Boosters Hope Convention Erases Years Of Bad P.R.

From Rodney King To O.J., Last Decade Tainted L.A.

LOS ANGELES, Updated 4:49 a.m. EDT August 15, 2000 -- The '90s was a bad decade for Los Angeles.

The Rodney King riots, the Northridge earthquake, the North Hollywood shootout and the tawdry spectacle of the O.J. Simpson trial replaced palm trees and movie stars as the city's enduring symbols.

Los Angeles' traditional stereotype as a laid-back la-la land gave way to darker images of an urban war zone in the grip of forces beyond its control. They are images reinforced by the recent police corruption scandal and the destructive mayhem following the Los Angeles Lakers' NBA championship in June.

"Everything that could go wrong went wrong in L.A," said Fernando Guerra, director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University.

Guerra and others are hoping the Democratic National Convention in August will show the world that Los Angeles is a city on the mend.

The event is expected to pour more than $130 million into the local economy and attract some 35,000 delegates, media representatives and other visitors.

While hosting such a major gathering has its risks, civic boosters are counting on the convention as a national forum to showcase the city's changes.

Democratic fund-raiser and billionaire homebuilder Eli Broad said the popular image of Los Angeles fails to reflect its reality.

"We've got a great opportunity to show what this city is about and why we are truly the city of the 21st century," he said.

Civic leaders recalling the well-orchestrated 1984 summer Olympics hope for a similar success during the Aug. 14-17 convention, the first major civic event since.

Grand-scale flops, however, are still fresh in the public mind.

The city's millennium celebration, for example, featured rained-out parties and the anticlimactic lighting of the Hollywood sign, ridiculed on talk shows nationwide. When the Lakers won the NBA championship, the nation was treated to television footage of revelers burning police cars and smashing business windows.

"The ability of this city to screw things up is unbelievable," said Joel Kotkin, a senior fellow at the Pepperdine Institute for Public Policy. "If L.A. gets through this without a gusher of bad publicity, I'll be amazed."

The convention already has led to bickering at City Hall, prompted by a last-minute request for a $4 million infusion of taxpayer money and a dispute over whether to designate Pershing Square as an official gathering spot for protesters.

Between 30,000 and 50,000 demonstrators are expected during the convention, and police are warning that violent groups will be among them.

Some experts, however, say the importance of conventions is overblown because few people remember where they are held once the delegates go home and the media turns their attention elsewhere.

"On one level, it will be nice for us to put our best foot forward and have everyone say how nice we are and how good we are," said Michael Dear, director of the Southern California Studies Center at the University of Southern California. "But if they don't, the day after the convention life will go on."

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