SAN DIEGO -- The Rolling Stones' concert at Petco Park next week presents a tricky dilemma for top city officials: Do they use the free tickets they've been given to the city's skybox for themselves?

The seats in the city's skybox are among the best at the Petco, where seats in comparable suites are going for hundreds of dollars.

With the city pension fund running a deep deficit and the city making budget cuts, the City Council's perk of free skybox seats has ruffled some feathers. At this point, however, seven of the eight city officials with skybox seats don't plan to occupy them when the Stones hit the stage.

Instead, the city leaders are giving away all but two of the tickets.

It has been years since the Stones played in San Diego, and the demand for tickets to the band's Nov. 11 concert has pushed online resale prices for tickets up as high as $2,000 for penthouse suites. The $160 face-value tickets given to top city officials cover 26 seats in the city's skybox on the Toyota Terrace, where seats in comparable suites are being offered for up to $600.

The city's freebies are granted in the San Diego's ballpark agreement with the Padres. According to longstanding legal opinions, they are not reportable gifts that count against any limit.

"They're considered part of the officials' compensation package, much the same as a parking space would be -- health insurance, retirement benefits, etc.," said Stacey Fulhorst, the executive director of the City Ethics Commission.

Not everybody in San Diego thinks the perk is acceptable, however. More>>>

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Concert Tickets, Sports Tickets, Broadway Tickets, Family Show Tickets

posted by ADMIN @ Sunday, November 06, 2005