Convention Planners in a Daze

A delegation from the Democratic National Committee paid us a visit last week to assure The Times and, by proxy, the public that the committee is on top of all planning for the convention in Los Angeles in August. The kindest thing we can say is that we were not reassured. To be less kind and more accurate, we were alarmed.

Three members of the group--DNC Chief Executive Officer Lydia Camarillo, Chairman Roy Romer and Chief Operating Officer Don Foley--spent about an hour repeating prearranged mantras. Camarillo: “We’re working on it, we want everyone to feel included”; Romer: “We hope you appreciate our candor--we’re going to make it work”; Foley: “I’ve done this before and I can do it again.”

Now comes word that Foley, who was convention manager for the Democrats’ 1996 gathering in Chicago and held staff jobs in three previous conventions, has resigned, saying he wants to spend more time at his regular job at Northwest Airlines. It would seem that the last thing the DNC can afford to lose--six months short of a convention expected to bring about 4,300 delegates and up to 15,000 journalists to the Los Angeles Convention Center and Staples Center--is a top staffer who’s experienced at managing the details of a convention.

The DNC also apparently still has loads to learn about Los Angeles and how it operates. Here’s one question we posed to the delegation: Is it prepared for major protests of the sort Seattle saw at the World Trade Organization conference in December? Answer: Yes, because the Los Angeles Police Department is well known for its ability to prevent confrontations. Huh? Another question: Who are you working with to ensure that conventioneers can travel easily between downtown and hotels? Answer: The Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Uh-oh.

Mayor Richard Riordan announced recently that he planned to get more involved in LA Convention 2000, the local nonpartisan civic group charged with raising the money to pay for the privately financed convention, as well as coordinating with the DNC on transportation and security issues. Sounds like more coordination is needed. If the convention is badly organized, if transportation is snarled and demonstrators not well prepared for, it will be Los Angeles that suffers.

Mayor Riordan, your work is cut out for you. Al Gore, Bill Bradley: Call Peter Ueberroth.