[Senator Clay Davis]

Apparently $84,000 wasn't that bad a deal....

Vancouver is spending $100,000 to send seven city officials, including Mayor Gregor Robertson and city manager Penny Ballem, to synchronize with the London Olympics for an economic development mission.

The mayor’s office said they won’t be attending any sports events.

Robertson said the trip, organized through the Vancouver Economic Commission, is a “targeted strike” to try to lure businesses and investors interested in the city’s growing digital media and clean tech industries.

About 30 local companies are also paying their own way to London to try to connect with investors and secure orders, he said.

“This is a targeted strike at the London Olympics looking at companies and investors who are interested in Vancouver and using that gathering as the catalyst for that target,” the mayor said Wednesday.

“Our focus is on the creative industries, digital media, visual effects, which are growing rapidly in Vancouver, along with clean tech and the green economy. Those are the two sectors where there is the most interest from offshore companies moving to Vancouver to locate or investors looking to invest in.”

Four members of the economic commission, including executive director Lee Malleau, have been in London since before the opening ceremony on July 27. Robertson, Ballem and Mike Magee, the mayor’s chief of staff, leave today for three days.

Robertson said the commission’s costs are about $90,000, of which 80 per cent is paid by local taxpayers and the rest comes from the federal government. The mayor’s office is spending another $10,000.

The mayor’s office said Robertson and Magee are sharing a hotel room to keep costs down.

http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Van...#ixzz22UNWOCD9

So why exactly did they host the Olympics? Wasn't that supposed to raise their profile to potential investors?