Kerry's concert organizer resigns
Events impresario David G. Mugar resigned yesterday as executive producer of John F. Kerry's troubled Boston Pops concert set for convention week, complaining that the city's host committee has not given him the money he needs to stage the event.
Mugar's surprise resignation puzzled Democratic National Convention organizers, who insisted they were ready to transfer $1 million to Mugar yesterday afternoon. Mugar did not return phone calls seeking comment last night.
The episode is the latest in a series of setbacks for the concert and fireworks display, which was moved from the Esplanade to the campus of the University of Massachusetts at Boston last week after state officials refused a permit, saying that police could not handle the huge crowds expected for the July 28 event.
In a letter to Jack Corrigan, convention director for the presumptive presidential nominee, Mugar wrote that he had already spent $50,000 planning the event, for which he expected reimbursement. Copies of the letter were sent to Governor Mitt Romney, Mayor Thomas M. Menino, and other officials.
''Unfortunately, Boston 2004 has not met financial commitments and deadlines that we have set, nor have we received any funds for the event to take place," Mugar wrote. ''Regretfully, we must now withdraw from the planning process and the production of the logistics for the event..
''The production of such an event involves many companies and elements that must be constructed and produced on site. Producing an event with the complexity that Boston 2004 and the Democratic National Committee wanted requires many days of preparation, and without funds we have been unable to order services and equipment that would be necessary for the celebration."
Lawyers for Mugar and Boston 2004 were planning a transfer of $1 million to Mugar just before his resignation letter arrived, said Boston 2004 spokeswoman Karen Grant. The host committee had raised the $1 million specifically for the concert, from a single, anonymous donor.
''Our general counsel informed Mr. Mugar's general counsel this afternoon that we were prepared to immediately send him $1 million in anticipation of receiving his contract," she said. ''Twenty minutes later we received a copy of the letter Mr. Mugar sent to Jack Corrigan.
''Nevertheless," she added, ''we hope to work cooperatively with Mr. Mugar in moving ahead with this event."
The concert, billed by the Kerry campaign as a gift for Bostonians being inconvenienced by the Democratic National Convention, has been plagued by complications since it was first publicly proposed earlier this month.
It was originally planned for the Hatch Shell, where the Fourth of July celebrations Mugar produces are held. The Wednesday evening concert was to feature the Pops, with conductor John Williams, singer James Taylor, and a fireworks display. But some officials and residents were worried that the concert would further strain the city's resources as thousands of visitors would be clogging streets and stretching police resources. Even Democrats griped about the event.
State officials refused to grant a permit for the Esplanade event, citing security concerns. The campaign then proposed that the concert and fireworks show be held on the UMass-Boston campus, for a smaller crowd, about 20,000, compared to the several hundred thousands originally hoped for. The new plans were far less ambitious than Mugar's usual productions, and on a smaller scale than a city-sponsored Boston Pops concert and fireworks display on City Hall Plaza planned for the Sunday night before the convention's official start. Mugar is not producing that event.
A city permit is required for the UMass-Boston event, and the process was not complete yesterday.
Philanthropist Mugar has given the maximum allowable donations to the Republican presidential ticket in the last few years, but also made a $1,000 donation to Kerry's campaign last year. He has been producing Fourth of July events on the Esplanade for 30 years.
