Jun 27, 2007 11:39 pm US/Central
City Names New Leader In Bid For 2016 Olympics
by Jay Levine
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
A new leader has been named in Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympic Games.
As CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports, while dramatic videos and inspirational stories helped win U.S. Olympic Committee backing, it'll take more than that to win 60 international votes.
CBS 2 learned Wednesday night that Chicago 2016 CEO Pat Ryan and Mayor Richard M. Daley have turned to the firm Ryan founded for a chief operating officer for Chicago's bid.
David Bolger, AON's outgoing CFO, will be introduced Thursday as the new number-two man for the bid team. Bolger is a lifelong Chicago banker, with close ties to the city's business, cultural and education communities.
His appointment comes exactly two weeks before Chicago's team heads to Rio de Janeiro to check out what many consider its chief competition for the 2016 Games. Rio's hoping to make a good impression with the 2007 Pan American Games.
But there was trouble in Rio Wednesday – a massive raid on warring drug dealers that involved 1,200 officers, supported by helicopters and armored cars hit a local shantytown complex, where 31 people have been killed in the past two months. Eighteen more suspected gang members died Wednesday. Crime is thought to be the biggest obstacle to a first South American Olympics.
Obstacles in Chicago have been few, though inner city protesters like those back in March have expressed concern about the games not benefiting the communities where they will be held.
The areas around the Washington Park Olympic stadium on the South Side and the Douglas Park swimming venue on the West Side.
The Chicago Urban League will release its recommendations Thursday for how African Americans could take advantage of Olympic economic opportunities if Chicago gets the games.
Hiring Bolger comes just as Ryan loses his right hand man. Douglas Smithe, who was never far from Ryan's side, is heading back to Washington, D.C. to his wife, Congressman Rahm Emanuel's chief of staff, and his 1-year-old daughter.
One thing that sticks out about the choice of Bolger is that like Ryan, and Daley for that matter, he doesn't have any Olympic experience. For that, Chicago will rely on its own Olympians and the U.S. Olympic Committee, which has a ton of it.
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