Stump cities pay price for a candidate spotlight

— -- Being a city or town on the campaign trail of presidential candidates brings national attention from the news media. It also has a price.

It cost Springfield, Ill., $77,440 when Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama introduced Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate in August there, city spokesman Ernie Slottag said.

The city provided police officers for security, firefighters for medical assistance needs and public works employees to close streets.

The city has sent two bills to the Obama campaign. The $9,300 bill for electricity work is paid. When asked about the chances to get the rest reimbursed, Slottag said, "We'll see."

No rules require campaigns to cover these expenses, most of which go to overtime for police officers needed for security and crowd control, municipal officials said.

Cities and towns usually try, often with little hope, to get paid back.

"You have to hope you get lucky," Scranton, Pa., Mayor Christopher Doherty said.

All candidates on both the Democratic and Republican tickets have visited Green Bay, Wis., since February.

"We are billing out to the campaigns, but we don't anticipate payments," said Andre Jacque, assistant to the mayor.

He said it cost the city about $9,200 in overtime for police requested by the Secret Service, which is in charge of protecting the candidates.

In Elko, Nev., an Obama rally in September cost $2,200, City Manager Curtis Calder said. Former president Bill Clinton was there last week. The price tag will end up around the same, he said.

"Our police force is about 40 people, so we have to bring in people who have days off," he said. "It is a burden because we are a small community."

Calder said the city rarely deals with campaigns because the Secret Service is in charge of security. The agency told him it would not pay overtime costs.

"We cannot do our job efficiently without the help of local law enforcement officers; it is a coordinated effort," Secret Service spokesman Darrin Blackford said "We have been requested from time to time to reimburse overtime officers, but we cannot do that."