The City of Miami Mayor is
pushing a new city policy that would let event promoters for municipal venues
distribute their freebie tickets to charities and the public on their own. The
mayor, city manager and commissioners could request complimentary tickets, but
only to use while conducting city business. See Miami Herald, June 24, 2012, Miami to clamp down on freebie event tickets flowing to City Hall
Miami-Dade County officials
have been revamping policies, in part, based upon county ethics commission guidelines
regarding gift tickets. The guidelines advise elected officials to get out of
the business of distributing to the public complimentary tickets that flow
through their offices. The goal is to avoid the use of tickets to curry favor
with constituents. See: Miami-Dade commissioners criticize new ethics rules on tickets, March 6, 2012, By
Patricia Mazzei and Martha Brannigan
The Miami-Dade Commission
on Ethics and Public Trust has taken issue with the use of free tickets and has
been pushing for stronger ethics rules regarding complimentary tickets. See: Miami-Dade
ethics report rips ticket freebies, by David Smiley (2/21/2012). Joseph Centorino, executive director of the
ethics commission, was quoted as saying that “…even if the ethics commission adopts a ticket policy, municipalities
aren’t necessarily required to pass their own versions. But elected officials
could still face penalties if investigators find they violated the ethics
commission’s rules.”
CLICK HERE to read the full
Miami-Dade Commission
on Ethics and Public Trust report. You can CLICK HERE to read the
addendum relating to “official function”
Said Centorino: “We’re putting people on notice.”
Well Palmetto Bay's Howard Tendrich has heard you loud and clear, but the message appears to be missed by the remainder of this current Village Council.
Tickets have ranged from
receipt of free tickets and parking to the entire Sony Ericsson tennis
tournament to much lower value events such as in Palmetto Bay, where the only
tickets I am aware of have been as a result of sponsorship agreements with The
Deering Estate and the Cutler Bay Fireworks.
Where has Palmetto Bay been
on this recent issue?
Current Palmetto Bay
Councilmember Howard Tendrich, known as the current ethics watchdog on the
council, has attempted to create more stringent policy in regard to freebie
tickets. Unfortunately for residents, he has not had any support for to
establish a policy consistent with the recommendations of the Ethics Commission
I asked Councilman Tendrich
for comment. Here is his reply:
“I
think the Council should not take tickets because the dollars given by the
Village are village dollars given by the residents. The tickets should not be given to council
members to distribute because then it becomes a political toy.”
The Deering Tickets have not been an issue for
some Palmetto Bay council members who are paid members of the Deering Estate
Foundation (including myself, while in office and continuing membership to this
day) where admission to the events such as the Seafood Festival are free for
paid Deering Estate members. Of course,
past council members like Paul Neidhart and current Councilmember Howard
Tendrich are too busy actually working as volunteers at the events to attend as
guests under free passes.
Are there free tickets this
year? If so, how are they being distributed?
No mention is made as to
whether there are any tickets provided this year and, if so, if any of the
tickets are available to the general Palmetto Bay resident. At least in the past, 10 tickets were/are
made available for this event.
The controversy concerning
Miami-Dade County and the City of Miami have revolved about the use, that commissioners
have in the past given the tickets to “friends” and “other important people.”
The rules are different now.
What is the perception?
“The perception was that we
were getting fringe benefits, and that the tickets were not being used to the
benefit of the public,” said Miami Commissioner Frank Carollo, who has pushed
for tougher standards on freebies.
The Miami-Dade Commission
on Ethics and Public Trust has prepared reports that have blasted other
municipalities concluding that elected officials should play no role in
divvying up complimentary tickets. In addition, it said public officials should
use free tickets only when hosting dignitaries, visitors or community groups,
or participating in public introductions or presentations.
