DNC members put together to-do list in Milwaukee: 'Now the work begins'

MILWAUKEE -- Members of the Democratic National Committee were back in Milwaukee Tuesday, April 23, for the first of many visits ahead of the July 2020 Democratic National Convention.

DNC Chairman Tom Perez and members of the DNC plan to put in some miles touring the city and possible venues for convention events. They started Tuesday at the Italian Community Center, making an appearance at Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett's "Spring Symposium."

"Now the work begins," said Mayor Barrett.

Mayor Barrett compared planning the convention to planning a wedding; the seating chart matters. That's why the committee will spend a lot of time inside Fiserv Forum.

"The very elementary process of scoping out the arena as to where the stage will be located, how the seats will be configured," said Mayor Barrett.

Also on the committee's to-do list -- meeting their match. Local firefighters, police, engineers, housing officials, transportation officials, and others will be paired up with their national counterparts.

"We have local experts that are used to dealing with those things here. We want to make sure that they are matched with their counterparts in Washington, D.C.," said Mayor Barrett.

Barrett said he believes each group will spend hundreds of hours putting together and executing the specific plan, which is why this week's committee visit would be the first of many to come.

The local host committee still needs to hire an executive director. That person will be responsible for a lot of the day-to-day activities. Mayor Barrett said he hopes to hire that person soon.