Hamilton councillors each accepted 20 tickets to Earth, Wind and Fire concert but were misled by staff: report

When some councillors and the mayor accepted 20 tickets each to an Earth, Wind and Fire concert late last year, they did so after city staff gave them "misleading information" about what they could do with them, the integrity commissioner says.

Technically, elected officials did breach the code of conduct if they distributed tickets to people other than partners or spouses, David Boghosian found. But they had been "lulled into a false sense of security" by senior staff and he is not holding them individually responsible.

His report was at council Wednesday, for information, but it was not discussed.

Boghosian investigated public complaints about eight councillors and the mayor attending the private "VIP Preview Event" at the newly renovated TD Coliseum in November and being allowed to distribute 20 tickets each, as first reported by The Public Record.

Several members of council gave tickets to people who had donated, fundraised or worked on their election campaigns, which is against the code of conduct, the integrity commissioner found.

"All stressed that this was simply coincidental and the recipients were provided tickets because they were active volunteers in their communities," the report says.

Boghosian said he doesn't have any evidence that council members intentionally gave the tickets to people for political reasons but he worries about that being the "perception" in the community.

City bought tickets for $11K

The Oak View Group, the company behind the venue's redevelopment, organized the concert to test the facility, says the report. About 5,000 people attended from companies that did the renovations and corporate sponsors. The city bought 400 tickets for $11,300.

Eighty were distributed to staff, external tourism groups and music industry stakeholders, the report says.

The remaining 320 were given to council members.

When councillors and the mayor inquired with staff, including city manager Marnie Cluckie and tourism director Lisa Abbott, about the ethics of accepting 20 tickets, they were told there were no code of conduct concerns, the report says.

Those staff members, however, hadn't consulted with the city solicitor or the integrity commissioner's office, and neither did members of council, the report says.

Council members were also told the tickets were provided through the city's sponsorship agreement with the venue, implying they weren't directly purchased by the city, the report says. Many councillors were under the impression they were "free" as the dollar amount on the tickets was zero.

Boghosian found that the city actually did buy the 400 tickets for $25 each, contrary to what Abbott told members of council. The tickets were not given to the city as part of an annual $200,000 sponsorship agreement with the coliseum but rather an extra cost.

'Operational readiness event'

The report says Cluckie had "extensive discussions" with human resources about whether staff could accept the tickets. It was determined they could because the tickets had "no real value" and they'd be working — testing the venue and giving feedback through a survey.

The concert was held a few days before the venue officially opened to the public.

"As this was an operational readiness event intended to simulate a near-capacity audience, a substantial number of tickets were required to properly test things like 25 entries, washrooms, seating, crowd flow, accessibility, concessions, and other operational systems," Cluckie said in her response to the integrity commissioner.

But "there was no similar analysis" about council members accepting 20 tickets each to distribute to whoever they wanted, the report says.

Boghosian questioned whether members of council were actually there to work. It was only after he began investigating that the city sent them the feedback survey.

'An important learning moment'

Abbott, the tourism director, told Boghosian it was the Oak View Group's idea to give the tickets to the members of council to distribute.

"She went along with it as the members know their communities and who would most benefit from receiving the tickets," the report says.

In an email statement to CBC, Cluckie said Boghosian's report "is an important learning moment."

She said it was "in the context of the opening of a facility of exceptional scale and significance — a $280-million private-sector investment with major economic, cultural, and city-building impacts."

And, "while staff reviewed the event through the lens of operational readiness, clearer guidance could have been provided to members of council regarding ticket parameters, including whether the matter should have been referred to the Integrity Commissioner for advice."

As for council members who attended, some went on their own while others brought guests, the most being 14, the report says. Many guests were family and friends, and some were children.

"Some members said they considered themselves to be working," the report says, without naming individuals. "One member said they do not even like Earth, Wind and Fire, and would have not attended but for the fact that they considered it their official duty."

Other councillors didn't attend at all and gave tickets to organizations to distribute without their input, which Boghosian said is allowed under the code of conduct.