Settlement helps host committee
Mayor Thomas M. Menino's 11th-hour settlements with city unions helped open the spigot of labor money in support of the Democratic National Convention, with at least $2.25 million flowing to the convention host committee from big national unions since June.
Service Employees International Union donated at least $1 million to Boston 2004, and the American Federation of Teachers and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees gave at least $500,000 each, according to the host committee's official website. In addition, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers gave at least $250,000, supplementing a range of smaller donations from regional and national building trade unions.
The money aided Boston 2004 organizers as they scrambled to close a fund-raising gap in the weeks before the convention.
David A. Passafaro, Boston 2004's president, said the host committee has raised a total of $42 million to pay for convention-related expenses, fulfilling its fund-raising obligation. The figure is less than the $44.5 million the host committee was once slated to raise, but Passafaro said convention expenses came in lower than expected.
Passafaro said that some big labor unions indicated months ago that they would contribute to the host committee, but did not want to make a donation until the mayor made progress in negotiations with city unions. Last week's long-awaited settlement with the police unions helped the flow of donations, he said, though he declined to say which donors waited specifically for the settlements.
"We had a bunch of people who said they would be involved, and they were playing a little bit of a waiting game," Passafaro said. "They came in to us kind of late in the day. But I would say we got a significant amount of money before the final settlement."
On July 22, after Menino successfully pushed for fast-track arbitration, a contract settlement was handed down for the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association, which had been working without a deal for two years. That helped the mayor reach settlements with the three smaller police unions on July 23 and to announce a deal Sunday with the last large union, representing Boston's firefighters.
Besides boosting fund-raising, the agreements averted picket lines that local labor leaders were planning for Sunday night's convention welcoming parties at sites around the city. Delegates from around the nation expressed unease about the pickets, and many said they would honor unions' request that they not cross.
The host committee has until 60 days after the convention to publicly reveal its fund-raising and spending details, but has listed its donors by category of giving on its website.
The latest listing of host committee donors, reflecting groups and individuals that have given since the beginning of June, shows the impact of Senator John F. Kerry's fund-raising team. Of the 28 new donors that have given at least $100,000 to the host committee, 15 also gave more than $100,000 in soft money contributions to the Democratic Party in either 2000 or 2002, according to an analysis by the Campaign Finance Institute in Washington.
The Federal Election Commission allows unrestricted donations to convention host committees on the premise that such donations are "motivated by a desire to promote the convention city and not by political considerations," according to regulations issued last August. But that premise is debunked by the host committee's list of donors, said Steve Weissman, associate director for policy at the Campaign Finance Institute, a nonpartisan group affiliated with George Washington University. Ninety-nine organizations have given more than $100,000 to the host committee, and 42 of them are headquartered in the Boston area.
"In the latest wave of contributions, we're seeing the strong national component," Weissman said. "This is Kerry's people doing the fund-raising, going to the typical Democratic donors of the past."
Other new donors that have given at least $1 million to the host committee include
New donors of $500,000 or more include Univision and Agvar Chemicals. The list of new $250,000-plus donors includes food giant
Rick Klein can be reached at rklein@globe.com.
