Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Nextel Gives $100,000.00 National Governors Association Conference

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 02:46:04 -0400

Indiana Firms Chip in $2 Million for Governors
Association Conference

August 18, 2003 8:47pm
Knight-Ridder / Tribune Business News

Aug. 16--The nation's governors will be in Indianapolis the next four days to talk
about the public's business, but they'll be
doing it on the private sector's dime.

Or, more precisely, the $2 million in cash and services ponied up by 100 national
and local firms that gave up to $100,000
each to support the National Governors Association conference here.

No tax dollars are used, organizers say, to pay for the meeting, being attended by
33 governors from 30 states and three
territories today through Tuesday.

Instead, companies ranging from Mike's Car Wash to Eli Lilly and Co. paid for the
meeting -- most with checks, some with
products. General Motors Corp., for instance, is lending GMC Yukon Denali SUVs
that will be used to shuttle governors, and
IBM is providing computers.

Mike Harmless, the former Greencastle mayor who helped lead the fund-raising
drive, said the effort began in April 2002 when
Gov. Frank O'Bannon met with 80 or 90 business leaders at the Skyline Club, atop
the AUL Building Downtown.

Jeff Smulyan, a Democrat and the CEO of Emmis Communications, and Sidney Taurel, a
Republican and president of Lilly, set
the tone with a nonpartisan sales pitch.

"There was a lot of discussion about what a tremendous opportunity this was to
have Indiana and the city of Indianapolis on a
national stage," Harmless said.

The association's policy limits corporate sponsors of its meetings to no more than
$100,000. Harmless said businesses were
asked to "make a business decision about the level of support they felt they could
justify in a downturn in the economy."

Lilly -- with a net income of $2.7 billion in 2002 -- was one of five groups,
along with Lilly Endowment, GM, IBM and Nextel,
that contributed the maximum $100,000 in cash or services.

"This is a prestigious event," said Lilly spokesman Edward G. Sagebiel. "As good
corporate citizens, we want to help in any
way we can."

Corporate donors get more than gratitude for their help.

While the general public is barred from all of the conference events, corporate
donors get invitations to both the official events
and the social events, at which they can hobnob with governors. The more money
they pay, the more invitations they get.

"Money buys access," said Julia Vaughn, policy director for Common Cause/Indiana,
a public watchdog group. "This is another
opportunity for the fat cats to cozy up to the VIPs while the average citizens are
literally left out on the sidewalk."

If convening this meeting is such a good idea that helps governors do a better
job, she said, maybe tax dollars should be used
instead of corporate donations.

Christine LaPaille, spokeswoman for the governors association, said the public
sometimes misunderstands the closed-door
policy.

"Even though they (the governors) are public officials, this isn't a public
meeting. It's a meeting of the association."

Tax dollars do, however, bolster the association's $17 million annual budget.
States pay dues, ranging from $20,400 annually
for the territories to $162,900 for large states such as California. Indiana's
dues are $141,500 -- money the association uses to
lobby Congress on the states' behalf, LaPaille said.

Smulyan -- whose company gave $50,000 -- said events like this are a unique
opportunity to show off the city.

"When you get decision-makers from a lot of places together, it can spur positive
thoughts. The whole perception of
Indianapolis changes," he said.

And while Emmis does business in about 25 states, he said he didn't back the
meeting with his business in mind.

"We don't ask for anything (from elected officials) other than for them to visit
our news stations and comment on public events,"
he said. "I didn't agree to be a corporate donor because it would benefit my
company."

To see more of The Indianapolis Star, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.IndyStar.com.

http://www.hoovers.com/free/news/detail.xhtml?ArticleID=NR200308191180.3_79c800131c006e83&mode=print

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