CINCINNATI, Ohio -- The practice of giving public employees access to free tickets and luxury suites at the Cincinnati football stadium and baseball park is not a proper government function and should end, the Hamilton County Auditor said.
The personal or political use of county property by city and county officials presents what he calls "a witches' brew of problems," said Auditor Dusty Rhodes.
Many county employees get free use of luxury suites to entertain business leaders, reward foster parents and provide incentives to recycle.
Their use of the county-owned suites stems from a little-known perk allowed under lease agreements with the Reds baseball team and Bengals football team.
The Ohio Ethics Commission has ruled that free tickets to sporting events could, in some cases, "affect the objectivity and independence of judgment" of public officials in dealing with the teams.
County commissioners defend the practice, saying the vast majority of tickets go to worthy causes like foster parents.
Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory has accepted $7,800 worth of free tickets to the Macy's Music Festival at Paul Brown Stadium over the past four years, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Mallory said he attended each festival in his official capacity, giving opening remarks to the crowd and presenting the key to the city to performers.
"I considered it to be city business," Mallory said. "The Macy's Music Festival is a huge deal for the city of Cincinnati. This is an event I've focused on since becoming mayor, and turning it into the premiere event it used to be."
Hamilton County commissioners have given themselves first dibs on buying Reds Opening Day tickets at face value to the county-owned suite at Great American Ball Park. They've sometimes paid for the tickets out of campaign funds and used them to reward campaign volunteers.
In 2008, county taxpayers paid for more than $20,000 worth of concessions, including barbeque, pizza and ice cream, for guests using the suites.
County commissioners who control the suites say they're just trying to make the best use of the county-owned facilities. The county built both stadiums using money from a half-cent sales tax approved by voters in 1996.
Owners' suites are an old practice. The city-owned Riverfront Stadium had a box in center field with 10 seats: one for each City Council member and the city manager.
Hamilton County Commissioner David Pepper said he'd like to adopt a policy for non-Bengals events at Paul Brown Stadium to allow more taxpayers the chance to get free tickets to those events.
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