District of Squamish council discussed what they wanted to do to capitalize on the Olympics Tuesday (Jan. 12) - exactly one month before the opening ceremonies.
With councillors Corinne Lonsdale and Rob Kirkham absent, council supported giving more than $100,000 to the Squamish Sustainability Corporation (SSC) for Games time marketing and operations.
As council rejected the idea of dispersing "Ask Me" buttons and ads for some glossy Vancouver magazines, municipal director of recreation, parks, and tourism Bob Kusch asked council to authorize $42,300 for Adventure Centre and store operation, and $58,350 for tourism and Olympic initiatives to fund the SSC through to April 2010.
A staff report proposes Olympic initiatives such as magazines and guides, augmenting and enhancing online websites, developing media kits and preparing VIP gift baskets.
According to a staff report, the recommendations had not been presented to the SSC board - made entirely of the council members minus Coun. Bryan Raiser according to the website - prior to the council presentation.
The initiatives didn't resonate with Mayor Greg Gardner, who said if he does choose to support the motion, he does not want his support confused as an endorsement of the marketing suggestions.
"I think some of them may not be the best use of money for Olympic promotions. Some of them are for example, taking out advertisements in Vancouver magazines, I wouldn't think that's a good use of expenditure at this point in time," he said. "And some of them actually might be a little bit late in the day to effectively spend that money."
Gardner suggested the district ear-mark $42,362.29 as a early release item, loan $35,000 to the SSC and authorize an expenditure of up to $23,350 for staff to use on Olympic promotions.
Councillors Patricia Heintzman and Doug Race agreed Gardner's suggestion made sense.
Coun. Paul Lalli motioned to support the recommendation but requested the motion include reference to the $35,000 as a loan. The motion was carried unanimously
Meanwhile, the protective services committee asked for support for committee member Race's request to invite BC Ambulance representatives to an upcoming meeting to provide information on existing and Olympic Games time services.
However Gardner took exception to the recommendation as well and opposed the motion, saying he believed it was unnecessary.
"I'm not sure why that has to come to council frankly, the chair of the committee can invite who ever he or she wants to that committee," said Gardner.
The motion was carried four to one.
In the final Olympic-related item of the council meeting, Gardner drew attention to a letter from British Columbia Senator Mobina Jaffer, who sits on the federal standing committee of official languages.
Jaffer reminded British Columbians that French, English and Aboriginal languages are the founding tongues of Canada and must be reflected as such in the upcoming Games.
"Please keep that in mind," Gardner said, "as we are ambassadors for the country."
