A conspiracy is still a conspiracy

[Max]

www.northernlife.ca/News/LocalNews/2008/02-06-08-elton.asp?NLStory=02-06-08-elton

No Elton John concert tickets were presold: arena manager

Date Published | Feb. 6, 2008

BY GIANNI UBRIACO

For local musician John Newlands, being able to get his hands on Elton John tickets is a boyhood dream come true. He was one of the nearly 50 people who spent Thursday night outside in line waiting to buy tickets for the March 2 concert at the Sudbury Arena.

Newlands grew up listening to the music of Elton John back in high school and that led him to playing music and singing, but also to teaching guitar. When he first heard the music legend would be coming to Sudbury, he didn’t believe it, and then he wondered if he would be able to afford to pay the $140 asking price. He quickly came to the realization that it was a price he was willing to pay to make his dream a reality.

“He’s got it all: a great voice, great songs, an engaging personality, and an all around amazing performer,” he said.

Newlands, who recently put out his fifth CD entitled Invincible Summer, also considered himself lucky just to get his hands on the prized possessions. That’s because there were more than 200 people who showed up in line, while there were countless horror stories about people going on-line only to come out empty-handed.

“I think the city was discouraging people from standing in line since they were all saying go on-line, but a lot of people got disappointed that way, so it was a drag for them,” he conceded. “They should have just been more realistic and said it’s going to be a lottery either way. Personally, I felt if I was in line I’d have a better chance, so I trusted my legs more than my modem.”

He wasn’t the only one who had an interesting story to tell.

“One kid not too far ahead of me, I don’t know if he was supposed to take the bus or what, but he jumped a train from North Bay just to get here,” said one local teacher who chose to remain anonymous.

“There was even one guy from Espanola who was waiting in line for his boss, so I told him I hope you’re getting a lot of money for this.”

Although he wasn’t getting paid for waiting in line, he received a lifetime supply of gratitude from his beloved, for whom he got tickets.

“At one point, she could have seen him in Las Vegas, but she had to pick between the ticket line or the flight leaving, so she missed out,” he recalled. “So, she asked me if she was going to miss him again and I said no way. I’m going to make sure of this. I was a hero.

“If I had to do it again, after going through what I went through, I wouldn’t hesitate for a minute. The only thing I would do is change the boots I had because I froze. I (kept) counting the toes inside my boots just to make sure I still had them.”

Meanwhile, despite rumors to the contrary, the manager of the Sudbury Arena, Ray Mensour, asserted that all of the tickets went on sale at 10 am at the box office and on-line, and that none of them were presold. He added that the city’s website received more than one million hits and within 45 minutes, all 6,000 tickets were sold to about 1,200 people. There was a limit of six tickets per person.

As for how he managed to get such a big name to come here, he explained that over the last three years, the arena staff have developed a very good relationship with the promoter, Live Nation.

“They’re the biggest concert promoters in North America,” he proclaimed. “They have all the big names, so it’s a matter of when they bring them here, and if we can we deliver on the service they’re requesting.”

Discussions began with the promoter back in early December, but it didn’t become a strong possibility until early January when the staff found out Elton John would be doing a tour and wanted to play a venue he’d never played before.

However, John isn’t the only world-famous performer coming to town. Anne Murray, will be hitting the stage at the Sudbury Arena on Monday, May 19 with special guest Michael Kaeshammer. Tickets go on sale this Friday at 10 am.

The promoter, formerly known as the House of Blues Canada, has previously brought music superstars Nickelback, Hillary Duff, Michael Buble, and Bryan Adams to the nickel city and each time, thousands of fans have come out to support their rock or pop idols. Moving forward, Mansour said he believes that by attracting such big names like that already, it opens the doors to virtually anyone.

“The economy here is good and when artists come here, they love to play in front of the Sudbury people, so as long as when they come here we keep supporting them, and the tickets are sold, they’ll keep coming,” he concluded.






On Wednesday, February 06, 2008 at 10:42, Ken said:

Ok so none were presold but how many were reserved to the special few and not available to the public?

On Wednesday, February 06, 2008 at 12:08, I said:

Do you honestly expect the city to admit they presold, or even gave city officials tickets?

Come on wake up.

Live nation has their own ticketing system. The city is not going to take on the additional cost of running the ticket service for free. They did it to control who gets the tickets.

On Wednesday, February 06, 2008 at 12:36, Bill said:

As many people have stated in previous posts why were so many people within the city so successful in getting tickets. Not all Sudburians are gullible to believe your story Ray.If they are all that lucky they should be at the slots rather than working for the city.

On Wednesday, February 06, 2008 at 12:43, Mac said:

Everyone was encouraged to go to the website. This was in the news everywhere. Count me among those who were quite frustrated by the process. The other flaw is that a web system allows scalpers and ticket companies from anywhere to get their hands on tickets for a local show and sell them at increased prices. I hate to sound like an old fogey, but in the good old days you stood in line with everyone else or got somebody to do it for you. When box office window closed, the tickets were sold out. It was nice and transparent and those who were disappointed had no one to blame but themselves for not showing up sooner.

I'd like to see an end to this kind of ticket selling for future shows of this magnitude. Using the internet has created needless controversy - while it may have made it easier for some, it has left thousands disappointed and wondering just how above board the whole process really was.

On Wednesday, February 06, 2008 at 12:54, John said:

I love the paranoia. The promoter controls the tickets not the city. If the promoter wanted to sell the tickets themselves, the city would have no control over it. You think Live Nation would give up any control over the concerts they promote and risk the relationships they develop with the artists? Who needs the wake up call?

On Wednesday, February 06, 2008 at 12:58, Rocket Man said:

I was told by city Employees (who worked at Sudbury arena) they got tickets three days before the public.

On Wednesday, February 06, 2008 at 14:28, George said:

Do you really believe they would admit to it? They may have been sold the day of (credit card transaction), but the fact remains that senior staff and councillors got tickets put aside for them. Why is it so easy for the general public to know this but the media don't ask the questions to the people being accused directly.

On Wednesday, February 06, 2008 at 14:37, msav said:

6000 tickets in 45 minutes to 1200 buyers is NOT unussual. A note to online buyers. keep trying. they sometimes hold seats until closer to the show date, and release them then. Also. If you really want to be creative, join the Elton John Fan Club, then buy the tickets as a member of the fan club. The promotor sometimes reserves tickets for sale exclusivly to fan club members. You just need to learn how to think "outside the box"


On Wednesday, February 06, 2008 at 16:02, J. Smith said:

There were tickets put aside; local radio stations etc....I don't know if the promoter designates how many promo tickets are alloted but there ARE tickets held back

On Wednesday, February 06, 2008 at 16:48, B-Sudbury said:

Honestly people - let's stop conspiring. Venues always have some tickets that are reserved for media and special guests. The only reason so many people missed out was because there were an amazing number of people from Sudbury, elsewhere in Northern Ontario, elsewhere in Canada, and even from outside of Canada trying to buy tickets.

On Wednesday, February 06, 2008 at 17:14, RC said:

i know for a fact that one councillor in particular got tickets, because of connections

On Thursday, February 07, 2008 at 09:20, SirGalahad said:

It's too bad we can't get this kind of turn out for local elections..............

On Thursday, February 07, 2008 at 20:29, Motorboat said:

I know people are exited at the amount of concerts we are getting lately but in my honest opinion i still think it is lame at best. No offence to anyone but for one you really have to research the real reason why Elton is making this "tour" how it ended up to be here is just a fluke. Also note that no big names that are currently "hip" and are geared for younger audiences come here. We only get bands and groups that are either on the decline or washed up or genres that only apply to small groups of people. Large groups that are on the charts only play for audiences that are 10000 +, our dinky little arena does not suffice.

Young people need entertainment too, how many of you people that were teens in the 70's remember the concerts we had then? I think i have made my point.

On Thursday, February 07, 2008 at 23:06, I'm Sunk said:

I used to get tickets fro CNE grandstand concerts from my uncle , big names always front row center and at times 10 of them, he was promotions manager at the CNE. We also used to get concert tickets for Maple Leaf Gardens for free from another source. This has, is, and always will happen. Big deal get connected or line up or do not go.

On Saturday, February 09, 2008 at 11:19, John said:

So none of the tickets were presold. Someones lying Ray. The Sudbury Star reported many tickets (up to eight/for the privileged 10) were (given,presold) to councillors and maybe others within the city. They have even admitted to it. Cut the crap. Our "busdriver" thinks they are entitled to them. He said they were paid for and weren't freebies so they must have been presold. Stop playing the game of "semantics" which all politicians do.

On Saturday, February 09, 2008 at 16:24, Georges said:

Oh and another thing. $100 says the Mayor will be umbarassingly Booed when he gets on stage with Elton!
On Saturday, February 09, 2008 at 19:29, LIARS said:
My cousin is an arena employee and she told me that she was offered to purchase her tickets the day BEFORE they went on sale to the public!

On Sunday, February 10, 2008 at 11:07, John said:

I guess Ray Mensour is gearing up for the next election either federal, provincial or municpial. He seems to have acquired the most important attribute. He can LIE like most politicians. Embarrassment has no boundaries. What else goes on in the secret in camera meetings that the public doesn't know about?? Why not build a Theater Center. Will save the councillors / friends/ family from driving to Toronto to see class acts. They'll get the tickets and the public can do the driving.

On Sunday, February 10, 2008 at 14:17, Hal said:

It is now on national news. Just saw a posting on bourque.com.
Do the right things mister and missus councillors. Give the tickets to charity! Give the tickets to women shelters. Give the tickets to big brothers. Do the right thing!

[Max]

www.thesudburystar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=894821&auth=Denis+St.+Pierre%2fThe+Sudbury+&#postbox

Rumours true: city councillors snapped up Elton John tickets -Join the discussion

Posted By Denis St. Pierre/The Sudbury
Updated 1 day ago

If you're still smarting over your failure to snag Elton John tickets, you may want to give your friendly neighbourhood city councillor a call.

He or she may have a couple to spare.

The Star has learned more than 100 tickets for the once-in-a-lifetime concert at Sudbury Community Arena were made available to council members before they went on sale to the general public Feb. 1.

The mayor and each councillor had the opportunity to purchase up to eight tickets apiece, The Star confirmed Friday, ending rumours that had been circulating for days of such an arrangement. An undetermined number of tickets also were made available to others, although details of those arrangements have yet to be confirmed.

With 13 members on city council, that means up to 104 tickets for the March 2 Elton John concert were made available to the politicians. However, while come councillors purchased the maximum allowed, others did not, which means the total number taken by the politicians likely is less than 100, sources have told The Star.

Public buyers were limited to a maximum of six tickets each when they officially went on sale on the morning of Feb. 1. More than 6,000 tickets sold out within 45 minutes, the city reported at the time. The vast majority of tickets were purchased via the city's website, while a few lucky people who lined up outside the arena were able to buy a small number.

The city reported its website received one million hits during the ticket-buying frenzy.





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They should resign,I only sugest this because public lynching is frowned upon. Ray Mensour should be fired as he lied to the media and the public. I have tried to reach Live Nation, the promoter for this show but have been unsuccesfull. At the very least all pre-sold tickets should be declared null and void and their money refunded. These are our elected officials and they put the screws to each and every one of us. The bus driver and his puppets are unethical to be sure, now it is up to them to come clean and make this right...OR ELSE!!!


This is the "old boys club" alive and well. If they had thought for one second about the optics of how this would play out, and were truly "public" servants, they never would have accepted this perk.

What makes me feel almost ill is the selfishness of the mayor. The mayor is making a presentation at the concert so he was going anyways and everyone would have understood he wanted to be accompanied by his significant other...but to take 10 tickets so he could look like a hero to his lucky benefactors is disgusting. I hope the mayor has the good manners to explain to Elton beforehand that the "boos" from the crowd will be all for only him (our "esteemed" mayor).

Such "arrangements" may be made in other cities Mr. Mayor but that doesn’t make it right.
I wonder how the people who got tickets in this manner will be able to enjoy the show when they'll be looking at their boots all night (instead of Sir Elton) - because I certainly wouldn't be able to hold my head up in public.

Kudos to the councillors who came clean; not that this makes it right but at least they're not hiding.

I'll be there because of my hero who stood in line for 24 hours...and I'll be telling our trusted, elected public officials how I really feel - if I can find them - although I imagine they'll come in right at the last minute under the cover of darkness...typical...


There are a few things I'm not happy about in this situation.

1. The ticket limit per person that purchased online should have been lower than 6. It should have been 2. This would have made it a more fair lottery, as more people would have had the opportunity to purchase tickets and would have further eliminated extras being purchased with the intent to scalp them.

2. Any tickets set aside for anyone at all should have been made public. Because now we know they were set aside, and feel lied to, making people even more upset.

3. The limit for ANYONE, including those 'special' enough to not have to purchase online should have also been 2.

4. Good on Mr. Rodriguez for admitting the number of tickets he purchased. However, claiming that 10 tickets isn't excessive, especially when there were thousands of people unable to purchase tickets, is a little naive.

5. The virtual waiting room system didn't work. No sugar coating it here. People will still be disappointed when they don't get tickets (there's no pleasing everyone) but, why is it some people were stuck in the loop after the concert was sold out? It's just proof that the system wasn't fair.

No sour grapes here, though. I would have loved to go, but the circumstances weren't right. And now I have an extra $285 to spend elsewhere. There are plenty of things that make me upset about the way things are done, and quite honestly, the way tickets are sold for a concert isn't at the top of my list. When the only road leaving my town doesn't look like swiss cheese, maybe this issue will get bumped up a little.

As a former City Councillor it leaves me wondering how our Council could allow people to brave the cold and sit at computers for hours while their friends and themselves so comfortably sit back and await their Elton John tickets, and probably good ones to boot.
Do you think for a second that they care about you, well they do, .at election time.
If you want to express your displeasure , you can speak at the planning meeting held every 2 weeks, I will be speaking about this until all tickets sold or placed on hold for the important people in this City are put up for sale.


I am totally disgusted at the Mayor and his councillors and of course, the arena manager. What a liar and as for our so called city officials, shame on you all!!! What a corrupt bunch of hipocrites! What makes you so darned special as compared to the rest of the good people that wanted to get tickets??? I pay for that arena out of my yearly taxes and oh, by the way, I pay your salaries too and as far as I'm concerned, you are NO BETTER than anyone else! You should all be ashamed or yourselves and I will definitely be remembering this fiasco at election time. No wonder the public has such a bad opinion of government employees when we hear things like this! Shame Shame Shame Shame on all of you!!!!! (And by the way, I DID get 2 tickets for myself .. but standing room only)not the creme de le creme like the mayor and councillor's seats.

BULL$H!T I tell ya, How come City counselors had acces to up 8 tickets a piece, 2 more then the general public? Our own dam mayor got 10 yes 10 tickets. Wonderfull city we live in. That works out to over 110 tickets that where sold before the 10am start. What makes these people better then us? Our wondefull mayor we voted in. Why wasn't he waiting outside in the cold for those 10 tickets? BULL****. Thats all I have to say about the people running our city. How come we didn't see any counselors out waiting till ten? They should all sell those tickets to the people that were standing out in the cold and didn't get any.

Lets all remember this at ELECTION time guys

We need to BOO the mayor when he takes the stage


Let's remember that if we BOO anyone, it will reflect on ALL of us! I did get two tickets, but I struggled as all did. I would be extremely embarrassed if those who attend BOO-ed anyone. Let's PLEASE not do this! Not the time, or the place!


As I said previously last Thur. many tickets were sold or held for councillors & city staff prior to the official sale date. Yet the arena manager lies and said they weren't sold. Okay held and paid for later. Semantics. What do you think will be happening when the new Theater Center is built with less seats and a big demand for seats. Taxpayers pay and who will be reaping the benefits. Guess who. Not that I wanted seats but lets treat everyone in this city equally. I'd be ashamed being a councillor and going out into the public knowing what happened. Obviously they couldn't care less about the citizens but only about themselves. If they did they would have accepted maybe only two tickets but not above the limit which might have given more Sudburians a chance to see the concert. Absolute bull$hit. At least the "busdriver"was honest .What about the rest.

I agree with Mike P. I'm sure that many will be there also to vent what we are all feeling. I must say the person I wouldn't waste my breathe to speak to or hold in High regard as a Managing Representative is Mr. Mensour at the Sudbury arena. You have lied to everyone to the media and most of all to the so called one million hits to your failed virtual waiting room. This concert could be the first of many big attractions, however I hope you Mr. Mensour and the mayor think alittle less of yourselves and more about the people who gave you your jobs in the first place. It really doesn't matter at this point if I have tickets to go or if I was a victim of the virtual waiting room. I am a proud to from Sudbury and I have never missed the Canada Day Celebrations or the Santa Claus Parade.I really hope that EVERYONE WHO ATTENDS THE CONCERT ENJOY IT FOR ALL THAT IT IS AND PLEASE DON'T AIR OUR POLITICAL LAUNDRY FOR SIR ELTON....This would be very upsetting to everyone who lives here. Don't Boo the Mayor in Public or Embarass Sudbury. The mayor will feel the perks of the voters next election. As for the councillors I have no hard feelings toward any of you who were given the opportunity to buy the before everyone else. Have a great time you are only following the example you were given. It doesn't matter if your are the

Manager,Mayor,Mother,Father,Teacher or any person that comes to mind "SET THE EXAMPLE" not "BE THE EXAMPLE" Shame on the Manager of the Sudbury Arena and shame on the Mayor of Greater Sudbury.

Why would we think that our Mayor and Council would be any different than other politicians. Tickets now !! What's next or what else is hidden behind closed doors.This is little league, they haven't achieved the level of our former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney...yet. Mark this up as in training.

If they are to have these perks, the amount of tickets that were saved for them should be no greater than what is allowed to the city tax payers. If your unhappy let it be know next election time. The Bus driver may need to get off at the next stop.

Makes you think now, how many rezoning applications hiring practices etc...etc...etc... have been approved and HOW they were approved (ie, scratch my back) Guess that's why so much time is spent "in camera"


I voted for the bus driver, fool me once shame on you..........

Time to ROCK the VOTE.

mmm lets see...10 tickets at around $100.00 each=$1000.00 (I am sure they are the good seats )maybe withold that off our taxes and see what happens, we will call it Elton John/John Rodriguez tax relief...

I beleive the mayar and the councilors should be allowed these tictets for them selves and their families to repesent our fine city.As the leaders of this fine city of ours we need to be repesented at a major affair such as this concert.But eight tickets is fairly high and shouldn't have been more then allotted to the general pubic.P.S.John please don't forget your speech and require the boys in blue to retrieve your papers from home. Thank you for the time to vent so i can stay home and watch the highlights of the concert on the 1130 news.

This is not a city function where visiting royalty/dignitaries/governments are here for an official function. It's a concert, and to say just because your the mayor/councillor you deserve a ticket(s) because you represent the city is BULL.

Ok - everyone needs to chill out a little about this! Is anyone surprised that city councillors had access to tickets before the official sale? Really? And why does it matter that much? This is the reality everywhere - when there are concerts, there are often a number of tickets set aside for VIPs. Not a big deal, very normal. I think the problem here is that people in Sudbury are not accustomed to having to deal with sold-out shows. Everyone I know that tried to get tickets was convinced they would be successful. But anyone who has tried to purchase tickets for shows in large cities knows full well that it is often a luck of the draw situation. I know t is disappointing not to get tickets to the show, but let's stop blaming everyone and just get over it!


Not much going on in Sudbury lately hahahaha

Take a chil pill people, 100 tickets hardly makes a difference in availability. Sounds like jealousy to me.

Sorry, but I will not as you say "get over it". As I said earlier, what makes the mayor and councillors any better than any other person wanting to see the concert? Fortunately I was brought up to be fair; not crooked and dishonest. I guess I better start calling the councillors for a few extra tickets ... I am a voter and taxpayer ... and so are all of you this is city! So come on people, call your councillor and mayor!!! Let them know how you feel.


Happyfeet,your right.This is no different than getting an perk as an "employee discount". Happens all the time. We all, well maybe not all, but from the person working at Timmies to councilors get perks. Sure it might be seen as unfair, but with such limited seating, what did you expect. If you want "perks", run for council. Here's a thought, maybe the Mayor will give some tickets away in a contest.ROFLMAO!

I also agree with Happyfeet. Finally, someone who is talking sense about this whole situation!

The situation as I see it is that people are so bitter about not getting tickets themselves that they are ready to take their anger out of someone or something. First, it was the ticket system that failed. Later, people complained that the arena staff had misinformed the public by encouraging people to purchase tickets online rather than wait in sub-zero weather. Frustration grew as the number of people who were unsuccessful in their bid to buy tickets walked shoulder to shoulder in protest of the idea that 100 tickets were pre-sold to city council.

It is sad when people spend their time complaining of a failed system, corrupt politicians and unfair buying practices. I think it is completely overblown and quite frankly, a little embarrassing.

People, we knew it was going to be difficult getting tickets. We all entered this with hopese that somehow they could accommodate 30,000 people in a 6,000 seat arena.

It is unfair to say you wouldn't do the same thing if you were offered tickets prior to Friday. Are we all so narrow minded that we would think that other larger centres don't offer city officials similar opportunities? There was nothing dishonest about what happened. I say to councillors, congratulations and enjoy the show! For others still bitter about what happened I encourage you to move on and focus on more important issues like supporting the Food Bank or another local charity by contributing the $140 we were going to spend on tickets. I really think that better use of time. It's what Elton would want us to do.

There is a major problem when city officials abuse their powers such as this. For the people who don't think this is a big deal...you are probably the ones that don't bother voting. We have city officials who stayed quiet and some that lied. BIG PROBLEM! Please try and get many people to the council meetings becuase this is the only way they need to listen..not through comments on websites. If you don't show up and complain there then why should they listen. When other people break the rules they are punished for it...why is this situation not the same. Someone made this decision and they should be ask to step down otherwise any other time an event or decision is made TRUST will always come into play. I for one will be there asking for every single ticket that any city official or employee was given before hand be returned into the pot. If you think this is unreasonable then you really don't understand what breaking trust, such as this, can do to a community. This was an abuse of power and will hopefully be made right!


You simpletons who say don't boo the mayor during the concert should sell your tickets to people who have a brain.

What took place here is a conspiracy. It's illegal. The city official then lied about it publicly to attempt to cover it up. No city offical came forward to set the record straight that they indeed got tickets first, because they're all liars and were hoping the story would just go away.

A police investigation should be commenced immediatedly, but that'll never happen because the corrupt chief of police was also given tickets.

You people assume they actually paid for the tickets. Think again. I bet you and I paid for them. The city is experts at cooking the books, remember?

When the mayor takes the stage and booing starts, the bottles and garbage is throw at the stage, Elton will know why people are booing. He knows all about this scam already. And he's not too happy.

You think people will buy his records when the city makes his fans stand out in the cold to buy tickets only to be turned away while a corrupt pile of dung that city council is gets the tickets first?

How much do you think this hurt Elton John image and bottomline?

You think this story isn't spreading across the Internet?

Talk about damaging Sudbury image, city council has done a great job of doing just that?

You think Live Nation is happy with the city after what they pulled on them, especially after bragging about what a great relationship the city has with Live Nation?

They made Live Nation look as corrput as the city and chief of police.

Ray and Ian Davidson should be fired tomorrow. And they would be if I were the mayor.

[Max]

What was city council thinking? - column by Denis St. Pierre (add your comment)
Posted By Denis St. Pierre
Updated 7 hours ago
There are public relations fiascos and there are political misjudgments.

And then there's this. This one is a doozie, folks. This one could be added to the 'how-not-to-ali enate-voters-and-risk-your-reputation-on-a-petty-perk' section of the Politics 101 handbook.

This one begs a whole lot of questions, such as:

How could our illustrious mayor and councillors not see this coming? How could they not have recognized the depth of their miscalculation? Or that it would be perceived by constituents as a most-unseemly example of a politician's sense of entitlement?

Four days after The Star broke the story, public indignation over Ticket Gate shows little sign of subsiding.

Since we reported that council quietly gave itself first crack at scores of tickets to the March 2 Elton John concert, the controversy has prompted the largest and fiercest response by The Star's readers in a long time.

"It is appalling to me the preferential treatment our city 'leaders' are giving themselves," writes Kelly Wilson.

"We should be outraged at the secret deal the mayor and council made to get advance tickets to the Elton John concert," says Ron Martin.

"I respectfully suggest that the politicians who participated in this fraud should return their tickets and that they be offered up for sale to the public," says an angry Marion Roberts.

"For me and all the others in this city, it is our elected officials saying they are better than us and therefore ethics and morals don't apply to them. I am beyond angry," writes Shawn Donohoe.

"I cannot believe that officials would stand by their word that no tickets were made available, which we all knew was a lie, and now the inevitable truth comes out," says Cynthia Fairbairn.

And neither last nor least, Greg Lee wrote to all city councillors Monday: "You shame your office by this blatant personal gain by use of your office."

On and on it goes. And perhaps the most-surprising aspect of this scandal is that it was entirely predictable and, therefore, preventable.

Sure, hindsight is 20/20. But even 20/100 political foresight should have been enough to see this was a faux pas in the making.

First of all, it was a given that the Elton John tickets would be next-to-impossible to come by - at least for the average schmuck on the street. Literally, tens of thousands of would-be buyers were rebuffed in an online free-for-all that took only 45 minutes to sell out more than 6,000 tickets.

But somehow, the mayor and councillors not only decided it was appropriate to jump the queue, they also thought it proper to snag more than a dozen tickets each, in some cases.

You read that right, folks. One councillor purchased 13 tickets, while another is reported to have taken even more, but this councillor ain't talking about it, yet. Initially, the mayor and councillors each had the opportunity to buy eight tickets. They were later allowed to make additional purchases after some councillors opted not to buy all eight tickets at their disposal.

To make matters worse, even after this secret queue-jumping occurred, a city manager repeatedly told the disgruntled hordes of empty-handed fans that no such preferential treatment had been accorded anyone. No way, no how.

Once the cat was out of the bag, just about everybody ran for cover. Some councillors still refuse to discuss the matter with reporters or their constituents.

The Star has twice contacted the entire council to inquire about the volume of their ticket purchases, yet more than half of our elected worthies have failed to respond. The Silent Seven list consists of: Joe Cimino (Ward 1), Jacques Barbeau (Ward 2), Ron Dupuis (Ward 5), Russ Thompson (Ward 7), Doug Craig (Ward 9), Frances Caldarelli (Ward 10) and Janet Gasparini (Ward 11).

A highly placed and well-informed source at the city has told The Star that Gasparini purchased the most tickets of any councillor.

The councillor has to date refused to confirm or deny the report.

Other sources reported a bit of a scene last weekend at a city restaurant involving Coun. Russ Thompson.

Thompson was standing in line, waiting for a table, when a taxpayer had the temerity to ask how many tickets he had purchased for next month's concert. Thompson angrily retorted that the number of tickets he bought was nobody's business, then he stormed out of the restaurant, sources said.

Thompson refused The Star's request Monday for a comment on the incident.

To their credit, Mayor John Rodriguez (10 tickets) and a few councillors - Claude Berthiaume (seven tickets), Andr‚ Rivest (two), Ted Callaghan (eight) - responded almost immediately to The Star's inquiries last week regarding Ticket Gate. Councillors Evelyn Dutrisac (13) and Joscelyne Landry-Altmann (three) responded Monday. Ironically, it is Rivest - often regarded by some of his colleagues as anything but - who appears to have been the most-restrained and savvy of the bunch by taking only two tickets.

Meanwhile, few citizens appear to be accepting the position adopted by the city's leadership to justify the advance ticket purchases.

As the hard-working "board of directors" of a large municipal corporation that has secured the Elton John concert, it's only fair that city council receive such a benefit, Rodriguez said.

What's more, such a practice has been in place for a long time in Sudbury, as well as other municipalities, says Mark Mieto, the city's chief administrative officer.

That comes as a surprise to a former city councillor and a former high-ranking official in the mayor's office.

In fact, such preferential treatment was debated and rejected by council a decade ago, when some politicians wanted first crack at Shania Twain tickets, says former councillor Mike Petryna.

"When Shania Twain came to Sudbury (in 1998) the subject came up if council and staff could get tickets before anyone else," Petryna recalls.

After considering the obvious pitfalls of such a decision - the ones we're witnessing now - the majority of councillors decided against a me-first policy, he says.

That also was the case as recently as 2006, says Paul Demers, who was principal advisor to Mayor David Courtemanche during the previous term of council.

"As an employee for three years in the mayor's office, never, never was there such a policy," says Demers. "So, I find it a little bizarre that suddenly, when Elton John comes into town, there's a policy that allows the 'board of directors' of the corporation to access tickets before everyone else."

Also on Monday, The Star was able to get an updated figure on the number of tickets that were set aside prior to the public sale.

There were 104 tickets reserved for council (13 council members multiplied by eight tickets each), as well as 120 for city employees who work at the arena, for a total of nearly 224. Employees who work at the arena, including part-timers, have long had the option to buy two event tickets each as a perk of their employment, Mieto said.

However, no tickets were set aside for senior managers, or any other city employees, he said.

Furthermore, there were 192 tickets set aside for holders of box seats, as part of a long-term arena agreement negotiated between the city and the Sudbury Wolves hockey club, Mieto noted. That arrangement, at least, was publicly known before the concert tickets went on sale.

The City Hall column runs Tuesdays. You can reach Denis St. Pierre at 674- 5271, ext. 235, or by e-mail at [e-mail].

[Max]

City spent $12,000 defending ticket scandal (comment on this story)

Posted By Denis St. Pierre
Updated 19 hours ago



After two weeks of steadfast resistance, several city councillors have lost their bid to keep secret how many tickets they received for Sunday's Elton John concert.

As a result of a request filed by The Sudbury Star under provincial freedom-of-information legislation, the City of Greater Sudbury on Thursday released the number of tickets purchased by each council member.

However, the city maintains its secretive stance on other information being sought by The Star, such as the number of concert tickets that were available to the general public in the first place, as well as what councillors initially did with the tickets they bought.

Also in response to media inquiries, the city reported Friday that it has spent about $12,000 during the last few days to hire a private law firm, as well as a public relations company to help it deal with the ticket fiasco.

City council and its senior administration had kept secret the fact they were spending tax dollars to hire private lawyers and public relations experts to deal with the controversy. The issue was brought to the public's attention this week after The Star uncovered e-mail correspondence between council and administrators discussing the arrangement.

The city already spends well in excess of $1 million annually on its own legal and public relations departments. While it reported it has spent about $12,000 to date for contracted legal and public relations work, the city would not disclose the names of the firms that have been hired, nor the billing rates being charged.

Although they still refuse to release significant information, city officials on Friday renewed their oft-repeated assertion that the ticket controversy should now be considered resolved.

"While the practice of providing tickets to city councillors is not unusual and has occurred in the past, the community response has been very clear."

"While this matter has been a significant learning process for the city, we sincerely hope that the disclosure of this information will put this matter to rest," said Mark Mieto, the city's chief administrative officer.

The information released Friday by the city ends two weeks of secrecy by six city councillors regarding their ticket purchases - Joe Cimino (Ward 1), Jacques Barbeau (Ward 2), Ron Dupuis (Ward 5), Doug Craig (Ward 9), Frances Caldarelli (Ward 10) and Janet Gasparini (Ward 11).

The mayor and six other councillors had willingly divulged how many tickets they had purchased.

The city's report confirmed information previously reported by The Star, that Gasparini was by far council's biggest ticket buyer, having purchased 22 tickets. Gasparini subsequently sold six of those tickets to fellow councillors.

The ticket controversy began two weeks ago, when The Star reported that, contrary to the city's initial assurances, politicians and some city employees had been able to jump the queue and gain preferred access to concert tickets.

Earlier this week, after enduring unprecedented public criticism and outrage, city council members reportedly gathered up as many tickets as they could and returned them for refunds.

In total, 71 of 120 tickets were returned and used in a hastily organized public draw, with winners getting to buy pairs of tickets. However, it appears thousands of residents were not aware of the draw and did not get the chance to enter.

The information released by the city Friday included a breakdown of how many tickets were purchased initially by each council member, as well as how many tickets were returned this week.

The report indicates four council members have returned all their tickets - Gasparini, Caldarelli, Joscelyne Landry-Altmann (Ward 12) and Mayor John Rodriguez.

"While the practice of providing tickets to city councillors is not unusual and has occurred in the past, the community response has been very clear," Mieto said in a news release.

"Like the public, the city was very excited about the pending concert. We believe that the return of 71 tickets was a good first step in resolving the situation, and we will be developing a policy for future ticket access for events, which will be presented to city council next month," he said.

The city is making "an effort to provide transparent information," the release stated.

However, city officials have yet to explain new discrepancies in ticket information that came to light this week.

For example, city council and administrators had maintained for nearly two weeks that council had been given access to 104 tickets.

But this week it was revealed that council had received a total of 120 tickets.

While no explanation was provided, the city stated in its news release Friday that "this discrepancy points to the need in creating a formal policy for Sudbury Arena event tickets."

As well, the city reported Friday that 223 tickets for Sunday's concert were set aside for club seat holders, whereas for the previous two weeks that number had been reported as 192 tickets. No explanation was provided for that discrepancy.

Earlier this week, The Star also reported that city administrators - with council's knowledge - were secretly investigating the possibility of creating an arms-length private corporation to operate Sudbury Community Arena.

Under such an arrangement, "all matters would be private" and the public would no longer have access to ticket information from the arena, Mieto told council in a private e-mail.

The city responded to public criticism of the arena privatization proposal in its news release Friday.

"The city has established a practice of moving business units to private corporations," the release stated, referring to the city's airport, hydro utility and public housing corporation.

"In the event the city was to consider privatizing the Sudbury Arena, the change would be presented at council and publicly debated," the release said.

[e-mail]

come and gone

A breakdown of Elton John concert ticket purchases and returns by Greater Sudbury city council, as provided Friday by the city:

Mayor John Rodriguez: purchased 11, returned 11;

Joe Cimino (Ward 1): purchased 11, returned 7;

Jacques Barbeau (Ward 2): purchased 13, returned 9;

Claude Berthiaume (Ward 3): purchased 7, returned 2;

Evelyn Dutrisac (Ward 4): purchased 13, returned 2;

Ron Dupuis (Ward 5): purchased 8, returned 5;

Andr‚ Rivest (Ward 6): purchased 2, returned 0;

Russ Thompson (Ward 7): purchased 8, returned 3;

Ted Callaghan (Ward 8): purchased 10, returned 5;*

Doug Craig (Ward 9): purchased 10, returned 0;*

Frances Caldarelli (Ward 10): purchased 8, returned 8;

Janet Gasparini (Ward 11): purchased 22, returned 19, sold 3 to Dutrisac;

Joscelyne Landry-Altmann (Ward 12): purchased 3, returned 3;

* Out of country during return period.

[Max]

City's ticket policy faces delay; Senior staff was also given early access to tickets for major events (comment on this story)

Posted By Denis St. Pierre
Updated 20 hours ago

A city council policy on access to Sudbury Arena tickets will not be ready for debate this month, as initially planned.

Mayor John Rodriguez announced last month, at the height of the Elton John ticket fiasco, that a policy governing access to tickets would be presented to city council this month.

However, there has been a delay in getting a policy document prepared for council and the debate will not happen until April, at the earliest, the city says. That could mean a formal policy may not be adopted officially until May.

When it does come before council, the ticket policy will address the issue of preferential access to Sudbury Arena tickets not only for the politicians, but also for municipal staff, a city spokesman said this week. The comment was made in response to an inquiry from The Sudbury Star, after The Star learned senior staff also have been granted preferential access to tickets for major events recently.

In particular, The Star learned that dozens of tickets were set aside in advance for city managers for one of the two sold-out Michael Buble performances at Sudbury Arena in January.

There had been an arrangement for "corporate" purchases of advance tickets for the subsequent Elton John concert on March 2, but those tickets ultimately were returned to the promoter, city spokesman Ghislain Lamothe said.

City managers who were granted advance access to tickets for the Buble concert included the municipality's three most senior administrators - chief administrative officer Mark Mieto (two tickets) and general managers Catherine Matheson (two tickets) and Doug Nadorozny (four tickets). Other managers were able to access between two and nine tickets each.

Three city councillors also availed themselves of advance ticket purchases - Ward 2 Coun. Jacques Barbeau (10 tickets), Ward 9 Coun. Doug Craig (eight tickets) and Ward 11 Coun. Janet Gasparini (four tickets).

The advance ticket sales reflected a practice, although not a policy, that had been in effect at city hall for some time, Lamothe said.

"As disclosed in previous statements, the city had the practice of providing advance sales. However, due to community response, the city will be developing a policy for future ticket access for events, which will be presented to city council in the coming weeks," he said.

Rodriguez said last month a policy on ticket access was clearly needed, in light of the blistering public reaction to council jumping the queue and buying 120 tickets for the Elton John concert. "We must have an open and transparent policy to ensure that this type of debacle never happens again," the mayor said at the time.

[Max]

Ticket vote by councillors could be Wednesday night

Date Published | Apr. 8, 2008


City council was split when they tried to decide on an event ticket policy last week. The decision was whether to vote for no advance purchase of event tickets for city arena staff and councillors or a two ticket limit. Staff is researching new options but the issue could be brought up again at Wednesday's city council meeting.

BY BILL BRADLEY

The event ticket issue, which is the talk of the town, could be settled Wednesday night at the next city council meeting, 7 pm at Tom Davies Square.

City councillors could bring back the vote on whether to allow themselves and city arena staff prior access to purchasing two tickets or zero tickets.

That would happen early during discussion of the bylaws and minutes from past meetings of other committees, specifically from the 26th Meeting of the Priorities Committee of the City of Greater Sudbury, page M27 of the agenda for the Wednesday council meeting.

Staff had recommended two options: no advance purchase by councillors and arena staff or a two ticket limit. The matter was hotly debated with much emotion. Ward 6 Councillor Andre Rivest put a motion forward for a citizen's committee to decide the best policy. That was defeated. Ward 8 Councillor Ted Callaghan argued for a policy whereby only arena staff had prior purchase rights for two tickets. That was defeated.

Mayor John Rodriguez argued that council had to make a decision. A vote was held regarding allowing arena staff and councillors the option of buying two tickets each. The vote was tied.

Those who voted for no advance ticket sales to arena staff or councillors were: Ward 1 Councillor Joe Cimino, Ward 8 Councillor Ted Callaghan, Ward 3 Councillor Claude Berthiaume, Ward 5 Councillor Ron Dupuis, Ward 4 Councillor Evelyn Dutrisac, and Ward 7 Councillor Russ Thompson. Ward 9 Councillor Doug Craig was absent.

Any councillor can ask for the ticket matter to be brought back up for discussion, and a new vote held. A majority of one vote means the issue is settled.

Because no policy has been decided, no arena staff or councillors can purchase any event tickets in advance of the public, including Avril Lavigne's, said Ray Mensour, Sudbury Arena manager Monday.

Meanwhile the ticket issue is causing tension in the city.

City councillors, city staff and their families said they are facing harassment by emails and phone calls over the Elton John ticket controversy last week at the priorities meeting.

“This has been a bad time personally for me to be dragged into this. My father passed away in January. It was bad enough to get nasty emails and calls, but when they left nasty messages on my deceased father's phone line, I have to say here in this meeting, that was despicable,” said Thompson.

“What is this all about? No one did anything wrong. We paid for our tickets. This is a major injustice. I got so much harassment from the media I considered getting a lawyer. Someone is trying to make a name for himself at our expense. If I go to any event I will buy a ticket just like anybody else. I vote for selling no advance tickets to anyone, period, but we will be dammed by the media for whatever we decide,” he said.

Ward 5 Councillor Ron Dupuis said he has been surprised by the fact people are putting such as dark cloud over them.

“I think of the good decisions we have made. Yet the only thing they can hang us for are freaking tickets we paid for. It is upsetting what is happening in this city. What big name acts would want to come here after all this negativity?”

Mayor John Rodriguez said he was concerned by the treatment of his council by their very emotional comments last Wednesday night. He reiterated that he had made a mistake and had apologized to the community.

One local businessman with decades of public relations background, and who declined to give his name, offered the following advice:

“Look I don't usually give out free advice in my business. But here it is. No tickets for arena staff. If they are working the event they get in, free. As for the city council, if the promoter really wants city politicians, then he or she calls the city and requests the mayor and or the deputy mayor to be present. Do you really think Avril Lavigne wants a bunch of city councillors at her concert?”

[Max]

Councillors still don't get it; Elected officials continue to contend they've been treated unfairly - column by Denis St. Pierre (add your comment)

Posted By Denis St. Pierre
Updated 6 hours ago

So let's see if we've got this straight. Our mayor and city councillors complain ad nauseum about media coverage, suggesting they and their administration have mishandled and prolonged an arena ticketing controversy they should have resolved weeks ago.

At the height of the fiasco, the city's top administrators make the secret, unilateral decision to spend thousands of taxpayers' dollars to hire public relations experts from Toronto to tell them how to deal with the problem.

That doesn't seem to have been working out too well as council meets last Wednesday and confronts yet another opportunity to move forward, only to drop the ball once again. Unable to make a rather simple decision on an arena ticket policy, mayor and council opt instead for a tag-team, public rant on ... the very issue they supposedly want to put to rest.

In the process, our municipal leaders attack and attempt to intimidate the news media, insult voters, trivialize issues, utter misleading (if not false) statements and sprinkle it all with a good dose of arrogance.

As this extraordinary council performance unfolds, a sense of the surreal overcomes some reporters and many of the taxpayers watching the live broadcast at home.

Is this the public-relations strategy taxpayers unwillingly purchased for city council and its senior administration? If so, we kinda got ripped off, folks. If not, after last week's disaster city council might want to tell taxpayers precisely what they received for the thousands spent on those P.R. experts from the Big Smoke.

Until now, the city has been quite vague about the services received for the $14,000 taxpayers spent on public relations and law firms that were hired for damage control on the arena ticket fiasco.

So to help things along, The Star has made a formal request for that information, asking for a full accounting and explanation of what taxpayers got for their money.

Meanwhile, some politicians have suggested they were unfairly, even inaccurately portrayed in an embarrassing light by news reports on their group rant against the media and The Star in particular.

So in the interest of fairness and accuracy, The Star poured over the recorded broadcast of last week's council meeting and transcribed the eloquent and insightful comments made by our municipal worthies.

For the record, here's a more complete version of what was reported in The Star last week (and we're not making up any of this, folks):

Councillor after councillor insisted they "did nothing wrong," they did not try to deceive anyone, nor did they try to withhold any information from the public. They ignore the fact that half of the 12 councillors refused for weeks to divulge even the simplest of information that they were legally obliged to make public - how many Elton John concert tickets they bought in advance by jumping the public queue. It was only after taxpayers spent thousands on outside legal advice that these councillors were forced to reveal this basic information. But according to our politicians, there's nothing wrong with that, no lack of transparency or accountability here.

Ward 1 Coun. Joe Cimino says he only withheld his ticket information from the news media, not constituents. If any of the city's 150,000-plus residents want that information, they had to call him personally, Cimino says.

Rather than allow the media to disseminate that information, Cimino says in an interview, "I like to be the centre, the focus of information dispersal, if you will;"

Mayor John Rodriguez commiserates with his councillors for having to deal with public responses that "have literally accused them of murder, practically;"

Ward 5 Coun. Ron Dupuis accuses the news media of trying to "hang us," takes particular aim at The Sudbury Star for its coverage and adds a shot at the newspaper's readers for good measure.

"This is the most ridiculous thing," Dupuis says of the controversy. "It doesn't really matter. I mean, the 50 people who read a certain paper are probably those that don't vote."

Dupuis raises the now-discredited fear that the city will lose out on future, big-name concerts, apparently oblivious to statements to the contrary from the country's largest concert promoter.

"If I'm a promoter, do I want to bring big acts to Sudbury, knowing you're not going to be well-received - not by council, but by the media? I mean, it's sick," Dupuis says, one day after the announcement that superstar Avril Lavigne is coming to town.

Asked later about his comment that The Star's readers don't vote, Dupuis response, "That's not what I said;"

Ward 7 Coun. Russ Thompson, adding his voice to the "this council did nothing wrong" chorus, basically blames the controversy on a single reporter "trying to make a name for themselves." He also reiterates the controversy was particularly stressful for him because his elderly father died the month before the issue arose.

As for angry taxpayers who are still upset at council, "people need to think and really need to give their heads a shake," Thompson says;

Ward 10 Coun. Frances Caldarelli condemns a city source for leaking e-mail correspondence to The Star, revealing embarrassing communication among councillors and senior city staff.

The leak was the worst aspect of the entire controversy and council has to "find out" who the whistleblower is at city hall.

Caldarelli later rejects The Star's inference that she wants the source of the leak to be discovered and punished, even though she accuses the whistleblower of committing "something very close to criminal" and of rendering council's e-mail system unusable;

Ward 11 Coun. Janet Gasparini does indeed say she's too busy to try to get concert tickets the same way everyone else does and that if council gives up its perk of jumping the queue, it will be a false admission that "we really were wrong in the first place.' "

Council should not be expected to vie with the general public for tickets to exclusive, sold-out events at Sudbury Community Arena, Gasparini says.

"There's a good chance we won't show up at the (exclusive) concert if we don't have tickets in advance because, I don't know about the rest of you, but I could not spend five minutes on the Internet during the day, trying to wait and buy a ticket, because I don't have five minutes (in the) day. Anybody who wants to follow me for the 16 hours a day that I work is welcome to do it."

To be fair, a few councillors either resisted the urge to either attack news reporters, claim there was no wrongdoing whatsoever, and lay claim to the moral high ground, as they see it.

They included Ted Callaghan, Andr‚ Rivest, Claude Berthiaume and Joscelyne Landry-Altmann.

Didn't they get the expert P.R. advice?

[Max]

Just last week the bus driver was in favour of his perk policy and now this wee he votes against it.

Do you think some outside forces may've had something to do with his decision to vote no?

[aaa11]

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