Thursday, October 09, 2003
Romney Scalps His Own Sports Tix Policy
On the cusp of the BoSox-Yankees ALCS games in Boston this weekend, Willard Mitt told Channel 25 Fox-TV News that politicians should not receive preferential tickets to sporting events. (source: WFXT-TV News, 10/8/2003)
Really? So what happened to this shining policy when Romney was the Winter Games chef?
Sherman, set the Not-So-Way Back Machine for 2002....
"On January 7, A. Jason Barto, a Salt Lake City fire-fighter, asked Romney to consider providing tickets for 43 to 48 family members of FDNY firefighters killed Sept. 11. Romney’s assistant, Donna Tillery, sent an e-mail reply a day later. "I’m afraid we do not have the resources to host these guests for the Games." (source: Salt Lake Tribune, April 11, 2002)
"If we offered tickets to the Legislature – if we offered, say, 104 Opening Ceremony tickets to them – we would be subject to severe criticism. Mitt has taken the high road on everything we do." Bill Shaw, SLOC director of local government relations, (source: Salt Lake Tribune, January 11, 2002)
"We can not sponsor any groups with free tickets. We made a commitment to the public some time ago that no tickets would be given away. Even sponsors that pay upwards of $50 million for an Olympic sponsorship have to pay additional money for their Olympic tickets. Regretfully, we can provide you no assistance at all on this project." -- Donna Tillery, January 13, 2002 (source: Salt Lake Tribune, April 11, 2002)
"On February 22, Romney asked if there were legislators who might be interested in using tickets. “He said, ‘Do you want some?’ and I said, ‘I’m sure some of the Senators would like them because some of them probably can’t afford them.’ He said, ‘Well, we’ll get you some.’”" -- Utah State Senate President Al Mansell
To fill empty seats at the Closing Ceremony, SLOC gave 100 tickets to state lawmakers. “The seats would have gone empty, and we owe a lot to the legislature.” -- Caroline Shaw, SLOC spokeswoman, Feb. 26, 2002
"There was a change in policy. The Games were finished and successful and we wanted to thank the officials and others who had helped make them a success." --Caroline Shaw, April 3, 2002
"It was very difficult for us to gauge in January where we would be with ticket sales and revenue and ticket sales remained strong." -- Caroline Shaw, SLOC, April 12, 2002
"House Speaker Stephens said that Romney indicated lawmakers might be offered seats at the Closing Ceremony, viewed as more of an official state function." (source: Salt Lake Tribune, January 11, 2002)
Batter up.
On the cusp of the BoSox-Yankees ALCS games in Boston this weekend, Willard Mitt told Channel 25 Fox-TV News that politicians should not receive preferential tickets to sporting events. (source: WFXT-TV News, 10/8/2003)
Really? So what happened to this shining policy when Romney was the Winter Games chef?
Sherman, set the Not-So-Way Back Machine for 2002....
"On January 7, A. Jason Barto, a Salt Lake City fire-fighter, asked Romney to consider providing tickets for 43 to 48 family members of FDNY firefighters killed Sept. 11. Romney’s assistant, Donna Tillery, sent an e-mail reply a day later. "I’m afraid we do not have the resources to host these guests for the Games." (source: Salt Lake Tribune, April 11, 2002)
"If we offered tickets to the Legislature – if we offered, say, 104 Opening Ceremony tickets to them – we would be subject to severe criticism. Mitt has taken the high road on everything we do." Bill Shaw, SLOC director of local government relations, (source: Salt Lake Tribune, January 11, 2002)
"We can not sponsor any groups with free tickets. We made a commitment to the public some time ago that no tickets would be given away. Even sponsors that pay upwards of $50 million for an Olympic sponsorship have to pay additional money for their Olympic tickets. Regretfully, we can provide you no assistance at all on this project." -- Donna Tillery, January 13, 2002 (source: Salt Lake Tribune, April 11, 2002)
"On February 22, Romney asked if there were legislators who might be interested in using tickets. “He said, ‘Do you want some?’ and I said, ‘I’m sure some of the Senators would like them because some of them probably can’t afford them.’ He said, ‘Well, we’ll get you some.’”" -- Utah State Senate President Al Mansell
To fill empty seats at the Closing Ceremony, SLOC gave 100 tickets to state lawmakers. “The seats would have gone empty, and we owe a lot to the legislature.” -- Caroline Shaw, SLOC spokeswoman, Feb. 26, 2002
"There was a change in policy. The Games were finished and successful and we wanted to thank the officials and others who had helped make them a success." --Caroline Shaw, April 3, 2002
"It was very difficult for us to gauge in January where we would be with ticket sales and revenue and ticket sales remained strong." -- Caroline Shaw, SLOC, April 12, 2002
"House Speaker Stephens said that Romney indicated lawmakers might be offered seats at the Closing Ceremony, viewed as more of an official state function." (source: Salt Lake Tribune, January 11, 2002)
Batter up.
