Even though Mitt Romney doesn’t intend to take a “management position” in San Diego’s and Tijuana’s bi-national bid for the 2024 Olympics, the former Republican Presidential Nominee sat down with San Diego Mayor Bob Filner earlier this week to lend his consulting talents to the effort.
“I had the opportunity to spend some time yesterday with Governor Romney who is now living here in San Diego, and he will be an adviser to our bid,” Filner said at a city council meeting. “He has graciously talked about it.”
Filner joked that Romney was incredibly friendly despite not coming across that way on television, and added that’s Romney’s work with the 2002 Salt Lake City Games – America’s last turn hosting the Olympics – make him the ideal person to provide advice to the committee as they move forward.
Romney is credited with effectively saving the 2002 Games financially by reorganizing the leadership, fixing the budget, raising funds, lobbying Congress, strengthening security after 9/11, and becoming a public face for the Olympics after he joined the Salt Lake team as President and CEO in 1999.
