Democratic committee pays 1.74 million dollars spent on Obama''s victory bash
Chicago, Mar. 22 : Finally, Chicago has recovered the 1.74 million dollars that it spent on President Obama''s victory celebration at Grant Park nearly five months ago.
The Democratic National Committee paid the bill after months of negotiations that proved to be an embarrassment to the city and to the new administration, the Chicago Sun Times reports.
“It was a full reimbursement. We''ve been working with them all along to finalize and confirm all the numbers,” said Pete Scales, a spokesman for the city''s Office of Budget and Management.
DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse said: “It was a big bill. There were issues with the city to be addressed.”
In October, Chicago Mayor Daley had assured that the Obama-led DNC campaign would reimburse every penny spent on the rally, as the city was going through economical crisis.
“This is not a presidential visit. This is a political event, and they''ve agreed to pay for all those services. We have a financial crisis. The City of Chicago could not afford two million dollars on this because we''re gonna be laying off people, cutting back. It''s a huge cost to the City of Chicago,” he had said.
Chicago had spent a million dollars on police protection for the rally.
The Office of Emergency Management and Communications spent over 120,000 dollars in expenses, including 19,500 dollars paid to police official Neil Sullivan to quarterback election night logistics. (ANI)