'Like putting on four Super Bowls in four days': Milwaukee's DNC host committee looks to hire executive director

Alex Lasry and leading Democratic politicians including Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore helped shepherd Milwaukee's winning bid for the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

But now that preparations for the event are beginning to ramp up, the local organizing committee is ready for a build out.

"We'll be hiring an executive director and a staff that will be getting involved, handling a lot of the day to day for putting this on," Lasry said Friday after appearing at a Milwaukee Business Journal-sponsored forum on convention-related opportunities for local firms.

Lasry, a Milwaukee Bucks executive, said he expects the executive director to be hired "in the near future" and added it will take a team to "make this what we want it to be."

For the executive director position, Lasry said, "we're looking for someone who has got experience in helping put on an event like this."

Such experience might include having run a statewide political campaign. Overseeing volunteers and handling fundraising are also keys.

He said the leader will have to be "active and involved in the local community, making sure to go recruit diverse businesses."

The host committee is responsible for raising the funds to put on the convention — between $60 million and $70 million — and recruiting 12,000 volunteers. It will also work closely with the Democratic National Committee, which runs the convention.

Joe Solmonese, a political strategist, was previously named the convention's chief executive officer for the event that will run July 13-16, 2020.

RELATED:Joe Solmonese named chief executive of 2020 Milwaukee Democratic convention

"The DNC is like putting on four Super Bowls in four days," Lasry told several hundred people at the forum. "We're going to need all the help we can get."

Barrett said the convention is a "great opportunity" for the city and called it a "game-changer" that will enable Milwaukee to bid on other big events.

"My plan is we pull this off spectacularly and the next day we start planning for the 2024 Republican National Convention," Barrett said.

Businesses were encouraged to register at the local committee's supplier portal at www.milwaukee2020.com.

It's anticipated that there will be 1,500 events in and around the convention, besides the daily proceedings at Fiserv Forum.

"From 7 a.m. to 3 a.m., it's nonstop," Lasry said.

Planning will step up in the next few weeks when DNC officials are due to return to Milwaukee for a "kickoff" meeting with local leaders.

Robert Bauman, a downtown alderman and chair of the Common Council's Public Works Committee, said in a hearing Thursday: "What is the plan to develop the plan?Who is in the team? Who is in charge? Who are the contact people? Who is running the show? Who is the ultimate decider of streets?"

"And what are we doing as far as prep work is concerned?" Bauman said, referring to repaving, sewer, and street reconstruction projects.

Jeff Polenske, commissioner of Public Works, said he was "one piece of the team" and that his department is "actively looking at its schedule this year, our schedule next year, to identify any works project that might have an impact on the DNC events."

 Also Thursday, Adam Schlicht, director of Port Milwaukee, said "there has been a lot of interest and inquiries" for cruise ship visits during the convention.

"At this point, we have nothing to report," Schlicht told the Board of Harbor Commissioners marketing committee. He said cruise ships could accommodate tourists as part of the convention or provide rooms "as additional lodging space for DNC designates or DNC visitors."

Schlicht said the goal is to have the port maintain its commercial and recreational operations during the convention.