Saying Utah has been stung by the scandal surrounding the bid for the 2002 Winter Games, Gov. Mike Leavitt said Monday those Olympic organizers involved must step down during the investigations.
But at a hastily called press conference Monday, the governor stopped short of naming the officials at the Salt Lake Organizing Committee who should be placed on administrative leave.Instead, he said that decision should be made by the SLOC Board of Trustees. SLOC trustees are expected to take up the issue at their next meeting, scheduled for Jan. 14.
Leavitt also declined to speculate on who would run the Olympics if SLOC Chief Executive Officer Frank Joklik and SLOC Senior Vice President of Games Dave Johnson are removed.
Both were leaders of the bid committee, along with former SLOC President Tom Welch. Welch, who resigned that post last year after being charged with spouse abuse, continues to work for SLOC as a $10,000-a-month consultant.
Others at the organizing committee who were involved with the bid include lawyer Kelly Flint, now senior vice president of law and commerce, and Rod Hamson, who handled bid finances and now oversees merchandise licensing.
There are also a number of SLOC trustees who were involved in a similar role during the bid, such as local business leaders Spence Eccles, Verl Topham and Bennie Smith.
Some trustees are said to be retaining lawyers to represent them in the investigations.
The governor's announcement came after he met behind closed doors for almost 2 1/2 hours with legislative leaders, state Olympic Officer John Fowler and SLOC Chairman Bob Garff.
Nolan Karras, who first proposed putting SLOC officials on administrative leave in mid-December, was also there. Karras, a former Utah House speaker, serves as the governor's representative on the SLOC board.
SLOC trustees weren't interested then in taking action to remove anyone at the organizing committee, even temporarily. But since that meeting, the FBI has launched a criminal investigation into Salt Lake City's Olympic bid efforts.
Three other groups are already investigating what was done to get the Games: the International Olympic Committee, the U.S. Olympic Committee and SLOC's own Board of Ethics.
The investigations began last month after Joklik acknowledged payments totaling $400,000 were made to 13 people, including six relatives of IOC members, through a scholarship program he initially labeled humanitarian aid.
The governor said Monday he is concerned the investigations will drag on, bogging down preparations for the Olympics while SLOC officials scramble to defend actions during the bid.
"At this point, nobody is pointing a finger of wrongdoing. They just need to separate themselves so the work of the organizing committee can go forward," Leavitt said.
He said bid committee records also need to be removed from SLOC's downtown offices. Stacks of boxes were assembled there last week for IOC Vice President Dick Pound, who is leading the IOC investigation.
"There needs to be a clean separation," the governor said. "It is a stinging and hurtful thing to see our community go through this," especially after so many Utahns contributed so much towards getting the Games.
Leavitt called the bribery investigations discouraging. "The people of Utah would have much preferred an honest defeat than a victory soiled by something that should not have been done."
The governor spelled out his wishes in a letter to Garff, who said he agreed the trustees need to consider putting at least some SLOC officials on administrative leave.
"They are already distracted," Garff said. Without naming names, he said it would probably be best for those officials "to journey to another site and focus on the past."
SLOC released a written statement that said organizers "will abide by any decision of its Board of Trustees on this or any other issue. We await any possible action by the Board of Trustees at its meeting on Jan. 14."
The proposed move was also supported by Senate President Lane Beattie, R-Bountiful, and new House Speaker Marty Stephens, R-Farr West, who attended the meeting.
Beattie said what the governor wants done is "very logical." Stephens said he is supportive, but that "there is a push from some legislators to go even further." Stephens declined to elaborate.
Senate Minority Leader Scott Howell, D-Granite, said Democrats "have nothing to do with this." Democratic leaders were not at Monday's meeting with the governor.