Donald Trump will be stumping in 蜜柚直播 on Thursday, and this time, his campaign has paid the city in advance for the campaign stop.
Meanwhile, the $80,000 the city says it was never paid for a Trump campaign rally at the 蜜柚直播 Convection Center in 2016 was never paid, and has since been wiped from the city books, a city councilman says. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders鈥 presidential campaign also did not pay the city $44,000 for a campaign event held a day before Trump鈥檚 2016 stop in 蜜柚直播.
This time, Trump鈥檚 campaign paid a $145,222.70 deposit upfront to use the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall for his rally Thursday, says Lane Mandle, chief of staff for the city manager鈥檚 office. That covers the use of the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall and the estimated cost of security provided mostly by city police.
More than $115,000 of the total cost is going toward added 蜜柚直播 police presence for things like protection, crowd control and police K-9 security sweeps, according to a license agreement signed Monday by a representative of the Trump 47 Committee Inc. joint fundraising committee.
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鈥淚n accordance with City of 蜜柚直播 policy implemented after the 2016 campaign visits of then candidates Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, we now require users at the TCC to pay all costs associated with public safety response, so that taxpayers do not have to shoulder these expenses,鈥 Mandle said in a statement to the Star.
蜜柚直播 Mayor Regina Romero, who made a prime-time appearance on the first day the Democratic National Convention, declined to comment on Trump鈥檚 visit Thursday or the unpaid 2016 bill.
蜜柚直播 City Councilman Kevin Dahl said Tuesday that it鈥檚 his understanding that the city wrote-off Trump鈥檚 2016 debt, 鈥渟o it鈥檚 not on our books.鈥
鈥淎nd you know, we learned our lesson,鈥 Dahl said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e requiring money up front, which we鈥檙e doing. So I鈥檓 satisfied with that.鈥
The city attorney鈥檚 office at the time chose not to pursue legal action for the debt left by the Trump and Sanders campaigns. Instead, the city council changed city policy for the use of city facilities to require users to 鈥渄eposit the City鈥檚 estimated amount of public safety response鈥 and usage of the facility in advance of any event, Mandle said in her statement.
On Thursday, Trump plans to talk about what he calls 鈥渢he struggling economy and the rising cost of housing,鈥 according to a campaign news release.
Doors for the Thursday鈥檚 rally open at 11 a.m. The former president is set to speak at 2 p.m.
Trump鈥檚 rally will be his first visit to 蜜柚直播 since October 2020, although the Republican presidential nominee visited the U.S.-Mexico border last month in 蜜柚直播 County. That October 2020 rally held at the the 蜜柚直播 Jet Center would have cost the city an additional $50,000, Romero said in a letter to the Trump campaign at that time.
蜜柚直播 Airport Authority spokesperson Austin Wright could not be reached at the Star on Tuesday. But, last month, 鈥淲right said he was not aware of the status of any costs from the October 2020 rally.鈥
蜜柚直播 isn鈥檛 the only city stiffed by the Trump campaign, according to an April 2020 published by the Center for Public Integrity. At the time, the report showed a combined $1.82 million worth of public safety-related debt connected to Trump鈥檚 鈥淢ake America Great Again鈥 campaign rallies, the Star previously reported.
Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, will also visit 蜜柚直播 Thursday. Emhoff鈥檚 visit is part of the Harris-Walz campaign鈥檚 鈥淣ew Way Forward battleground tour,鈥 a news release said.
The time and location for the Emhoff campaign event has not been announced.