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Romney: 'No free tickets' for sponsors
Posted: Wednesday March 31, 1999 11:47 AM
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) -- Organizers of the 2002 Winter Games should cater to athletes, give average Utah residents access to tickets, and protect taxpayers from cost overruns, according to SLOC president Mitt Romney. Speaking at a town meeting Tuesday night, Romney promised the first two but said he could not guarantee against a revenue shortfall. His least concern, he said, is to "have a party for all the jet-setters around the world." Romney's remarks represent the heart of a theme of reform, coming only weeks after the Massachusetts financier was appointed to pull SLOC from its IOC vote-buying scandal. "We will replace one memory with another," said Romney, though he cautioned that Utah will forever be associated with the scandal. Much of the meeting was given over to questions from residents. Joe Morgan of Midway lauded Romney for pushing for the resignations of former SLOC officials who had conflicts of interest. "The resignations have taken place, but the profit remains," said Morgan, questioning whether it was right for them to keep what they will reap through their past association with SLOC. "To go back and penalize them now would be unfair," Romney said. One resident questioned Romney's suggestion earlier in the evening that seats to the most popular Olympic events should go to the highest bidders in order to raise money for the Games. "There will be many [other] events that are very affordable," Romney said. But he pronounced a "no free tickets" rule for corporate sponsors and said that good seats that go unclaimed will be sold at the last minute to others. Moderator Blair Feulner, general manager of radio station KPCW, pressed local SLOC members to declare whether their loyalties are with Games organizers or with Park City's public interests. "I am not your representative," replied Gordon Strachan, a Park City lawyer who sits on SLOC's board. "This is not a representative board," agreed Joan Calder, director of the Park City Chamber-Convention & Visitors Bureau and another local SLOC appointee. Mayor Brad Olch, a SLOC member, slipped in his answer, but only briefly, "My allegiance is to the people of Salt -- Park City," he said.
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