DNC barely on the minds of leaders in Milwaukee
About this time, Milwaukee was supposed to be riding the high of having just hosted its first national political convention, with tens of thousands of people flooding the city and pumping millions of dollars into local businesses from downtown to the neighborhoods.
The scene of crowded sidewalks during the Democratic National Convention is one that Ald. Michael Murphy pictured. And after the throngs of visitors returned home, he — and many others — hoped the international spotlight would bring future investment from those who discovered potential in Milwaukee.
It’s a vision that like so many things in the age of COVID-19 has since crumbled into something almost unrecognizable.
“It’s just so depressing,” Murphy said. “It was the worst timing in the world for our city.”
It’s now clear there will be no 50,000 visitors, no series of high-profile speakers taking the stage in Milwaukee night after night, no $200 million economic boost from the mostly virtual event later this month.
The media presence that had been expected has been downsized, as has the footprint of the convention itself. The number of attendees shrunk dramatically and could reportedly be as low as 300.
But there could still be sizable protests, a vestige of what would have been.
Is it still worth it? One alderman’s answer: No.
“Three hundred people is almost negligible in terms of a high-impact event from an economic impact standpoint,” said Ald. Robert Bauman, who anticipates the city contending with protests while seeing very little return.
‘Nobody’s really talking or even thinking DNC’
With the historic event just weeks away, it is not front of mind for many of Milwaukee’s elected leaders and appears poised to barely register with residents.
“In a perfect world, it would already have happened because it was in July,” said Ald. Mark Borkowski of the convention’s original July date. “The pandemic has taken a forefront, these protests have taken a forefront. Locally, we have a police chief that’s embattled. To be brutally honest, nobody’s really talking or even thinking DNC — and that includes me.”
Ald. JoCasta Zamarripa said it’s disheartening that the city is left preparing for protests and debating the controversial issues associated with them for an event that won’t bring the attendees and the economic boon that the city had hoped.
She recalled before the pandemic having business owners in her district reach out to her saying they wanted to be involved. There was talk of who had space to potentially host parties and festivities for delegates looking to go out after the day’s events concluded.
“It’s gone kind of from where I was ... making calls and trying to plug in our minority business owners to this quiet,” said Zamarripa, whose district is largely Latinx.
She’s feeling melancholy about the lost potential for an influx of funds into the city’s minority businesses. From the time it was announced that the convention was coming to Milwaukee, the need to ensure that the event’s economic impact would be felt deep into the neighborhoods had been consistently raised.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said although fewer visitors means fewer dollars flowing to the city’s businesses, it remains a priority to see spending at companies owned by people of color.
Barrett said he’s disappointed with how things have unfolded with the DNC but added that it’s necessary to keep it in perspective as the country surpasses 150,000 deaths from COVID-19, with millions sickened, and contends with an economic downturn.
“Obviously, I would have preferred to have 50,000 visitors to Milwaukee during a beautiful summer week and $200 million in spending and the opportunity to showcase all the great things going for us as a community,” Barrett said. “But the pandemic and the economic meltdown and the racial challenges have changed everything dramatically in a way that no one could have foreseen.”
And, he said, the city hasn’t had the Republican National Convention’s COVID-induced “drama” that forced President Donald Trump to cancel the Jacksonville portion of the RNC.
He said he hopes the DNC and the RNC consider Milwaukee four years from now. If the city can pull off a good presentation during such a challenging time, Barrett said, he thinks it will bode well for Milwaukee’s future chances.
Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic said she had heard from “countless” local businesses that had prepared unique services, hired extra staff or taken out a small loan in preparation for the DNC. Now, they’re recalibrating while also contending with the pandemic.
Even so, she said, she thinks it’s best to have a smaller convention given the health risks. The state has surpassed 56,000 cases and 960 deaths from COVID-19.
“The scaled back, mostly virtual event is the way to go, but I’ll be surprised if we see anything at all from an economic stimulant,” she said. “But I’m
OK with that because I want to make sure we preserve life and safety.”
Some see silver linings
A silver lining, she hopes, is that the next president will be nominated here.
Common Council President Cavalier Johnson said he, too, still sees a benefit for Milwaukee, even if it’s not felt immediately.
The national convention, regardless of its size, will put eyes on the city in ways they never were before, he said, giving people the opportunity to see Milwaukee in a new light.
“I think even though it’s reduced in scale, and that part is quite honestly disappointing, it still doesn’t remove the fact that Milwaukee won a very competitive convention bid, beating out other kinds of glitzy cities,” Johnson said. “That’s something to be proud of, and I think it will put Milwaukee in contention for other such conventions and other such events in the future.”
After more than a year and a half of work, Milwaukee beat out Houston and Miami to land the convention.
There remain a lot of good things Milwaukee wants to show off, Ald. Nik Kovac said.
Before the pandemic, he said, there was great expectation of opportunities for event venues, catering and contractors.
But today, he would have strong public health concerns if a large convention were still planned.
Convention attendees, including law enforcement, media and staff will have to follow a series of health protocols. Those include wearing face masks, maintaining social distancing of at least 6 feet and submitting to daily COVID-19 tests. They are also encouraged to cover their eyes with goggles or a face shield and directed to “avoid bars, restaurants, and other locations where social distancing is not possible or not practiced.”
Kovac is also worried about out-oftown “troublemakers, whether they work for the Department of Homeland Security or other violent opportunists” who might try to make peaceful protests look violent.
An announcement in recent weeks that federal agents would be coming to Milwaukee put local elected leaders on edge as clashes erupted in Portland, Oregon, between Department of Homeland Security agents and protesters.
Matthew D. Krueger, U.S. attorney for Wisconsin’s Eastern District, said last week the mission of the U.S. Department of Justice agents assigned to Milwaukee would remain on addressing violent crime and would not shift to the DNC or the kind of response seen in Portland.
Borkowski, too, raised concerns about the protesters taking advantage of the spotlight that will be on Milwaukee to promote various agendas.
He just hopes the convention goes better than expected.
“We’re spending like $40 million on protective security, so you can’t tell me that they’re not expecting some issues because that’s not how they’re acting,” he said of the federal security grant to the city for the convention.
Like everything else, the grant was scaled back by $10 million.
Milwaukee police have sought bids for everything from a cache of munitions, including smoke grenades, 40mm stinger rubber balls and “riot control grenade continuous discharge” to a “tactical gas delivery system,” pepper spray, barricades and beef jerky.
The bids have not been without controversy, after Milwaukee police drew criticism for the department’s response to protests that erupted in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody.
It will be great to have Vice President Joe Biden accept the nomination in Milwaukee, Borkowski said, though he wasn’t aware that any celebrities who make these kinds of conventions the “it” place to see and be seen would be in attendance.
“This is not the gala, this is not the celebration, this is not the party, pomp and circumstance that previous (conventions) had been,” Borkowski said.