Durandal7
Jul 17, 2004, 12:51 AM
BOSTON -- When Mayor Thomas M. Menino (D) welcomes delegates to the Democratic National Convention here, the chairman of the California delegation plans to stand up and walk out.
A week before 35,000 people begin arriving here, organizers insist the city is ready for the July 26 opening. Bumpy roads have been paved, lampposts painted, parks manicured. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge approved a vast security apparatus that will turn the convention site into a fortress and leave residents grappling with traffic jams, closed roads and other inconveniences.
But concern is growing that the standoff between the unions and City Hall will not only embarrass the Democrats but also disrupt events inside and outside the convention hall and serve as a distraction for emergency workers that will compromise the safety of attendees at a time of heightened national alert.
The more than 1,400 members of the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association and Boston Firefighters Local 718, plan to protest every convention event the mayor hosts or attends. Their efforts will focus on the walkout during Menino's opening speech July 26 and on picket lines outside the 29 official state welcoming parties at high-profile venues likely to draw big Democratic names.
The unions have written to all the state delegations asking them not to cross their picket lines. The leaders of at least six -- North Dakota, Maine, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee and California, the nation's largest -- have said they will avoid picketed events and will encourage their delegates to do likewise, which has led organizers to contemplate cancellations. Ohio delegation chairman Dennis L. White wrote the police union this week that he and his staff are prepared to join the walkout on Menino.
The police will also protest in City Hall Plaza on July 26, and other smaller demonstrations are planned throughout the week.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56224-2004Jul16.html
Between this and the Dean draft push things could get interesting.
edit: I now see I mispelled "delegates" in the thread title, sorry. :rolleyes:
A week before 35,000 people begin arriving here, organizers insist the city is ready for the July 26 opening. Bumpy roads have been paved, lampposts painted, parks manicured. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge approved a vast security apparatus that will turn the convention site into a fortress and leave residents grappling with traffic jams, closed roads and other inconveniences.
But concern is growing that the standoff between the unions and City Hall will not only embarrass the Democrats but also disrupt events inside and outside the convention hall and serve as a distraction for emergency workers that will compromise the safety of attendees at a time of heightened national alert.
The more than 1,400 members of the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association and Boston Firefighters Local 718, plan to protest every convention event the mayor hosts or attends. Their efforts will focus on the walkout during Menino's opening speech July 26 and on picket lines outside the 29 official state welcoming parties at high-profile venues likely to draw big Democratic names.
The unions have written to all the state delegations asking them not to cross their picket lines. The leaders of at least six -- North Dakota, Maine, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee and California, the nation's largest -- have said they will avoid picketed events and will encourage their delegates to do likewise, which has led organizers to contemplate cancellations. Ohio delegation chairman Dennis L. White wrote the police union this week that he and his staff are prepared to join the walkout on Menino.
The police will also protest in City Hall Plaza on July 26, and other smaller demonstrations are planned throughout the week.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56224-2004Jul16.html
Between this and the Dean draft push things could get interesting.
edit: I now see I mispelled "delegates" in the thread title, sorry. :rolleyes:
