WinterSports2002.com - Gubernatorial hopeful Mitt to step down as SLOC chief

WinterSports2002.com, Wednesday, March 20, 2002

Gubernatorial hopeful Mitt to step down as SLOC chief

By Lisa Riley Roche
Deseret News staff writer

Now running for governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney will step down as the head of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee.

Romney announced Tuesday he was in the campaign — the same day acting Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift dropped out of the race. Her decision leaves Romney unopposed in the Republican primary.

He told reporters during a telephone conference call Tuesday from his home in Belmont, a suburb of Boston, that he will stay on as the organizing committee's president and chief executive officer until SLOC's next board meeting on April 24.

Romney will recommend that Fraser Bullock, SLOC's chief operating officer, replace him. "I'm sure there's no doubt the board will accept that recommendation," SLOC spokeswoman Caroline Shaw said.

It was just over three years ago that Romney came to Utah to take over the organizing committee, shortly after the bribery scandal surrounding Salt Lake City's Olympic bid surfaced.

The 2002 Winter Games, once facing hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, ended up not only in the black but also widely praised.

Romney said there's enough money left in SLOC's budget to donate some appliances and furniture to various charities rather than sell them.

Also, he said the organizing committee will now be able to make lease payments for several sports facilities, including West Valley City's E Center and Provo's Peaks ice arenas.

SLOC has already wrapped up some 2,500 contracts, Romney said, but still has to close about 800. "We're making good progress," he said. "It continues to be our expectation that we will be able to comfortably meet all of our obligations."

Romney returned to Massachusetts on Sunday, the day after the closing ceremonies for the 2002 Paralympic Winter Games for disabled athletes. He said he made up his mind to run just a few days ago.

"It reminded me a bit of taking the job at the Olympics, which is I am convinced in this case that I can make a very important contribution to the leadership and management of the state, and that is very badly needed."

Romney said he was surprised by Swift's announcement midday Tuesday that she wouldn't run. So was much of Massachusetts. The Boston Herald labeled it Wednesday, "one of the most remarkable 24 hours in Massachusetts politics."

"With that news, I decided rather than having an announcement with a band and balloons, I would instead just go to the end of my driveway and confirm that I was in the race," Romney said.

He had intended to make that decision public at a Boston hotel after meeting with supporters, who'd already secured enough voter signatures to get him through the state GOP convention and on the primary ballot.

"Lest there be any doubt, I'm in," Romney said in his abbreviated announcement, surrounded by his family. "The bumper stickers are printed, the Web site's going up. The papers are going in today."

Even with no primary opposition, Romney is in for a difficult campaign. "It's going to be a very tough, rough-and-tumble campaign. I have five Democratic opponents, and they will be working collectively to make me enemy No. 1," he said.

The Democratic candidates for governor include former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich, former national Democratic Committee Chairman Steve Grossman and three Massachusetts politicians.

Swift left the race after polls showed her trailing Romney with just 12 percent of the vote compared to 75 percent for him. She said she chose not to run because "time with family was nonnegotiable, (and) something had to give."

Now 37, Swift became Massachusetts' first female governor and the nation's youngest last April when she succeeded Paul Cellucci after he was named ambassador to Canada. As lieutenant governor, she was fined for allowing aides to baby-sit for one of her children.

Romney ran for public office once before, against Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., in 1994. His late father, George Romney, was a governor of Michigan and a presidential candidate in 1968.

His announcement rules out any political future in Utah, where he owns a home in Deer Valley and attended Brigham Young University as an undergraduate.

"There's no question I love Utah. We love the outdoor life there. We have a number of great friends there. But Massachusetts is my home. It's where my family and I have lived for 30 years," Romney said.

"It's got more troubles and it's got more need for a turnaround manager than Utah does. Utah's got a great governor."

If elected governor of Massachusetts, Romney said he will put together a team based on "their capability, not their connections. Far too often in state government here in Massachusetts, cronyism and political ties are the rule of the day."

E-MAIL: lisa@desnews.com