L A Convention 2000

The last and only time Los Angeles hosted the Democratic National Convention was in 1960, the year John F. Kennedy clinched the nomination. On Friday a group of local business leaders and elected officials launched a campaign to bring the convention to the city again--and with it a projected $137 million in revenues.

The last and only time Los Angeles hosted the Democratic National Convention was in 1960, the year John F. Kennedy clinched the nomination. On Friday a group of local business leaders and elected officials launched a campaign to bring the convention to the city again--and with it a projected $137 million in revenues.

Rep. Loretta Sanchez's campaign war chest got a huge boost Sunday when President Clinton showed up for a fund-raiser in Los Angeles for the Garden Grove Democrat. Swinging through on a West Coast tour, Clinton urged the 100-plus supporters at the Westwood Marquis Hotel to give Sanchez the clear victory she deserves. "I want an unambiguous celebration this November," he told the cheering crowd, referring to Sanchez's controversial victory in 1996.

Demonstrating his determination to take over the much-maligned planning for this summer's Democratic National Convention, Mayor Richard Riordan on Wednesday pushed aside the head of the event's host committee and replaced her with one of his most trusted aides. Deputy Mayor Noelia Rodriguez said she had agreed to take over the host committee, replacing Lucy McCoy, a public relations and fund-raising expert who has worked with Riordan on a number of projects.

A new guide to Los Angeles comes out this week in observance of the Democratic National Convention. The topic: all that the readers and viewers of America should like--really like--about L.A. Because America will never really like L.A., 26 public relations experts were called in, like superheroes, to work on it from across the Southland. "The Official L.A. Convention 2000 Media Resource Book" is the title, but it could just as easily be "Los Angeles: Honest, Folks, It's Not as Bad as They Say."

Literally rolling out the red carpet Thursday, Mayor Riordan and assorted civic leaders welcomed attendees of next week's Democratic Convention, promising them a fun time and a world-class city that is, in Riordan's words, "ready to shine in the world's spotlight." "We will show people why Los Angeles is the capital city of the 21st century," Riordan said at a formal welcoming ceremony outside Staples Center downtown, the site of the convention.

Ellen Jacobs can testify to how much things have changed since Los Angeles last hosted a major political convention in 1960. Jacobs was picked to be a "golden girl" at the 1960 Democratic National Convention, one of the many hostesses who acted as meeters, greeters and guides for conventioneers. Jacobs, who was 31 back then, fondly recalls taking New Hampshire delegates on a tour of MGM studios, and helping to clear a passageway on the Sports Arena floor for John F.

Ten days before the start of the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, local organizers are still waiting to secure some of the most coveted perks being sought by major sponsors. In return for donations of as much as $1 million, the convention's host committee has promised a variety of rewards that include advertising in convention programs and VIP tickets to cocktail parties.

So Hugh Hefner threw a bash of his own. On Saturday night, Hefner filled his Playboy Mansion in Holmby Hills with friends, entertainers, politicians and media types in yet another chapter of the ongoing melodrama about who would use his house for a party. Certainly not Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove), who wanted to use it for a fund-raiser but succumbed to intense arm-twisting by Democratic Party higher-ups who thought it would be unseemly.

They were considered the most attractive, poised and active young women in local Democratic clubs in California. Outfitted in white dresses, wide-brimmed straw hats and dainty gloves, the "Golden Girls" were thoroughly instructed to fetch aspirin, deliver messages or arrange sightseeing excursions for the delegates to the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles and all of Southern California will be presented with an exciting opportunity or a numbing disaster in August when the Democratic Convention meets here. The event will bring 5,000 convention delegates to town and 15,000 journalists from around the world. It will be Showcase time, and if Los Angeles can duplicate the triumph of the 1984 Olympics, then the region will get a long-term lift in tourism and investment by businesses wanting to be here.