When Mitt assumed leadership as president and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, the Justice Department was considering indicting us as an organizing committee, finances were troubling and we simply didn't have the money to put on the Games. Mitt immediately worked on raising revenue and on cutting costs. Before he arrived, the organizing board used to have elaborate lunches accented with elegant decorations. I wasn't there, but that high-end catering was the stuff of rumors. For Mitt's first meeting, he served pizza and charged a dollar a slice. The message was clear: Be responsible about how you spend money.
However, the budget challenge was nothing compared with the obligation to keep people from 83 nations safe at the Olympics just five months after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
I will never forget the opening ceremonies and watching Mitt, President Bush and Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, standing at attention as the flag from the World Trade Center was brought in to the stadium. A hushed, reverent crowd, more than 50,000 strong, listened as our national anthem was played.
- Fraser Bullock, chief operating officer and chief financial officer of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee
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