Democrat gathering is facing cash woes

With 83 days left before the Democratic National Convention, local organizers remain $4.6 million short of fulfilling their fund-raising commitment and have brought in only about $650,000 in new cash donations in the past month.

Julie Burns, executive director of the convention host committee, said she isn't concerned about the pace of fund-raising. Organizers said they have also secured donated services worth about $1.25 million in recent weeks, bringing them about $1.9 million closer to their target than they were a month ago.

"We are absolutely certain and confident that we will reach our goal," Burns said yesterday at a press conference held to discuss convention planning.

Boston 2004, the convention host committee, must raise $39.5 million in cash and in-kind contributions under the terms of its contract with the Democratic National Convention Committee, and any gap would have to be made up by public entities, including the city of Boston. In addition, the federal government is providing $25 million to cover security costs, though convention planners concede that the true cost of security could be higher, and those costs could fall to the city or the state to cover.

Fund-raising efforts have been impaired by the fact that 30 of Boston's 32 public-employee unions are working without contracts, and several national labor leaders have refused to help out Mayor Thomas M. Menino financially while their local affiliates are engaged in tense negotiations with the city. Burns declined to comment on the status of contract talks or their impact on fund-raising.

The unions are putting more pressure on Menino in the run-up to the convention. Today, they're holding a rally at the FleetCenter, where the Democrats will convene July 26 to 29, to highlight the fact that the unions do not have deals with the city in place.

Thomas J. Nee, president of the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association, said he is sure that Menino will need tax dollars to pay for the convention, a prospect he said his union will vigorously oppose. The patrolmen's association is threatening to picket outside the convention if the union doesn't have a deal by then.

"I've had enough promises from this administration to last a lifetime," Nee said. "The precious revenues that we have should be for the city's business."

Menino has said repeatedly that tax dollars will not have to be used to help pay for the convention, and the budget proposal he filed last month reflected that promise.

"Mayor Menino is pleased by the progress that Boston 2004 continues to make," said Seth Gitell, a Menino spokesman. "They make progress every week, and he is confident they will reach all their goals."

Still, Governor Mitt Romney has rebuffed Menino's efforts to get the state to pitch in, saying the city should be responsible for paying for an event Menino helped lure. Councilor at Large Maura Hennigan, a frequent Menino critic, said she and the unions would keep a close eye on any city resources Menino tries to direct to the convention, since city taxpayers have been promised that their money won't be used for the event.

"If you say something, it has to mean something," Hennigan said. "We have contracts that haven't been resolved. It is just not fair to the residents of the city for tax dollars to pay for this."

In keeping with its policy, the host committee declined to say what new donations it has brought in. But a donor list on the Boston 2004 official website indicates that New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc. has upped its previous commitment substantially, from $750,000 to at least $1 million.

The site also lists one additional benefactor with a pledge of between $100,000 and $250,000: Eric H. Greenberg, who became wealthy after founding several Internet consulting companies. Three new donations of less than $50,000 have been added as well: Mortgage Guarantee and Title Company, Trinity Financial, and David and Jocelyn Belluck, who were major local fund-raisers for Wesley K. Clark's campaign for president.

Convention organizers yesterday announced an in-kind contribution by the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau to provide an online reservation system for hotel bookings by delegates, the media, and others who are coming to Boston for the convention. Quincy-based Passkey International Inc. will be running the website, replacing the complicated, paperwork-heavy system in place at previous conventions.

"It is huge from our standpoint," said Peggy Wilhide, a convention spokeswoman. "It will allow everybody to book online, eliminating those hundreds of thousands of copies of paper that used to be mailed and faxed around."

Burns said planning is coming together for Celebrate Boston 2004, three weeks' worth of community celebrations that will begin around the Fourth of July. Thirty-five companies and organizations, including City Year, the USS Constitution Museum, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Museum of Afro-American History, have already expressed interest in putting on events open to the public as part of those activities, she said.

Local artists will have work on display at Gallery NAGA on Newbury Street, the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Roxbury will host a multicultural art exhibit, and the Children's Museum will have interactive exhibits run by Citizen Schools.

"We are making tremendous progress," Burns said.

Meanwhile, in Albuquerque, N.M., Bill Richardson, chairman of the Democratic National Convention, expressed confidence Menino would resolve the contract disputes with city labor unions before the gala kicks off in late July.

"We're in the hands of Mayor Menino, who is going to resolve these issues. He's very pro-worker and I'm supporting him fully," the New Mexico governor told reporters at a news conference after he appeared with the presumed party nominee, John F. Kerry.

Rick Klein can be reached at rklein@globe.com.