Footing the bill
By many accounts, Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico is a good guy. But if the chairman of the Democratic National Convention approaches you about throwing a party in his honor, be sure to ask a lot of questions before you say yes.
Richardson, who is Latino, approached local Latino activists last fall about throwing a bash celebrating Richardson during the convention. It was to be a major event, held in a big-league venue, and featuring world-class Latino entertainers such as the pop singer Shakira. A budget of $250,000 was discussed. A local committee began holding weekly meetings and planning the event. Richardson said he would take care of the fund-raising.
That was last fall. As the convention drew closer, one minor concern arose: There didn't appear to be any budget for the party. There was talk of a budget, but no actual money. The locals kept planning anyway.
At the beginning of this process, Richardson was widely being touted as a serious contender for the vice presidential nomination. That talk faded long ago. Some suggest that that turn of events has left Richardson in a less festive mood. Perhaps he is simply oversubscribed. The one sure thing is that the fund-raising for the Richardson fiesta was never completed.
Things came to a head when he met with the organizers here on May 13. The major venues were drying up, and, anyway, one couldn't be reserved by a group with no money. Shakira clearly was off the table.
Richardson told the group that a different event, one featuring the Hispanic Congressional Caucus, had been planned for the Monday night they thought they had reserved. That event will be at Felt, a popular college-crowd club downtown. Los Lobos is set to perform. It has nothing to do with Boston's Latino community and is far removed, culturally and otherwise, from the original vision for the event.
When this was pointed out to the governor, Richardson threw out a different idea. He said he would still like to have a locally produced party -- one night later and at half the original price. They agreed, and have planned an event for Cyclorama on Tremont Street in the South End.
You can guess the next plot twist. Three weeks before the convention, there is still no cash. Convention officials have told organizers it is not a convention event per se; in plain English, it is not in their budget. Richardson's adviser and local representative, Bryon Paez, said yesterday that Richardson is working on the fund-raising.
"I don't know what's in the bank and what's been committed, as far as that goes," Paez said. "I know he is committed personally to bringing in money for it and has talked to
Members of the committee remain upbeat, though obviously concerned.
"We've had some bumps in the road, but my take is that he will come up with whatever we need to make this a success," said Jos Mass, one of the organizers. "I want to be the optimist and say this will work out. There's too much sweat equity involved for this not to work out."
Informed that little, if any, of the cash for the party appears to be in hand, Mass was less sunny. "I was just reading about Nomar Garciaparra making errors, and now you tell me someone else is dropping the ball."
Giovanna Negretti, another of the organizers, had this to say: "We're hoping the governor will keep his word and deliver the goods and hold this event we've been planning with so much love."
Possibly, probably, the party will all come together and become one of the highlights of what figures to be a rollicking convention week.
If not, it will just be a good idea that never went anywhere, perhaps like Bill Richardson's aspirations for vice president.
Adrian Walker is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at walker@globe.com.
