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The Republican National Convention is only a few days away, and preparations inside Quicken Loans Arena are underway. Here's everything you need to know about the RNC.
(Colin Toke, cleveland.com)
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Republican National Convention hits Cleveland in just a few days. About 50,000 people are traveling to the city, including 15,000 journalists, to take in the festivities. Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will take the stage. Visitors will pack Cleveland hotels and attractions. Protesters will take to the streets.
Expect politics, parties and protests to dominate Cleveland in the coming week. If you haven't been paying attention until now, here's your chance to catch up, and get questions answered.
What's the RNC all about? Is Cleveland prepared? How this will affect my commute?
Here's everything you need to know:
What is the Republican National Convention?
The Republican National Convention will come to Cleveland for four days from July 18-21 to officially nominate the GOP presidential candidate. Americans voted across the country in primaries and caucuses for Republican presidential hopefuls, and their overwhelming choice was billionaire businessman and novice politician Donald Trump.
But it's Republican convention delegates who technically pick the GOP presidential nominee during the convention. The delegates, about 2,473 in all, will gather in the convention hall at Quicken Loans Arena to confirm the nominee amid speeches, celebrations and balloons.
Primary and caucus votes, for the most part, helped assign delegates a candidate to vote for during the convention. Many of those delegates are pledged and must vote for the candidate that they have been assigned by the public's votes.
Trump, the former reality TV star, clinched enough delegate support in early May, after a contentious primary season. That means Trump secured the correct number of pledged delegates, 1,237, to earn the nomination on the convention floor.
But there's a slight chance the RNC Rules Committee could seek to change those rules this week and allow pledged delegates the ability to vote their will. That isn't normal, but Trump's controversial policy stances and rhetoric concern some Republicans.
It's complicated, and various scenarios could play out during the rules session. For more, read cleveland.com reporter Henry J. Gomez's analysis.
But the RNC isn't just a vote -- it's a big party. About 50,000 people, including 15,000 members of the media, are traveling to the city to take in the festivities. GOP movers and shakers will schmooze at luncheons and cocktail parties. Many bars will stay open late -- really late.
But it's not all fun for everyone: Protesters will gather in Cleveland streets to voice concern over Trump's candidacy and other issues.
Who's in charge of the convention?
There's a lot of work that goes into planning a Republican convention -- from fundraising to food, hotel accommodations to designing the convention stage.
So who's in charge of it all?
There are two separate groups: one local, nonpartisan group and one decidedly Republican.
It is required to raise money for nonpolitical parts of the event ($64 million) secure hotel rooms for the RNC to dole out to media, delegates, etc. (16,000 rooms), secure venues like The Q and the Global Center, recruit 8,000 volunteers, and provide security.
2. The Committee on Arrangements, the Republican Party's convention organizing committee.
It is responsible for actually programming the convention, deciding how to use venues (including hotel assignments) and setting everything up inside The Q. Its leaders are members of the Republican National Committee and its employees are mostly political operatives.
What will the RNC look like?
Trump got a big start in reality television, and the presumptive Republican presidential nominee could draw on his showbiz experience to plan the big convention vote inside the Q. The stage will include massive screens, and tasteful white steps. We don't know much else. But check out how cleveland.com reporter Andrew J. Tobias imagined the event back in May.
"The site has been chosen and the arena is fine, but I'd want to have -- you know, the last Republican convention was extraordinarily boring," Trump told the New York Times in May. "And we're going to come up with some things that will make it interesting and informative, but also smart and different."
The complete list of speakers has not yet been announced, but observers should expect to see a lot of Trump's children, Politico reported in June.
What will the RNC party scene look like?
Republicans will gather at lakeside cocktail parties and toast their candidate in Cleveland. Spectators will explore the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and wander through Playhouse Square and Public Square.
Some examples of the events that have already been publicized:
A private lakefront party for delegates and media members is planned by the Cleveland 2016 Host Committee.
The roughly 700 delegates, alternates, GOP staff, donors and others that will make up Ohio's delegation will kick off their week in Cleveland with a July 17 event honoring Ohio House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger. The event will feature a performance by Lynyrd Skynyrd, the classic southern rock band.
Lola, one of celebrity chef Michael Symon's restaurants, is booked for at least one Ohio delegation event, and Twitter plans to rent out the Greenhouse Tavern during the RNC.
And there's the "Republican All Star Challenge" -- a charity fundraiser at Progressive Field organized by GOP Convention Strategies.
Participants will get the chance to meet "baseball legends" and take batting practice on the field used by the Cleveland Indians. The group hosted similar events during the 2008 and 2012 conventions.
The Cuyahoga County Republican Party, meanwhile, will set up shop inside Grays Armory, a castle-like structure that also functions as a military museum and event space, Tobias reports.
The county GOP plans panel discussions, receptions honoring elected officials and pre-and-post convention-session parties -- complete with musical acts -- throughout the week. A parking lot to the east of the building will be enclosed under a tent with a sports-bar theme.
What's being done to spruce up the city?
Cleveland will shine during the Republican National Convention -- literally.
About 1.4 million individual twinkle lights will illuminate sections of Public Square, East 9th Street and Mall B this July. The lights also will gleam around the perimeter of Quicken Loans Arena and Progressive Field. And it's not just a temporary glow: The lights will remain in downtown through Brite Winter Fest -- and then will be reused for other events across the city.
Check out my report for more.
That's not the only pretty sight to see in Cleveland during the convention. The Cleveland 2016 Host Committee plans to gussy up downtown to welcome RNC visitors to the city -- big time. And many of the improvements will remain around Cleveland long after the RNC comes to a close.
New flowers will bloom across downtown, and trees will spring up. Pieces of art will pop up around the newly renovated Public Square. Colorful speakers will play clips of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame artists' hits along East 9th Street. Murals and art installations will adorn the city.
Repairs are underway for some downtown sidewalks, so you can enjoy the new scenes without tripping. Volunteers have worked to clean up the RTA Red Line, which travels from the airport to Tower City, before RNC visitors arrive. The line in March was strewn with garbage.
How is downtown Cleveland welcoming visitors?
The short answer: with lots of banners. The Cleveland 2016 Host Committee selected 50 Northeast Ohio residents, of all backgrounds, to appear on banners across town, welcoming visitors to the city.
But those aren't the only signs you'll see.
In addition to showing off the faces of Clevelanders, the Host Committee is welcoming the Republican National Convention's visitors by posting banners and signs featuring facts about Northeast Ohio with its "Unconventional Knowledge" campaign, cleveland.com reporter Robin Goist reports.
The banners across town showcase Cleveland trivia, from the city's historic "firsts" like the world's first air traffic control tower and electric traffic light, to famous residents such as John D. Rockefeller, Bob Hope and the real-life "Chef Boyardee."
About 8,000 Host Committee volunteers will be on hand to welcome visitors, too, Tobias reports. These friendly faces will greet people at the airport, and help visitors navigate downtown Cleveland.
What about police?
Cleveland Police are recruiting officers across the country to help during the RNC. Public documents have placed the recruitment goal at around 4,000, including Cleveland's roughly 1,500 officers.
And city officials say they're on track, Tobias reports.
Though Clevelanders will see more officers during the RNC, Cleveland police say they want their initial posture to be nonthreatening.
Police working the RNC will wear short sleeves and slacks, complemented by bicycle officers wearing shorts and polo shirts. No military equipment.
Cleveland police plan to use bikes as barricades during the RNC to separate protester groups that might be hostile to one another,cleveland.com reporter Cory Shaffer writes.
Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams ordered 300 bikes for officers.
What about security?
There will be two levels of security in downtown Cleveland.
First, is the "hard" security perimeter that will surround Quicken Loans Arena and other main convention venues. This area, which will be under the watch of the U.S. Secret Service, is expected to resemble a military-style checkpoint -- federal bid documents have described concrete barriers and metal fencing. Only delegates, media and other people with official business inside the perimeter will be allowed in.
Then, the city also has designated much of downtown Cleveland as within a secondary "event zone," the size of which was reduced following a successful lawsuit led by the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio.
Within the event zone, camping, as well as a laundry list of legal weapons and seemingly innocuous everyday items will be banned in public areas. Police say the items -- including coolers, rope, string and tennis balls -- have been used as weapons or to conceal explosives during past large-scale political protests. (While squirt-guns will be banned, actual guns, which are protected under the Ohio and U.S. constitutions, are allowed for people legally permitted to carry them.)
What about protesters?
Cleveland officials have not released an official estimate of the number of protesters they expect.
But generally, the city has indicated it expects protests to be larger and more intense than in recent history. Protest numbers have varied widely at recent political conventions, from several hundred at the Tampa convention more than 100,000 at the 2004 GOP convention in New York City.
Cleveland has granted permits to dozens of groups from across the ideological spectrum that have asked permission to march in the streets, set up installations at a pair of downtown parks reserved for demonstrators and/or speak at an official "speakers platform" in the newly renovated Public Square. The city's official "parade route" for RNC demonstrators will begin at the west side of the Lorain Carnegie Bridge and end at East 14th Street, past Progressive Field.
What about my commute?
The city's roads should not be jammed with traffic, during the RNC, Plain Dealer reporter Ginger Christ writes.
Most of the convention-related traffic will be contained to the evenings when attendees head into the city for the nighttime event.
Officials are recommending local residents use public transit to navigate the city during the week of the convention. While the RNC runs July 18-21, a number of attendees will arrive in the city the weekend before, and roads will begin being closed July 17, Christ reports.
The Inner Belt Freeway will be closed completely during the hours of 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. July 18 through the end of the convention.
That week, the Inner Belt westbound will be restricted to one lane from East 21stStreet to just west of the West Third Street overpass, and eastbound lanes will be limited to one lane just west of the West Third Street overpass to the East 14thStreet interchange.
Large commercial vehicles will be prohibited from traveling westbound on the Inner Belt between East 21st Street and the I-490 interchange and eastbound between the I-490 interchange and Prospect Avenue.
What about parking?
On-street parking downtown will be banned from 12:01 a.m. July 18 through 2 a.m. July 22 on all streets between West 10th Street and East 26th Street and north of Carnegie Avenue, as well as on West 25th Street between Detroit Avenue and Gehring Street,
Propark America operates the Cleveland Public Square Garage on Ontario Street just outside some of the restricted streets.
How will the national media see Cleveland?
About 15,000 journalists will descend on Cleveland to cover the RNC. And they won't just be in the Q on the convention floor. "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah" will film in St. Ignatius High School that week. Journalists will mingle inside the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The city will be on full display.