12 responses so far ↓

• 1 Sharon // Apr 4, 2010 at 9:27 am

  I am on the list as a guest of the city. As a Business Improvement Association we work daily with city staff and elected officials on endless issues. I can tell you, that $100 ticket to curling went a long way towards creating good will, and I say thank you. Was it money well spent – absolutely. The city will get a return on their investment in spades. Sometimes a little down time with the people you work with makes those meetings go much smoother.

  My only disappointment after reviewing the list- I would have hoped a few more engineering staff might have been tapped as a thank you for the heart, soul and sweat they put in to making the Olympics a success.

• 2 grumbelschmoll // Apr 4, 2010 at 10:03 am

  I’m not getting it.

  It is questionable that Vanoc provides free tickets for the “Olympic Family” while charging the political representatives of the host city.

  The Mayor and Council should have received complimentary tickets to the main events.

  Beyond that, no public funds should have gone to buying tickets for anyone. This was completely misguided.

• 3 SV // Apr 4, 2010 at 11:09 am

  Questionable indeed-the tickets given to Strathcona Community Centre were distributed to
  children and youth. However I had no idea the city
  had to pay for the tickets-ridiculous.

• 4 Sharon // Apr 4, 2010 at 11:36 am

  I am sure they got free tickets, as I saw Gregor many times on the TV at various events. He is not listed in the puchased ticket disclosure.

  When you have company to your house for dinner, do you open the door, invite them in and then leave them to enjoy their dinner without you… or do you act as a host?

  Do we realize that the actual dollars spent is close to the dollars handed to the city’s chief electrician so he would not come to work any more?

  Sometimes what appears to be fivilous is actually well spent money when you examine the big picture.

• 5 Tessa // Apr 4, 2010 at 11:43 am

  I’d be curious why corporations such as Microsoft and others got in on the free ticket train. It smells kind of fishy to me that for-profit companies should get free tickets to an olympic event paid for by taxpayers, even if it’s just a small expense.

• 6 Ryan // Apr 4, 2010 at 4:09 pm

  Tessa, note that in the chart (Appendix A, page 4 of 8) it shows that Microsoft paid for their tickets (cost recovery box marked “Y”, totaling $17,500 for 20 tickets).

• 7 Ryan // Apr 4, 2010 at 4:11 pm

  Also, please note that an 8 beside a closed parenthesis equals a cute happy face with sunglasses: 8)

• 8 Michael Geller // Apr 5, 2010 at 7:42 am

  I will be interested to see the summary of financial transactions between the city and VANOC. I have assumed that the ‘payment’ for these tickets would simply be a ‘journal entry’ on a very extensive list of transactions.

  That being said, while there are some interesting ‘give-aways’, I too agree that it was appropriate for the city to give tickets to people who volunteer on City commissions and boards as a token of appreciation. I just don’t understand why one of my friends, who has more money than the city, was given 2 tickets to the opening ceremony! 8)

• 9 JP Ratelle // Apr 5, 2010 at 4:03 pm

  I’d like to commend Park commissioners Ian Robertson and Stuart MacKinnon for paying for their tickets, along with Ellen Woodsworth for her tickets as well.

  Of course I wouldn’t have thought Aaron Jasper would pay for his considering he nickled and dimed a fund-raiser for the Bloedel Conservatory over $25.

  The Vision park board commissioners continue to be the lowest of the low.

• 10 PeterG // Apr 6, 2010 at 3:56 am

  “The Ticket Settlement Team, the Ticket Allocation and Host
  Scheduling Committee, and the Ticket Request Approval Committee” ….and we wonder what these guys at City Hall are doing with their time. I would be interested to know how many hours were spent managing this boondoggle.

• 11 flowmass // Apr 6, 2010 at 8:23 am

  I like the comment by PeterG regarding the hours spent managing this process ( I don’t think it was a boondoggle, though.)
  In North America in the second half of the 20th century, there evolved a notion amongst planners, bureaucrats, administrators and some academics, that process is progress. Write reports, over analyze everything, and the politicians will buy it as will most of the public.

• 12 Gee // Apr 11, 2010 at 10:42 am

  Sharon, I think the Electricians and Engineers got the LiveCity tickets. Aren’t those the tickets given to staff who were seconded to LiveCity sites? Might be mistaken.

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