Hoteliers express support for L.A.'s decision to end two convention bids.

The local hotel industry reacted with subdued support for Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan's decision last week not to pursue the Democratic and Republican parties' national conventions in 1996.

For the most part, local hoteliers said they were disappointed but understood the mayor's position that the city could not afford to host even one of the conventions. Most estimates of the cost to the city of hosting a national political convention start at $20 million.

Downtown Los Angeles hotel operators and other convention industry representatives said there are no plans to try to change the mayor's mind on the issue. A spokeswoman for Riordan said that as of last Wednesday (Feb. 16), the mayor had not received any negative comments from the industry about his decision, and only a "couple" from the general public.

"Obviously, it is not good for us," said Dennis Clarke, the general manager of the Los Angeles Hilton & Towers on Wilshire Boulevard in downtown Los Angeles. "A big convention like that fills up the rooms and puts the city on the map. But I can appreciate the mayor's point of view. You have to subsidize a convention like that and it takes a lot of money."

Riordan said he decided to discontinue efforts to host one or both of the conventions because of the city's tight fiscal condition. He said the city has more immediate problems than bidding on the conventions, including the repair of earthquake-damaged roads and buildings.

Before the Jan. 17 earthquake, the city had been anticipating a $200 million revenue shortfall for the 1994-95 fiscal year. It now estimates that earthquake-related losses could increase that figure by more than $33 million by 1995.

"Given our fiscal priority for the recovery of all of Los Angeles and for making our city safe," said Riordan, "we cannot guarantee millions of public dollars" needed to host a national political convention.

Last October Riordan announced the formation of two committees to explore the possibility of preparing formal bids for one or both of the conventions. Los Angeles, which had not hosted a presidential nominating convention by either of the two major parties since 1960, was considered a frontrunner with Chicago to win at least one of the conventions to be held in summer 1996.

The local convention industry had strongly supported the efforts to win either of the conventions because it would showcase the city and the newly expanded Los Angeles Convention Center. The downtown center was relaunched last November after a three-year, $500 million expansion and renovation project.

Randy Villareal, general manager of the downtown Biltmore Hotel, said he was disappointed but understood the decision.

"It was a business decision. The business of government is service to all the people and making the city strong," he said. "You can't argue with that position. ... I think the money it would take to get a convention here could probably be better spent, like investing it in the area around the Convention Center."

Michael Collins, senior vice president of the Los Angeles Convention & Visitors Bureau, said, "The mayor made a tough decision but a prudent decision. It was done out of the necessity of meeting the city's limited resources." He said the estimated $150 million return to the city in terms of visitor revenues from just one of the conventions, along with the international exposure, were strong incentives to pursue the events.

"But in a way it was a little like wanting to buy a second house knowing that its value would go up -- but in doing so, you couldn't pay your own mortgage," he said.

Collins said winning one or both of the conventions would have required trying to reschedule events that had already been booked into the center. He said part of the cost to the city would have included retrofitting the center, at a cost of about $10 million, to accommodate the special requirements of the political conventions.

On the other hand, each of the conventions would have resulted in about 20,000 hotel rooms being booked for a week by delegates and other people attending the gatherings, said Collins.

There are less than 5,000 hotel rooms at downtown Los Angeles properties, which means business from a political convention would have been spread out to West Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and Pasadena.