Mayor says Democrats responsible for convention overruns

Mayor Thomas M. Menino said yesterday he will make sure that city taxpayers don't have to cover cost overruns at the Democratic National Convention, saying that he believes decisions made by the national Democratic Party are responsible for the fact that construction and production costs have ballooned.

Menino said the convention show is being designed by the Democratic National Committee and Senator John F. Kerry's campaign, not the local host committee the mayor leads. Since their decisions for more expensive staging and production are adding to the convention's budget, he said an estimated $5 million in additional costs should be paid with funds raised by Kerry and the DNC.

"It's their obligation," Menino told reporters at a City Hall news conference. "It's an issue for the Democratic National Committee. It's on their dime, not the city's dime, and they have to deal with those issues of the overruns in the convention costs . . . It's not the City of Boston, that's for sure."

The mayor's comments sharpened a disagreement between local and national convention organizers over the source of the cost overruns. The Kerry campaign and DNC officials have said that unanticipated cost increases in labor, electricity, and providing work space for members of the news media are causing the budget spike, not any added elements ordered by the party.

But host committee leaders have pointed out that the convention will include a range of costly features that were not anticipated when the convention's budget was designed in 2002. Those include two side podiums in addition to the main stage, live remote video feeds from around the nation that will be piped into the FleetCenter, and new steel rigging necessary to support the lighting needed for the main stage.

Peggy Wilhide, a spokeswoman for the Democratic National Campaign Committee, said convention officials are committed to raising the money necessary to put on a memorable show. All fund-raising is formally conducted through the host committee, but Kerry has enlisted several of his top fund-raisers to bring in cash.

"Everybody's pulling together to raise the money necessary to put on a first-class convention," Wilhide said.

Senator Edward M. Kennedy, one of Kerry's national campaign chairmen and a driving force in Boston's bid to land the convention, said any additional investment will be worth it "in order to get the message out and be able to communicate to the broadest group."

"We have a convention every four years," Kennedy said. "It's important that we have the best in terms of technology."

Rick Klein can be reached at rklein@globe.com. Material from the Associated Press was included in this report.