Denver vows to be better convention host

Boston did "a great job" hosting the Democratic National Convention in 2004, a Colorado congressman said yesterday, but Denver can do better when it hosts the convention next summer, especially when it comes to accommodating protesters,

"We're a year in advance," US Representative Ed Perlmutter said in a telephone interview. "We can work a lot of things out so that free speech is given its due and peaceful assembly is given its due. . . . Conducting the business of the convention and maintaining the order of the community and its daily routine is the balancing act."

Perlmutter had said Friday that Denver can improve on Boston's arrangements for dealing with protesters while protecting convention delegates.

He made the comments after participating in a Homeland Security subcommittee meeting in Colorado focusing on security preparations for the 2008 convention.

During the 2004 convention, Boston designated a "free-speech zone" next to the FleetCenter, now the TD Banknorth Garden: a 25,800-square-foot asphalt lot enclosed by chain-link fencing, razor wire, netting, and cement barriers. Elevated Green Line tracks passed over the zone and sloped to less than 6 feet above the ground at one point.

Although they could demonstrate in other areas near the arena, the "free-speech zone" was the only place where protesters would be in direct view of convention delegates.

A US district judge said the comparison of the area to an internment camp was "an understatement," but agreed with city officials who said the measures were necessary in light of the 9/11 attacks and several violent antiglobalization rallies that occurred shortly before the convention.

A spokeswoman for Mayor Thomas Menino said yesterday that security measures implemented during the 2004 convention were necessary at the time and worked well.

"We won accolades for our preparation for the Democratic National Convention," said Jennifer Mehigan. "We constantly prepare, and we constantly think about what we can do better."

Perlmutter said Denver security agencies have already begun discussions with protest groups, which should allow the city to avoid last-minute court hearings over arrangements for demonstrators.