At least 10 local government officials are traveling this summer to Budapest, Hungary, to see firsthand if Salt Lake City gets the 2002 Winter Games.
Most are using tax dollars to pay for the June trip arranged through the Salt Lake Olympic Bid Committee at a cost of between $2,400 and $5,000 per person.Salt Lake City, which would host the Olympics even though many of the proposed venues are in or near other cities or Salt Lake County, is sending the most representatives.
Four council members and Salt Lake Mayor Deedee Corradini are now scheduled to make the trip. The city has budgeted $50,000 to cover the council members' travel expenses. The bid committee is paying the mayor's way.
Five more local government officials - one from Salt Lake County, two from Park City, one from Ogden and one from Utah County - also told the Deseret News that they are going.
The privately funded bid committee has declined to release a list of the 350 or so Utahns who have signed up for the trip, which includes a charter flight to Budapest, hotel accommodations and possible sightseeing excursions.
Last fall, hundreds of invitations to be in Budapest for the Olympic bid announcement on June 16 were mailed out to elected officials and other bid supporters throughout the state.
A bid committee spokesman said some who responded to the invitation may not want anyone to know they're going and that releasing any names could make the travelers' homes vulnerable to burglars.
Of the local government officials who confirmed they're going, only Salt Lake County Commissioner Mary Callaghan is paying her own way. She said the trip is costing her about $4,600.
Salt Lake County Commission Chairman Brent Overson said the county isn't paying, "primarily to avoid any criticism about spending tax dollars to go to Europe."
Park City is sending public affairs director Miles Rademan and Mayor Brad Olch. The city expects to spend about $2,000 on Rademan's trip. The bid committee is paying the mayor's travel costs.
Ogden City Councilwoman Barbara Dirks said she is using all but $300 of her annual $5,000 travel budget to pay for the trip. "It's critical to have representation from our city," Dirks said.
The state helped build an ice arena in Ogden, where bid boosters hope to hold women's ice hockey competitions during the Olympics. "We're a major player in this and we want to be part of the team," Dirks said.
Weber County, which runs the ice arena, isn't sending anyone. "Too much of a good thing doesn't make it better. Send too many people and it's overkill and a waste of tax dollars," Weber County Commissioner Joe Ritchie said.