How to create a debate
By Joann Groff joann@theacorn.com

Photos by JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers MIKE CHECK- Pedro Trinidad sets up a microphone 48 hours before the start of last night's GOP Presidential Candidate Debate held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Though millions viewed the 10 politicians as they locked horns on national issues, far fewer saw what happened behind the scenes to make the spectacle possible.

Before the sun set Sunday evening, a crew from MSNBC moved into the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and worked through the night.

This morning they are tearing down the elaborate television stage they worked on all week and packing up after an event that brought 10 presidential hopefuls to Simi Valley.

It was announced in January that the library would play host to the first GOP presidential candidate debate. For the last five months, the Reagan Foundation has been planning for one of the largest events the library has seen since it opened in 1991.

Melissa Giller, director of communications and operations for the library foundation, said it all started with the invitations.

MUSICAL CHAIRS- Nancy Reagan's assistant Wren Powell, a Thousand Oaks resident, reviews a seating chart in preparation for last night's debate in the Air Force One Pavilion. Because demand from media outlets and the candidates themselves was so large, few local residents actually got to sit in on the event.

"We decided we'd invite all major republican candidates who had already declared candidacy or had formed an exploratory committee," Giller said. "Mrs. Reagan sent out the invitations with her signature, and all 10 people we invited accepted."

As far as security goes, Giller said visits by presidents and vice presidents have demanded more preparation, but local public safety organizations were working overtime to restrict access on debate day.

The Simi Valley Police Department dispatched two crews to facilitate the road closure at Presidential Drive from the early morning until about midnight. Lt. Roy Jones said the department was in charge of letting only credentialed individuals by, but security beyond the road closure was up to the Ventura County Sheriff.

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers BIG DAY FOR DUKE- Even Duke Blackwood, director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, did some manual labor in preparation for last night's debate.

Sgt. Don Aguilar said 11 members from the sheriff's department were on hand to address any potential problems.

"You always want to prepare for the worst," Aguilar said. "We are basically (watching for) anything that comes up. We don't know if there will be boisterous demonstrators or trespassers trying to get on the property."

The sheriff's department was also joined by some additional members of the police department and Reagan Library security team.

"It's not just one entity here," Aguilar said. "We are all working together on this."

In addition to the tight security measures, the debate required more logistics planning than any other event, Giller said.

"We (were) put completely in charge of planning, setting up, the logistics of the event," Giller said. "We've been working with every single candidate's office, getting the timelines together, getting all the media on the property. . . . We are working it and living it every day, every single hour."

The library had to be closed to the public Wednesday and Thursday for lastminute preparations and the actual debate, but reopened this morning, despite lingering cleaning crews.

Many of the rooms were transformed for the debate; the auditorium was used for the media's "Spin Room," and the tent was made into a filing center for the more than 300 media individuals who came from as far away as Europe and Asia.

But MSNBC's construction in the Air Force One Pavilion was the most extreme, Giller said.

"It's incredible what they (did) in the Pavilion," she said. "They built a huge stage, 10 podiums, light tresses, rigs- it's a full TV studio."

Politico.com, which, with MSNBC and the Reagan Foundation, is hosting the debate, was also in town all week preparing for the live web stream.

Giller said the stage seating was slated to hold at least 500 people, but after construction, they realized only about 420 seats would be available.

"Afterwards we sat in some of the seats, and you couldn't see anything," Giller said. "That was one of the bigger disappointments. We wanted it to be open to the public, have people from the community be there, but we weren't able."

Each candidate got a 'handful' of tickets, said Giller, and the rest were split amongst the partners (Reagan Foundation, MSNBC and Politico.com). The Foundation's tickets went to Nancy Reagan and friends, the board of trustees and others.

"It's really exciting to be a part of it," Giller said. "All of the candidates are amazing in their own right. And to have all these people in Ventura County, it's exciting."