Thousands of Sir Elton John fans were shut out in the skirmish to snatch up tickets for his March 3 concert at the Kitchener Auditorium. The tickets sold out in less than an hour causing many fans to be literally left out in the cold after having lined up for hours in the freezing temperatures for the privilege of paying $137.25 each - had they actually made it to the ticket booth.
On the other hand, if you were privileged enough to belong to Kitchener City Council, you got yours FREE, with an option to buy extra tickets from a special reserve. (Record - Couldn't get a ticket to see Sir Elton?)
A similar ruckus developed in Sudbury, where city councillors were given a jump start on a batch of reserve tickets, but they actually paid for theirs.
Kitchener Mayor Carl Zehr justifies the situation by pointing to standard Aud practice. The Record article quotes the Aud's general manager, Kim Kugler as stating that this is a routine matter - that councillors are always invited to Aud events and given free tickets:
"We always encourage them to come," Kugler said.
No complimentary tickets were made available from the promoter of the Elton John show.
So the Aud had to buy the tickets that were given to councillors. The Aud is a city-owned, tax-supported facility.
"In every community, there is a need to take care of some community sponsors and leaders," Kugler said.
I would respectfully submit that a Kitchener Rangers game is not quite on the same level as an Elton John concert, no matter how well our team is doing.
In any case, the double-whammy here for anyone who tried to get tickets and was shut out just before reaching that magic window, is that they will not only be missing the concert, but will be also subsidizing the City Council members' freebies through their taxes.
I guess that's why they call it the blues.
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Update: Jeff Allan covered this story this morning. I'm going to append some of the highlights over the course of the day.
Mayor Carl Zehr was interviewed and offered the following statement (plus or minus a few ums and ahs):
One caller said that the practice is corrupt, and that councillors should pay for their own tickets. There isn't enough money for important things like fixing the potholes and getting rid of ice-ruts that are ruining our cars.
More from CTV where Carl Zehr was interviewed on Canada AM.
Starbursidereus - Free Elton for everyone!
Mayor Carl Zehr was interviewed and offered the following statement (plus or minus a few ums and ahs):
"...the attention that's being given to all of this, uh, I'm having a little ... er, difficulty in understanding it in terms of how it relates to the overall workings of the city."(Translation: Don't bother me with these petty details)
(Translation: I am entitled to my entitlements)
We are making available tickets to those people who have business relationships with the Auditorium. I think that is fairy normal practice...
One caller said that the practice is corrupt, and that councillors should pay for their own tickets. There isn't enough money for important things like fixing the potholes and getting rid of ice-ruts that are ruining our cars.
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More from CTV where Carl Zehr was interviewed on Canada AM.
Starbursidereus - Free Elton for everyone!
