Jul 19th, 2004, 08:35 AM
Convention screws Boston article quotes ME, Max Burbank
Unwelcome Attention
Greater Boston Residents Are Fuming; Tourists Are Detouring
July 19, 2004
By RINKER BUCK, Courant Staff Writer
SALEM, Mass. -- Before the Age of Terrorism, Max Burbank was the kind of Massachusetts voter who would have welcomed the arrival of the Democratic National Convention in Boston.
Burbank, 42, an administrative assistant at Boston's Museum of Science, describes himself as a "pretty fierce Democrat" who strongly supports native son John Kerry's bid for the White House.
But just listen to what will happen to Burbank's normally painless commute from Salem to Boston during the Democratic convention that begins a week from today, when the North Station commuter rail hub will close to protect the FleetCenter convention site directly overhead.
"OK, here's what they say I'm supposed to do to get to work during the convention week," Burbank said shortly after alighting from his regular train at the Salem commuter station one evening last week. "Take the train from Salem to Lynn, ride a shuttle bus to South Station, take the Red Line to Park Street, then the green line to Government Center, after which a shuttle bus will deliver me to the Science Museum.
"Forget it," Burbank said. "Even though I'm a huge advocate of public transportation, I'm going to be driving in that week with a friend from Beverly."
Burbank is one among hundreds of thousands of North Shore residents whose convention week journey into downtown Boston may turn into a nightmare. The elaborate security precautions demanded by Secret Service and Homeland Security officials also have turned Boston into an unwelcome case study of the perils of throwing a major event in post-9/11 America.
When they bid for high-profile events like conventions, local officials will have to consider other consequences, too, such as lower tourism revenues and negative political fallout.
Greater Boston's discontent rose to the surface this spring after residents began to take stock of the consequences of measures to secure the FleetCenter convention site. Federal officials didn't stop at closing 6 miles of I-93 through the heart of the city and shutting down North Station. Random bag searches on the city's subways and harbor patrols that would virtually halt pleasure and commercial craft were also added to the mix.
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and members of his administration enraged commuters who had no choice about showing up for their jobs by suggesting that workers either arrange for vacations or telecommute that week. Disenchantment over the convention also built after business owners in the area's thriving tourist industry began to realize that the convention's highly publicized security and transportation snarls were killing bookings during one of the busiest weeks of the year.
Jay Spence is general manager of Massachusetts Bay Lines, a popular tourist draw within sight of the convention center. The company operates a fleet of commuter, whale-watching and night party boats.
"Normally, [the last week of July] is our busiest time of year, when we do about 5 to 6 percent of our annual business," Spence said. "During that six-day period we ordinarily have 35 private party boats scheduled. This year I have only six - two of them from the convention. Clearly, the convention has driven away business because [out-of-town] tour operators have read about the security concerns in Boston and just not booked anything here."
The effect has been virtually the same in Salem, a city 16 miles northeast of Boston. Salem attracts a lively mix of tourists and smaller conventions drawn to the wharf walks, pedestrian malls and museums bundled around the downtown area's "Witch City" theme.
The Hawthorne Hotel, a meticulously restored historic site downtown, is one of the city's prime overnight destinations. But hotel executives say travel planners stopped booking rooms during the DNC convention week out of fear their clients would blame them for traffic snarls and difficulty getting in and out of Logan Airport.
"Our Sunday to Thursday business primarily consists of corporate accounts who come in to use our meeting rooms and enjoy business events in a historic setting," said Susan Babine, the Hawthorne's director of sales and marketing. "We expected a falloff because of security concerns during the DNC conventions, but with all of the media attention it has fallen off even more than we thought. ... We'll probably not recover the $15,000 in losses, which is considerable for an 89-room hotel."
These losses can pile up, and there's considerable evidence already that the Democratic convention this summer has actually hurt the area economy. Sail Boston 2004, the tall ships sail-in, was canceled, and the U.S. Gymnastics Team qualifying trials moved to Anaheim, Calif., after organizers concluded that Boston couldn't handle another major event.
The loss of those two events cost the city an estimated $100 million in revenues, according to The Beacon Hill Institute, an economic think tank at Suffolk University that prepared a report on the economic impact of the Democratic convention. The report concluded that Greater Boston will suffer a "net economic impact" of $8 million in lost tourism dollars because of the convention, even after some $50 million in federal security subsidies are figured in.
"What we've learned is that conventions in the post-9/11 era are so disruptive that they don't actually make any money for a city," said John Barrett, the director of research at the Beacon Hill Institute who helped prepare the report. "And the idea that a convention will create money in the future for a city because of the favorable publicity is also disingenuous. These things just aren't the moneymakers people think they are."
But the lost business bookings and lost sales-tax revenues may be the least of politicians' worries. Most commuters interviewed in Salem made it clear that they resented Menino's suggestion that they simply take a vacation or telecommute while the Democrats were in town.
Christine Miller is a health care worker who commutes every day between Salem and Charlestown, across the Charles River from Boston. She was unable to arrange vacation during convention week because she had just changed jobs.
"The politicians said that [the convention] will bring benefits to the city, but we're seeing no benefits," Miller said. "People forget that Boston is still very much a working-class city where the people rely on mass transit. And my company is typical - it's based in California. Well, I can't exactly pick up the phone and tell California, `Hey, my mass transit isn't working this week because of the convention. How about a week off?'"
The multiple hassles of DNC 2004 are also leading to even deeper considerations. For some Boston-area residents, the whole concept of political conventions is being questioned.
"Political conventions really seem to have outlived their purpose," said the Beacon Hill Institute's Barrett. "Kerry has been the nominee for months now and it seems we could do something less disruptive than this to anoint him. Conventions have outlived their usefulness as a forum for ideas, especially if they are going to cost a city this much."
For his part, while he battles congested secondary streets getting to and from his museum job that week, loyal Democrat Max Burbank won't be paying much attention to the DNC either.
"I couldn't care less what happens at the convention," Burbank said after climbing the long set of stairs linking the commuter station to the city's historic witch district. "Nothing is being decided."
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