F1 officials to pay for mayor, city manager to travel to London race; city to pay for 4 more
http://www.statesman.com/news/local/f1- ... 05570.html
Circuit of the Americas approached Leffingwell and Ott about a month ago with the offer to fly two city officials to London to see the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, a permanent track in the English countryside. Last week, Leffingwell accepted one of the trips, and Ott accepted the other. Ott also decided to send (Austin Police Chief) Acevedo and (Austin Fire Chief) Kerr as well as Sue Edwards, the assistant city manager for development services, and Rodney Gonzales, the deputy director of economic growth and redevelopment services.
Leffingwell's and Ott's flights and lodging will be paid for by Circuit of the Americas, a circuit spokeswoman said, and the city will pay for the other four trips. Officials did not know how much the trip would cost, but a search of travel websites found that airfare and lodging in London for five days could be about $2,000 per person.
"The intent is for (Austin officials) to go and see how others do a job they're going to do in Austin in November ... and learn from some very experienced people what it is that they need to do to make sure they run a successful event in Austin," said Julie Loignon, a spokeswoman for Circuit of the Americas.
Loignon said Silverstone representatives have arranged for the Austin contingent to meet with their counterparts in the track's nearby county of Northamptonshire. Silverstone is similar to the F1 track near Elroy, as both are permanent tracks in somewhat rural areas, Loignon said.
On Tuesday, Travis County commissioners nixed a similar trip for two staff members that would have been primarily paid for by race organizers. The offer made to Austin was never discussed by the City Council.
While the track is not within Austin's city limits, the city said it will be closely involved and affected by the estimated 120,000 attendees for the race weekend Nov. 16 to 18.
The majority of those people will stay in Austin, city spokeswoman Roxanne Evans said. "All city public safety agencies will be engaged during the event," she said.
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