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Debate may not be the economic juggernaut that was expected
By Dan McCue
Staff Writer
It’s one of the most repeated assertions of the run up to the July 23 Democratic presidential candidate’s debate—that the high-profile appearance of the Democratic field led by Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and former Sen. John Edwards will have an economic impact approaching $30 million.
The justification for such an estimate?
A statement attributed to the Orangeburg Chamber of Commerce in advance of the April 26 Democratic candidate debate at South Carolina State University, regarding the potential impact of the debate on that mid-state community.
However, Orangeburg Chamber President David L. Coleman largely disavowed that assessment, contending that it was based on the assertion of a reporter working on a story about the debate and was never based on any kind of analysis done by the business organization.
“Make no mistake, the Democratic debate was very good for Orangeburg, for S.C. State University and the state of South Carolina as a whole … it was wonderful publicity,” Coleman told the Charleston Regional Business Journal.
“But as far as translating the impact into dollars—either before or after the event—that’s something that would be very difficult to do and something we’ve never undertaken,” he said.
As the city of Charleston and The Citadel begin to prepare in earnest for their debate-related close-ups Monday night courtesy of CNN and YouTube, estimates and tangible expenditure figures are about as elusive as the Ark of the Covenant.
The S.C. Law Enforcement Division declined to comment on manpower and budget allocations related to the debate, citing security concerns, while the city of Charleston did not respond to requests for comment.
Mara Gassmann, a spokeswoman for CNN, also declined to comment, saying the network never comments on the costs associated with its programs.
About the only people who are talking about the financial and other impacts of the debate, is The Citadel.
But even then, and quite understandably, The Citadel spokeswoman Charlene Gunnells cautions that any numbers that can be discussed are purely preliminary.
“For instance, right now, I can’t give you a tally of how many people are working the event or how much overtime has been and will be paid in regard to debate preparations,” Gunnells said.
“What I can tell is that there are about 30 people involved in the planning who will be here on and off over the next several days, including five people working in public affairs,” she said.
The Citadel will have staffers to maintain the college’s physical plant on duty all weekend, “but the actual number of people is in flux and will depend on our needs,” Gunnells said.
The Citadel has already informed its staff that only essential employees will need to report to work on Monday, the actual day of the debate, and that their “essentialness” will be determined on a case-by-case basis by their immediate supervisor.
Many of those on duty will be campus public safety personnel who are working with SLED to support the event.
“We did this to help ease traffic and parking congestion on campus,” Gunnells said.
Currently, about 600 staffers are working at The Citadel for the summer and about 580 students are enrolled in the college’s summer program.
As of Wednesday evening, The Citadel had spent about $36,000 on marketing, landscaping and building maintenance inspired by the debate.
Most of the marketing expenses were related to the creation of two large banners—one measuring 24 feet wide by 47 feet tall, the other, 183 feet wide by 6 feet tall—designed by Cognetix in Charleston, printed by Associated Posters in Winston-Salem, N.C., and hung by Charleston Sign and Banner of Charleston.
The white and blue banners will feature The Citadel logo, the name of the college and the college mission statement: “Achieving excellence in the education of principled leaders.”
Although they were created for display during the debate, Gunnells said because they don’t specifically mention the debate, they’ll be used at subsequent special events like football weekends, parent’s weekend, homecoming and commencement.
“As a state agency, we at The Citadel are very mindful that we must be good stewards of the taxpayers’ dollars,” Gunnells said. “We are committed to monitoring our spending very closely while supporting this event, which is good exposure for the city of Charleston, the state of South Carolina as well as The Citadel.”
The landscaping and building maintenance work included in that $36,000 figure has been spent on painting, power washing and cleaning floors to make the college’s facilities and campus presentable.
“Much of the building maintenance and landscaping work would have been done at some point this summer as part of the start of the new academic year,” Gunnells said. “We are just doing the work a bit earlier than usual because we want to be good hosts for the candidates, the media outlets and the many other guests who will be visiting our campus on Monday.”
According to Gunnells, CNN has committed to picking up the expenses specifically related to the debate, and will bring its own generators to power nearly all its debate-related activities.
“That also ensures that in the event of bad weather, they don’t go off the air,” she said.
The Citadel is not charging the news network for the use of water on the campus during the event.
“Just as we do not charge someone who comes for a basketball game or free event on campus to drink from the water fountain or use the restroom,” Gunnells said.
For his part, Orangeburg’s Coleman believes The Citadel’s and the city of Charleston’s preparations and expenditures will be well worth it.
“Charleston is a very different place than Orangeburg and already a major destination area, so I’m sure you’ll have an influx of people arriving earlier and staying longer,” he said.
Part of the reason Orangeburg didn’t get as big an economic bump as many were led to believe was that the debate was the only political event being held in town during a week that was full of them.
“The state party held its annual fundraising dinner that week, Rep. James Clyburn held his annual fish fry, but all of those events were in Columbia, so that’s where most of the candidates stayed,” Coleman said.
“Many members of the media who covered the event stayed in our hotels—and I can tell you, our hotel occupancy was up considerably—but there were still rooms available. And a lot of the people who actually attended the debate drove in for the day and left immediately afterwards.”
Also hard to gauge was the impact the Orangeburg debate had on local eateries. Coleman said while the crew setting up for the S.C. State debate was in Orangeburg for several days before the event, free food—including a barbecue dinner—was served at the campus on the day of the debate.
“The debate might not have been an economic bonanza, but it enhanced the image of the university and enhanced the image of Orangeburg,” Coleman said. “You know, I’m told the day of the debate there were seven private jets parked at our municipal airport. That’s pretty unusual for Orangeburg.”
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