Fundraising efforts, security and logistics were the three main issues local politicos hoped to prove weren’t issues.
Philadelphia put on its best face Wednesday as the panel slated to pick a site for the 2016 Democratic National Convention began its evaluation of the city. After taking in a few sites, Amy Dacey, CEO of the DNC, answered questions at Xfinity Live! in the South Philadelphia Sports Complex.
Regarding the finances, Dacey said “conventions take significant financial resources so we’re working to see what funds will be available and what the host committee would put together and how much it would cost to host an event like this.”
Former Gov. Ed Rendell, who chaired the committee that promoted Philadelphia as the host city, said the city raised $68 million when it hosted the Republican National Convention in 2000.
“I think we can easily replicate that,” Rendell said.
So far, Rendell added, the city will present $41 million in cash and $19 million in contributions for a total of $60 million.
The federal government no longer gives convention cities $18 million to help pay the bills, but it does fork over $50 million for security, “And that will defray a lot of the police costs that the city absorbed in 2000.”
“So it’s a balance,” Rendell said. “But we’re confident we can raise enough money.”
When asked whether any taxpayer would eventually be used, Rendell said it would be less than a few million.
The panel spent part of Wednesday and will spend all-day Thursday visiting key sites throughout the city to evaluate event space before moving on to evaluate the competition, which includes Brooklyn, Phoenix, Birmingham, and Columbus, Ohio.
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