessions of the convention, from July 26 to July 29. It was not clear last night what time the shutdown would begin. One official said the road would be closed in the late afternoon, but another said that commuters would be allowed to get home in the early evening rush hour, and then the highway would be closed.
l Keeping commuter rail trains away from North Station during the convention and requiring approximately 25,000 commuters to disembark north of the city and get on buses or subway lines to finish the trip into the city. They would have to do the same thing in reverse to get home at the end of the day. The Associated Press, citing a source who spoke on condition of anonymity, reported yesterday that North Station will be closed beginning the Friday before the convention and continuing until July 29.
l Closing the new North Station subway station at the corner of Causeway and Canal streets to Orange and Green Line service. Orange Line cars will go through without stopping; Green Line trolleys will empty at Haymarket, and passengers bound for North Station, Science Park, and Lechmere will board buses.
The closure of I-93, part of the Big Dig, is expected to be highly disruptive. State officials showed the Secret Service the complicated detours that would result from the highway closure. Traffic may be diverted into the Ted Williams Tunnel to Route 1-A, as well as down the Leverett Connector north of the city to Storrow Drive. The use of Route 128 will also be encouraged.
A compromise that was "in play" was to close I-93 only during the final night of the convention, when the presumptive nominee, Massachusetts Senator John F. Kerry, addresses the convention. At one point, city officials also argued that I-93 should remain open except when Kerry and the vice presidential nominee were in the building.
But the Secret Service considers the event itself to be as likely a target as the candidate, a person involved with convention planning said, and is concerned about the security around the FleetCenter whenever the building is full, typically late afternoon through the evening in convention programming.
The highway is within the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority. Officials there declined to comment.
Jon Carlisle, spokesman for state Transportation Secretary Daniel A. Grabauskas, would say only: "This is the Secret Service's show at this point. We have to defer to the folks with the earpieces and the microphones in their sleeves." Joe Pesaturo, spokesman for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, declined comment.
Seth Gitell, spokesman for Mayor Thomas M. Menino, would not comment on any of the plans, and directed all questions to Boston police. Police Commissioner Kathleen M. O'Toole met yesterday with Secret Service representatives.
The transportation security plans, as well as a flurry of transit and highway construction projects that will be going on through July, have raised concerns that Boston will be a traffic and transit nightmare during the convention week. Governor Mitt Romney suggested switching the venue to the new convention center in South Boston, but that plan was rebuffed as unworkable by Democratic convention planners.
Mac Daniel and Rick Klein of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
The Legislature's Transportation Committee will hold public hearings on plans to close major North of Boston commuter rail lines and roadways into the city during the Democratic National Convention this summer.
State Sen. Steven A. Baddour, the head of the committee, said he is "extremely disappointed" the decision to restrict access was made without notice or conferring with lawmakers and commuters.
He said the hearings will begin in April and include officials from the MBTA, the state Highway Department, Boston police and the Secret Service....
"If I can't get in on the train, I can't work," said Raffi Wengro, 33, a health care provider who works with disabled people in Boston. "It would be a big problem."
Jamie Knapik, 28, of Haverhill said she finds it hard to believe North Station would close.
"I don't see how they can shut down the whole North Station without a plan to get commuters who rely on it to and from work," she said. "That's ridiculous."
Knapik, a paralegal for a Boston law firm, added: "They make such a big deal about wanting people to use public transportation, but then they are going to cancel it without a second thought." ...
"It will be a mess," said George Yameen of Methuen, an account representative at Massachusetts Electric. "Maybe they should increase security or call in the National Guard to help out."
Sherrin Hebb of Boxford said siting the Democratic convention in Boston "was supposed to be a good thing for the town and the state. Now, it's turning out not to be."
(Full report follows)
The Eagle-Tribune
Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Sen. Baddour rails at commute disruptions
By Meredith Warren, Staff Writer
The Legislature's Transportation Committee will hold public hearings on plans to close major North of Boston commuter rail lines and roadways into the city during the Democratic National Convention this summer.
State Sen. Steven A. Baddour, the head of the committee, said he is "extremely disappointed" the decision to restrict access was made without notice or conferring with lawmakers and commuters.
He said the hearings will begin in April and include officials from the MBTA, the state Highway Department, Boston police and the Secret Service.
At the insistence of the Secret Service, state and city officials announced yesterday that:
l North Station will be closed for one week, beginning July 23, the Friday before the start of the convention, which begins July 26. It will reopen July 30, the day after the convention concludes. About 25,000 rail commuters from north of the city use North Station daily.
l Interstate 93 that loops into the city near the FleetCenter, the site of the convention, will be closed to motorists in evening hours yet to be determined during the four days of the convention. Several thousand North of Boston commuters use Interstate 93. Officials said they are considering guiding drivers to alternate routes, which will be released later.
l Drivers who commute to Boston are encouraged to take the train. MBTA officials said they have not determined how many extra trains and buses they will need. They said they will distribute maps to commuters so they can recognize which train routes to take.
"They should have told people it was coming," said Baddour, D-Methuen. "I shouldn't have found out about this by turning on the radio."
Baddour said closing the main rail and road access to Boston will be very disruptive to commuters, and every alternative should be explored before the convention security plans are final.
"I respect the fact that this is the first convention since Sept. 11," Baddour said. "And I'm sure al-Qaida and other terrorist groups would like nothing more than to disrupt a national convention. But people need to be able to plan how to get to work with the least amount of disruption."
Under current plans, commuters who use the Haverhill-Bradford-Andover rail line to Boston will have to stop at Malden or Oak Grove and take the MBTA Orange Line into the city, a change that will affect about 4,750 people.
Joe Pesaturo, a spokesman for the MBTA, said Orange Line riders will have to get off at the Haymarket stop instead of North Station. He said the Green Line will also stop at Haymarket.
The 8,700 commuters who daily take the Newburyport/Rockport rail line will stop in Chelsea, and riders will be bused into the city.
"It does have a lot to do with the close proximity of the (North Station) platforms to the event facility," Pesaturo said. The FleetCenter is directly above the North Station rail lines.
There were few details on what streets or roads would be set aside for North of Boston motorists who use I-93 to get out of the city every day. One report said I-93 would not be closed until after the early evening rush hour.
Haverhill rail commuters were not happy with the announcement.
"If I can't get in on the train, I can't work," said Raffi Wengro, 33, a health care provider who works with disabled people in Boston. "It would be a big problem."
Jamie Knapik, 28, of Haverhill said she finds it hard to believe North Station would close.
"I don't see how they can shut down the whole North Station without a plan to get commuters who rely on it to and from work," she said. "That's ridiculous."
Knapik, a paralegal for a Boston law firm, added: "They make such a big deal about wanting people to use public transportation, but then they are going to cancel it without a second thought."
Commuters stopping for coffee in North Andover this morning said shutting down I-93 near the FleetCenter would wreak havoc with their schedules.
"It will be a mess," said George Yameen of Methuen, an account representative at Massachusetts Electric. "Maybe they should increase security or call in the National Guard to help out."
Sherrin Hebb of Boxford said siting the Democratic convention in Boston "was supposed to be a good thing for the town and the state. Now, it's turning out not to be."
Officials
use ‘fear of the
sky falling’
...
Commuters leaving Boston during July's Democratic National Convention will probably face a tangled gridlock as a shuttered Central Artery pushes thousands of cars onto local roads during the evening rush hour, officials acknowledged yesterday.
"It could be a zoo," said Karla Karash, vice-president of Transystems, a transit consulting firm.
"Traffic's pretty bad anyway. To take a major facility out (of operation) ... I hope they have a plan," she said.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino and others said the city's best hope might be to frighten people with tales of nightmare traffic jams so many commuters leave town on vacation or call in sick during the Democrats' summer parley.
"What we're doing is ringing the alarm bell and saying the sky is falling," Menino said....
By contrast, Pennsylvania Station, which handles about 600,000 commuters daily, is being kept open during the Republican National Convention in New York a month later.
New York officials are boosting the number of police in the station and riding on trains, but the transit hub, which sits under convention venue Madison Square Garden, will operate normally.
(Full report follows)
The Boston Herald
Thursday, April 1, 2004
Dire warnings may ease DNC traffic:
Mayor hopes scare tactics prevent road nightmare
By Jack Meyers
Commuters leaving Boston during July's Democratic National Convention will probably face a tangled gridlock as a shuttered Central Artery pushes thousands of cars onto local roads during the evening rush hour, officials acknowledged yesterday.
"It could be a zoo," said Karla Karash, vice-president of Transystems, a transit consulting firm.
"Traffic's pretty bad anyway. To take a major facility out (of operation) ... I hope they have a plan," she said.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino and others said the city's best hope might be to frighten people with tales of nightmare traffic jams so many commuters leave town on vacation or call in sick during the Democrats' summer parley.
"What we're doing is ringing the alarm bell and saying the sky is falling," Menino said.
He acknowledged security-related closings in the transportation system - unveiled yesterday by the Secret Service and state and local police - could be a nightmare.
"On the face of it, it seems that way," said the mayor. But by working with local leaders from in and around Boston to reroute traffic, "hopefully, we can alleviate some of the problem," he said.
A section of Interstate 93 near the FleetCenter, both northbound and southbound, will be closed during evening hours for the four-day convention, the time when politicians, delegates, protesters and the media will flood the area.
In addition, the 24,000 people using commuter rail on average each workday will be dropped off at suburban stations, where they will be ferried by preinspected buses to South Station using dedicated lanes.
The MBTA's North Station stop will be closed from the weekend before the convention until July 30.
When asked if commuters should take vacations, state police Col. Foley said, "Take a look at it. If you feel you're going to be inconvenienced and you can't deal with that inconvenience, it's probably a good idea."
By contrast, Pennsylvania Station, which handles about 600,000 commuters daily, is being kept open during the Republican National Convention in New York a month later.
New York officials are boosting the number of police in the station and riding on trains, but the transit hub, which sits under convention venue Madison Square Garden, will operate normally.
Robert Nagi, a project manager at VHB/Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc., one of the largest traffic consulting firms in the area, said terrorizing commuters might relieve some of the problems.
"My gut feeling is that people are ultimately going to hear enough horror stories that people will avoid the city," said Nagi.
It's not clear how lengthy a stretch of I-93 will be closed for the four nights of the convention. But even if a shorter expanse of the road is closed, traffic analysts said, officials would probably encourage motorists to drive around the city.
Southbound drivers on I-93 would then pick up Route 128 at the interchange in Woburn, the most dangerous and heavily travelled cloverleaf in the state....
A state transportation official who asked to remain anonymous said that both the Sumner and Callahan Tunnels could also be closed, forcing more traffic to use the turnpike and the Ted Williams Tunnel.
(Full report follows)
The Boston Globe
Thursday, April 1, 2004
Convention-week detours eyed
Officials urge use of public transit
By Mac Daniel and Anthony Flint, Globe Staff
The major alternative routes for traffic detoured from Interstate 93 during the Democratic National Convention will probably be Route 128 and the Ted Williams Tunnel, shifts that would pack tens of thousands of additional cars onto those roads.
Secondary roads such as Routes 60, 99, and 1A north of the city are expected to be quickly overwhelmed, too, as motorists search for alternatives.
"People should understand their evening commute will not be a smooth one and consider leaving their cars at home, taking the T, or finding other ways to get into the city," said Tom Tinlin, deputy commissioner at the Boston Transportation Department.
Jon Carlisle, spokesman for state Transportation Secretary Daniel Grabauskas, said the state is still working with the Secret Service and the city to develop a comprehensive detour plan. But he said it is reasonable to assume that Route 128 and the Ted Williams Tunnel will be major alternative routes.
Local officials are concerned that without I-93, the region's main artery, other roads could be gridlocked. Malden Police Chief Ken Coye, said the impact on his city, where officers patrol a crowded Route 60, could be great.
"It would almost be like Greater Boston before I-93 was built," said Coye, whose city is also home to Malden Station, a transfer point for commuter rail passengers forced to switch to the Orange Line, because of the planned closure of North Station during the convention.
The concerns underscore the difficulty of rerouting traffic from a high-volume interstate that cuts through a city bordered on one side by the Atlantic: There are very few places to send tens of thousands of cars. The problems also illustrate how quickly the city has come to depend on the newly opened I-93 tunnel, which carries about 30,000 vehicles each weekday evening.
It's not clear how lengthy a stretch of I-93 will be closed for the four nights of the convention. But even if a shorter expanse of the road is closed, traffic analysts said, officials would probably encourage motorists to drive around the city.
Southbound drivers on I-93 would then pick up Route 128 at the interchange in Woburn, the most dangerous and heavily travelled cloverleaf in the state. I-93 northbound drivers would get on Route 128 south of the city in Canton. Drivers coming north from the South Shore on Route 3 or those getting on I-93 northbound closer to the city will probably take the Massachusetts Turnpike west to reach Route 128 at the Weston tolls.
A state transportation official who asked to remain anonymous said that both the Sumner and Callahan Tunnels could also be closed, forcing more traffic to use the turnpike and the Ted Williams Tunnel.
As a result of an expected increase in Pike traffic, State Police Colonel Thomas J. Foley suggested yesterday that turnpike officials may suspend tolls to keep traffic flowing.
"I don't have the authority to do that, but I think that might be something that the turnpike might consider at some point," Foley said.
Pike officials said the issue has never been raised with them.
Despite widespread fears about traffic nightmares during the Democratic gathering, there is some precedent for the closure of I-93. Last year, just before the northbound Big Dig tunnel opened, officials limited I-93 north to a single lane while encouraging drivers to use the Pike and Route 128. For the most part, the detour worked.
The Route 128 detour, under ideal conditions, would not add significant time to a driver's commute. According to Jeff Larson at SmartRoutes, which generates local traffic reports, southbound traffic on I-93 can go from the Route 128 and I-93 interchange in Woburn to the Braintree split in 33 to 35 minutes. Using 128 would add between 10 to 12 minutes to that trip, he said.
But that's based on speed-limit conditions, and drivers cannot count on that, because of anticipated increase in volume on the Pike and Route 128 during the detour. Also, heavy nighttime truck traffic could add to delays.
MassHighway officials said an average of 18,554 vehicles travel I-93 northbound from 5 p.m. to midnight on weekdays, while 12,544 vehicles travel 93 south during those hours.
"I don't know where the detour is going to be, but I think it's logical to say that through-traffic going through the city should go around the city," Larson said.
Another detour used in the past when I-93 access was limited involved rerouting northbound traffic through the Ted Williams Tunnel and over to Route 1A in East Boston, where traffic can pick up Route 1 northbound.
But that narrow roadway is already under some stress. Since Route 1A was directly connected last year to the Ted Williams Tunnel, the number of cars on it everyday has jumped: The latest figures provided by state highway officials show approximately 50,000 vehicles per day using Route 1A north of Logan Airport, 20,000 more than it is designed to carry.
This route and others like it, including Routes 28, 99, 16, and 60, are more likely to become clogged, as thousands of drivers attempt to travel on roads that long ago reached their limits.
These potential problems will be dealt with by a small army of State Police. Foley said nearly half of all troopers in the state, between 1,200 and 1,300, will be in and around Boston during the convention.
"It is going to take a significant amount of people to manage that roadway," he said, referring to the closure and detours around I-93. "I think we all see that on a daily basis. One accident out there, and the traffic jams. Certainly we are going to strive to make this as painless as possible for everybody out there, but we're fully aware of what this is going to do to disrupt people's lives."
If Democrats could somehow blame the traffic nightmare in Boston during the Democratic National Convention on Republican dirty tricks, we're sure they would. That was the childish reaction to Gov. Mitt Romney's suggestion that they consider moving their event to the new convention center in South Boston because of security concerns.
It's too late for that, but we won't be at all surprised if, come July, event planners wish they had followed Romney's advice.
(Full report follows)
The Boston Herald
Thursday, April 1, 2004
A Boston Herald editorial
Just grin and bear DNC traffic mess
If Democrats could somehow blame the traffic nightmare in Boston during the Democratic National Convention on Republican dirty tricks, we're sure they would. That was the childish reaction to Gov. Mitt Romney's suggestion that they consider moving their event to the new convention center in South Boston because of security concerns.
It's too late for that, but we won't be at all surprised if, come July, event planners wish they had followed Romney's advice.
No one should be surprised in the wake of the train bombings in Madrid that North Station will be closed for the duration of the convention.
Rail commuters will surely be inconvenienced but there's plenty of time to educate them about their alternatives.
Let's hope that one of those alternatives isn't driving into the city, because by all accounts that's going to be ugly. Officials tried to avoid closing Interstate 93 during the week's evening events, but couldn't risk the hazard of having a launching site for a truck bomb just 40 feet from where many of the nation's most prominent Democrats, not to mention the party's nominee, are gathered.
Rep. Mike Capuano's suggestion to the contrary, most people are going to have to come to work in the city anyway during the DNC. The real world will indeed keep spinning on its axis regardless of the goings-on in the FleetCenter.
We doubt the Kerry campaign is concerned the traffic mess is going to so enrage Massachusetts voters that the state will swing to Bush in November. Where and when to hide, we mean showcase, Sen. Ted Kennedy is probably more on their minds.
What should the rest of us do? One commuter's suggestion yesterday was to "just go with the flow."
That's an attitude, and advice, we'd all be wise to adopt.
Businesses in downtown Boston are bracing for commuting chaos when the Democratic National Convention comes to town in July, with some planning to close for the week and others asking their employees to take time off, rather than endure interminable trips to and from work.
Yesterday's announcements that North Station will be shuttered for a full week and the Central Artery will be closed during late afternoon and evening kicked off what is likely to be months of frenzied planning by downtown companies and the tens of thousands of workers they employ....
"We can still maintain a level of security, but allow the restaurants and things of that nature in that area to function," said Steven D. Ricciardi, who is helping organize convention security as special agent in charge of the US Secret Service's Boston field office....
Mass. General [Hospital], which employs more than 10,000 people at its sprawling West End campus just a few blocks from the FleetCenter, faces daunting planning challenges for making sure that its workers arrive on time....
It's not just those who work in the city who'll be inconvenienced. Kevin Morrissey of Weymouth said his daily commute to and from Lawrence puts him on Interstate 93 at the very late afternoon time that the roadway will be closed.
"I just think it's crazy that they're going to shut down the main vein of the city just to please all these Democrats," said Morrissey, 38, an Internet application developer. "To inconvenience that many people is absolutely crazy." ...
Scott Nogueria, co-owner of Porters Bar and Grill on Portland Street near the FleetCenter, said he figures he has to stay open during the convention if this summer is to be nearly as productive as previous ones. His bar is already losing out on business that would have been generated by the ten or so concerts the FleetCenter would have hosted in July and August if not for the convention, he said.
(Full report follows)
The Boston Globe
Thursday, April 1, 2003
Downtown businesses scramble to make plans
By Rick Klein, Globe Staff
Businesses in downtown Boston are bracing for commuting chaos when the Democratic National Convention comes to town in July, with some planning to close for the week and others asking their employees to take time off, rather than endure interminable trips to and from work.
Yesterday's announcements that North Station will be shuttered for a full week and the Central Artery will be closed during late afternoon and evening kicked off what is likely to be months of frenzied planning by downtown companies and the tens of thousands of workers they employ.
Massachusetts General Hospital is scheduling appointments early in the day during convention time or moving them to other weeks. Some architects, accountants, and financial firms are telling employees to work from home. A small Causeway Street cleaning company called MaidPro may close between July 26 and July 29 and try to rent out its office space, because nearly all its 25 employees would be forced to ride the crowded subway or commuter trains.
"Boston may be dirty for a week," said Jane Koopman, MaidPro's director of marketing. "We're just talking about either closing down for the week and taking a financial hit or working [on the company's administrative tasks] from home.... But we can't just say, 'Hey everyone stay at home,' because not everyone has broadband."
Paul Guzzi, president and chief executive of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, said he will organize a series of forums for business leaders to raise concerns with police and transportation officials and to discuss ways to handle commuting problems.
"To the extent employers can schedule vacation during that period of time, that would make good, common sense," Guzzi said. "This is for a finite period of time. We've gone through things before, nothing perhaps of this magnitude, but given the magnitude of this event, there's an acceptance of what has to be done."
Convention planners conceded that commuters will be inconvenienced when the Democrats converge on Boston to nominate their candidates for president and vice president. But they said plans will be in place to make sure that all Boston businesses, even those within walking distance of the FleetCenter, will be able to stay open because police and other security personnel will allow, for example, delivery trucks and garbage trucks to get into the city.
"We can still maintain a level of security, but allow the restaurants and things of that nature in that area to function," said Steven D. Ricciardi, who is helping organize convention security as special agent in charge of the US Secret Service's Boston field office. "We're working on it. It's something that is going to take a little more planning, and there is a way to do it."
The heads of business organizations said they expect that most companies will be able to work around the inconveniences, especially with nearly four months to prepare for only a few trying days.
Mass. General, which employs more than 10,000 people at its sprawling West End campus just a few blocks from the FleetCenter, faces daunting planning challenges for making sure that its workers arrive on time.
Bonnie Michelman, director of police, security, and outside services for the hospital, said that MGH officials will start some shifts earlier to ensure that employees are in place when they have to be and will work with convention planners to identify alternative routes for staff and patients. She said the hospital is encouraging as many of its employees as possible to take public transportation, so its limited parking is available for patients. MGH's shuttle bus system will be in full operation throughout the convention, she said.
"We will map out in great detail, for all employees on all shifts, what roads will be open and closed, what T lines are available to them," Michelman said. "We are going to be mindful of trying to adjust schedules as best we can, to ease the convenience factor."
Several major downtown employers, including Filene's and Fidelity Investments, said they are awaiting further details from convention planners, but said they are planning various ways to ease employees' commutes.
It's not just those who work in the city who'll be inconvenienced. Kevin Morrissey of Weymouth said his daily commute to and from Lawrence puts him on Interstate 93 at the very late afternoon time that the roadway will be closed.
"I just think it's crazy that they're going to shut down the main vein of the city just to please all these Democrats," said Morrissey, 38, an Internet application developer. "To inconvenience that many people is absolutely crazy."
The potential for travel disruptions is already causing all manner of shifting plans. The bar exam scheduled for some 2,000 recent law school graduates July 28 at the World Trade Center in South Boston has been pushed back by one hour, in case traffic snarls unexpectedly.
Arrangements have been made with three colleges and universities to rent out dorm rooms to bar applicants who need them, because hotel rooms will be scarce with the Democrats in town.
Pam Cassidy, a consultant with New England Financial, said she hopes to work from her Marblehead home on her laptop or just take a vacation in late July. She commutes into the city by commuter rail and subway.
"It's going to be a huge mess," said Cassidy, who added that she nonetheless understood the need for tight security in these times. "But it's only a week, not a month or a year. I think that you can't be too careful in these circumstances."
The accounting firm Grant Thornton, with a 125-person Boston office, may be down to about a dozen employees during the convention, to keep as many workers as possible from having to commute into Boston. The firm is considering asking many of its business advisers to work at clients' offices the week of the convention or to have them take vacation time then, said Joel Anik, managing partner of the company's Boston office. In addition, the firm is looking to close by 3 p.m. during convention week, so those who do come to the office can head out before I-93 closes for the day.
"We will be able to do OK, because it is a popular time of summer to take vacation anyway," Anik said. "For those who do have to come in, I'm hoping we can get them out before it gets crazy down here."
The architectural firm John Battle Associates, which has offices at West End Place, plans to have most of the eight people in its office work remotely, according to owner John Battle. "It will definitely have an impact on our activity here," he said.
So far, relatively few businesses seem ready to close entirely during the convention. Anne Meyers, president of the Downtown Crossing Association, said retail shops and dining establishments want to stay open to take advantage of the fact that the city will have 35,000 out-of-town guests during the convention.
Scott Nogueria, co-owner of Porters Bar and Grill on Portland Street near the FleetCenter, said he figures he has to stay open during the convention if this summer is to be nearly as productive as previous ones. His bar is already losing out on business that would have been generated by the ten or so concerts the FleetCenter would have hosted in July and August if not for the convention, he said.
"We're hoping and praying that we're going to make up for that lost revenue in the week of and maybe the week before and after the convention," Nogueria said. "But I have high hopes and low expectations."
Globe correspondents Kevin Joy and Jessica Bennett contributed to this report.
The Secret Service may be overreacting to the security threat during the Democratic National Convention July 26-29, but commuters from north of Boston will have no choice but to make the best of the disruptions that result....
The proximity of transportation facilities to the Fleet Center, although it poses a security problem during the convention, represents compact urbanism at its best, and the weeklong inconvenience is a small price to pay for that.
(Full report follows)
The Boston Globe
Thursday, April 1, 2004
A Boston Globe editorial
Convention wisdom
The Secret Service may be overreacting to the security threat during the Democratic National Convention July 26-29, but commuters from north of Boston will have no choice but to make the best of the disruptions that result. The state can help by encouraging people to take the MBTA and making sure the T has the money to offer excellent alternative service.
The MBTA will face difficulties of its own because North Station will be shut for a week at the time of the convention. Commuter rail passengers who ordinarily get off there will have to get off their trains early and take regular subway lines or special buses into the city. The T should make sure that these alternative services run flawlessly.
The worst disruptions will come when Interstate 93 is closed during the convention's four evening sessions. The Secret Service worried that the highway, which passes next to the Fleet Center, was too tempting a location for truck bombers. The time of the shutdown has not been announced. It ought to be as late as possible to allow commuters who travel by car to leave work with minimum inconvenience.
Boston and State Police will be out in force around the area during the last week in July. That enhanced presence ought to keep terrorists away. But the Democratic Convention will be the first one held since the 9/11 attacks, so the Secret Service is being especially cautious.
The proximity of transportation facilities to the Fleet Center, although it poses a security problem during the convention, represents compact urbanism at its best, and the weeklong inconvenience is a small price to pay for that.
Employers in the area ought to encourage people to go on vacation for the week. Those who remain have nearly four months to prepare for the disruption. People who live and work in Boston have endured blizzards, hurricanes, great fires, a molasses flood, and the Big Dig. With foresight and humor, all of us will get through the Democratic National Convention.
The Secret Service may be overreacting to the security threat during the Democratic National Convention July 26-29, but commuters from north of Boston will have no choice but to make the best of the disruptions that result....
The proximity of transportation facilities to the Fleet Center, although it poses a security problem during the convention, represents compact urbanism at its best, and the weeklong inconvenience is a small price to pay for that.
(Full report follows)
The Boston Globe
Thursday, April 1, 2004
A Boston Globe editorial
Convention wisdom
The Secret Service may be overreacting to the security threat during the Democratic National Convention July 26-29, but commuters from north of Boston will have no choice but to make the best of the disruptions that result. The state can help by encouraging people to take the MBTA and making sure the T has the money to offer excellent alternative service.
The MBTA will face difficulties of its own because North Station will be shut for a week at the time of the convention. Commuter rail passengers who ordinarily get off there will have to get off their trains early and take regular subway lines or special buses into the city. The T should make sure that these alternative services run flawlessly.
The worst disruptions will come when Interstate 93 is closed during the convention's four evening sessions. The Secret Service worried that the highway, which passes next to the Fleet Center, was too tempting a location for truck bombers. The time of the shutdown has not been announced. It ought to be as late as possible to allow commuters who travel by car to leave work with minimum inconvenience.
Boston and State Police will be out in force around the area during the last week in July. That enhanced presence ought to keep terrorists away. But the Democratic Convention will be the first one held since the 9/11 attacks, so the Secret Service is being especially cautious.
The proximity of transportation facilities to the Fleet Center, although it poses a security problem during the convention, represents compact urbanism at its best, and the weeklong inconvenience is a small price to pay for that.
Employers in the area ought to encourage people to go on vacation for the week. Those who remain have nearly four months to prepare for the disruption. People who live and work in Boston have endured blizzards, hurricanes, great fires, a molasses flood, and the Big Dig. With foresight and humor, all of us will get through the Democratic National Convention.
The Patriot Ledger
Thursday, April 1, 2004
Editorial cartoon by O'Mahoney
Do the math on what Boston will actually lose come July - as the DNC lays waste to our civil order - and the $154 million dividend Mayor Thomas M. Menino keeps crowing about starts to look mighty small.
The Sail Boston hit alone is an $85 million net loss, event organizers said.
The U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials? That's $15 million gone. The Reebok Pro Summer League? Almost $2 million more. Thank the DNC....
Let's get this straight, John Kerry is running for president on a platform to create 10 million new jobs.
And the contingency plan to make life bearable during the Dems' convention is for the whole city to bang in sick for a week? ...
I count about $110 million so far to be debited from that $154 million. And we haven't even touched on the $40 million worth of corporate philanthropic and charitable contributions the convention has vacuumed up.
(Full report follows)
The Boston Herald
Friday, April 2, 2004
The $154M lie:
Dems' party will cost as much as it brings in
By Cosmo Macero Jr.
It's only April and the Democrats have already ruined John Nolen's summer.
His charter boat business was in line for a lucrative July run until Sail Boston 2004 shoved off to give some breathing room to the Democratic National Convention.
"It's usually huge for us. There aren't enough boats to handle the amount of people," said Nolen, senior captain of Boston Harbor Charters in Marina Bay. "The fact that they're moving it (to Rhode Island) this year is kind of devastating."
Join the club, captain.
Do the math on what Boston will actually lose come July - as the DNC lays waste to our civil order - and the $154 million dividend Mayor Thomas M. Menino keeps crowing about starts to look mighty small.
The Sail Boston hit alone is an $85 million net loss, event organizers said.
The U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials? That's $15 million gone. The Reebok Pro Summer League? Almost $2 million more. Thank the DNC.
Menino, God love the guy, is starting to lose his stitching.
He's hoping the horror scenarios about closing Interstate 93 in the late afternoon will keep people at home.
"What we're doing is ringing the alarm bell and saying the sky is falling," the mayor said this week.
Yeah, because Boston commuters are so deathly afraid of gridlock.
Let's get this straight, John Kerry is running for president on a platform to create 10 million new jobs.
And the contingency plan to make life bearable during the Dems' convention is for the whole city to bang in sick for a week?
The mayor has to be seeing the future, and it isn't pretty.
To wit: Traffic analysts and economists put the productivity loss of idling in a highway jam at about $16 per vehicle, per hour. So consider a conservative scenario, where the 200,000 vehicles using I-93 daily experience just a 30-minute delay on each day of the DNC.
That's $6.4 million in wasted time that Terry McAuliffe can never give you back. A little curiosity factor here, a tap of the brakes there, and all of a sudden you're up to $13 million.
Then there's the subway and commuter rail riders - their time is worth $16 an hour, too - rerouted every day for a week.
I count about $110 million so far to be debited from that $154 million. And we haven't even touched on the $40 million worth of corporate philanthropic and charitable contributions the convention has vacuumed up.
Yesterday at the Democratic National Convention Committee - where chief executive Rod O'Connor is about one bad story away from getting the hook - spokesman Angus McQuilken wanted no part of any "economic impact" discussion.
He was referring people to the Boston 2004 host committee, which was referring folks to Menino's office, which was doling out copies of an old economic study gussied up as new. Conclusion: The DNC will pump $154 million into the economy.
I don't know, that sure sounds like a lot of dough for a July with no Tall Ships.
"What we're going to do is move one of our boats down to Newport," Nolen said. "We're going to try and do the best we can."
Yes, much will be sacrificed for our role in democracy come July.
John Nolen is certainly not alone.
And the fact is there is honor in making sacrifices as part of a larger civic mission. Boston ought to be right proud to help nominate a hometown candidate for president on his own turf.
But there is no honor, and no sense, in trying to kid everyone.
So let's put an end to the economic doubletalk, once and for all. Because we'll be lucky to break even when our big week in the spotlight is all over.
That's not so bad, really, as a price to pay for some civic pride.
So why has it been so hard to tell the truth?
It may be a party, but it's not fair.
That's the attitude of some Bay Staters when comparing the massive disruptions expected during July's Democratic National Convention to the Republican confab in New York a month later....
That Boston edifice stands to be the hub of a transportation nightmare with the week-long closing of North Station and the intermittent shuttering of Interstate 93.
Yet Pennsylvania Station beneath Madison Square Garden will stay open...
(Full report follows)
The Boston Herald
Friday, April 2, 2004
Hub cries foul over N.Y.'s Penn Station plans
By Robin Washington
It may be a party, but it's not fair.
That's the attitude of some Bay Staters when comparing the massive disruptions expected during July's Democratic National Convention to the Republican confab in New York a month later.
"If it's not a security problem in New York, why is it a security problem in Boston?" asked Russell Ayoub of Boston Beer Works on Canal Street, in the shadow of the FleetCenter.
That Boston edifice stands to be the hub of a transportation nightmare with the week-long closing of North Station and the intermittent shuttering of Interstate 93.
Yet Pennsylvania Station beneath Madison Square Garden will stay open, officials maintained yesterday, despite a New York Daily News story saying it would shut down during President Bush's speech to the GOP faithful.
"We have absolutely no information on that," said agent Ann Roman, a Secret Service spokeswoman. "As of right now, there are no plans to close Penn Station."
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg echoed that, though he said, "a couple of side streets" could be blocked.
So far, that decision stands despite similarities between the two venues. Besides the FleetCenter, Madison Square Garden is the nation's only other arena situated above a major rail terminal. If anything, its security risks far outweigh Boston's, some said.
"It's the biggest station in the country," said Amtrak spokesman Cliff Black, adding if directed, the railroad could bypass the station.
While North Station handles 99 commuter rail and Amtrak trains daily, Penn Station sees 1,000, Amtrak and MBTA officials said.
But there are differences, said Ed Flynn, the Bay State's public safety secretary.
"Penn Station ... is five stories underneath," he told New England Cable News. "(The Secret Service is) concerned about explosive devices and five stories gives them far more buffer."
While Boston braces for the prospect of finding alternative routes for 200,000 cars and 24,000 commuter rail passengers, Penn Station users said it would be near impossible to redirect its 500,000 daily passengers.
"There's no way it could happen here. People would be going nuts," said Gina Cassiani of Nick and Stef's Steak House around the corner from Madison Square Garden.
Belying any hint of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, she expressed sympathy for Bostonians faced with a weeklong closure. "That's really going to affect you guys a lot more than us," she said.
Wary Bay State officials yesterday vowed to beef up security efforts in the wake of a new FBI/Homeland Security alert that terrorists may try to bomb buses and rail lines in major U.S. cities this summer....
U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Somerville) said while the bulletin was vaguely worded and cited no specific credible threat, such warnings should be taken "reasonably seriously" - particularly since commuter trains run under the FleetCenter, site of the July Democratic National Convention.
"The convention is a clear and logical potential target - but, given all the security, it would also be one of the hardest to hit," he said.
(Full report follows)
The Boston Herald
Saturday, April 3, 2004
Alert warns of bus, rail attacks
By Andrew Miga and Steve Marantz
Wary Bay State officials yesterday vowed to beef up security efforts in the wake of a new FBI/Homeland Security alert that terrorists may try to bomb buses and rail lines in major U.S. cities this summer.
"We are increasingly focused on the vulnerability and ability to protect citizens using transit systems," Gov. Mitt Romney said at a Beacon Hill news conference.
"As a result of the tragedy in Spain and information we received, we are taking measures to do everything humanly possible to protect ourselves and our transit systems."
U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Somerville) said while the bulletin was vaguely worded and cited no specific credible threat, such warnings should be taken "reasonably seriously" - particularly since commuter trains run under the FleetCenter, site of the July Democratic National Convention.
"The convention is a clear and logical potential target - but, given all the security, it would also be one of the hardest to hit," he said.
Federal officials issued a bulletin to police nationwide Thursday night warning terrorists may try to smuggle improvised bombs aboard public transit systems in luggage or carry-on luggage such as backpacks or duffel bags.
The memo urged rail and bus industry officials to increase security and screening, particularly in the wake of the March 11 bombings in Spain.
The directive, citing unconfirmed intelligence reports, said terrorists could use ammonium nitrate fertilizer and diesel fuel as bomb-making materials.
The alert came as Spanish officials yesterday discovered a bomb in an athletic bag under railroad tracks in Madrid.
Romney said if the threat level worsens, his public safety office is prepared to institute a security crackdown that could include random passenger screening and limiting access to parking facilities for trucks and vans unless they undergo inspection.
U.S. Rep. Edward Markey (D-Malden), a member of the House Homeland Security panel, expressed concern the Bush administration has slashed funds for local anti-terror initiatives such as medical response teams.
"Last month in Madrid, we were reminded once again that public transportation systems are tempting targets for terrorists," Markey said. "We must take action now to secure our railroads and subways against threats."
The FBI also warned this week that potential terrorists may try to slip into the United States using cultural, athletic or artistic visas.
American officials expanded the list of foreign visitors who must be fingerprinted, including nations such as Britain, Japan and Australia.
Metropolitan leaders are breathing a sigh of relief after learning yesterday that the expected evening gridlock for commuters leaving Boston during July's Democratic National Convention may not be as bad as feared.
Several who met privately with Boston Police Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole and Mayor Thomas M. Menino said they were told I-93 will likely not be closed until after the evening rush hour from July 26 to 29, close to the 7 p.m. convention starting time....
"On a normal day, more than 65,000 cars drive through Somerville on McGrath and O'Brien Highway alone," said Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone. "If you close 93, that number will probably double."
Curtatone said Menino assured the mayors that convention planners will work closely with them as transportation details are ironed out. Still, Curtatone said it will likely cost Somerville "tens of thousands of dollars" in police and fire overtime pay.
(Full report follows)
The Boston Herald
Saturday, April 3, 2004
Officials: I-93 shutdown will be limited
By Kay Lazar
Metropolitan leaders are breathing a sigh of relief after learning yesterday that the expected evening gridlock for commuters leaving Boston during July's Democratic National Convention may not be as bad as feared.
Several who met privately with Boston Police Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole and Mayor Thomas M. Menino said they were told I-93 will likely not be closed until after the evening rush hour from July 26 to 29, close to the 7 p.m. convention starting time.
"We're pleased it's not four days around the clock, but rather four-hour shifts from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.," said Medford Mayor Michael McGlynn.
"But if they come out with facts different from what we've heard today," McGlynn added, "I will be yelling the loudest."
McGlynn and others said one key question - exactly where the Secret Service intends to close the Interstate - remains unanswered.
That is creating heartburn in cities and town surrounding Boston as leaders still fear a flood of commuters detoured through their already-burdened streets.
"On a normal day, more than 65,000 cars drive through Somerville on McGrath and O'Brien Highway alone," said Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone. "If you close 93, that number will probably double."
Curtatone said Menino assured the mayors that convention planners will work closely with them as transportation details are ironed out. Still, Curtatone said it will likely cost Somerville "tens of thousands of dollars" in police and fire overtime pay.
One other major migraine for Boston and its `burbs is the planned closing of North Station from the weekend before the convention until July 30. That will force 24,000 rail riders to transfer to subways and special buses in the suburbs for the ride to Boston. "The most difficult part is going to be the commuter rail," Menino said yesterday. "That's where the crunch will be."
Amtrak said yesterday its Downeaster rail service, which carries 275,000 passengers a year between Portland, Maine, and Boston will be impacted during its busiest time of year because of the North Station closure, said Patricia Douglas, spokeswoman for Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority.
She said the service will likely be forced to end in Woburn, although they would like to get permission to terminate in Malden so passengers could transfer to the Orange Line subway.
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