From Jim Metrock:

I sent this to each of the BCS 15.  I didn’t want to publish this until they had a chance to respond.  Guess what? No one has.

I think the BCS 15 thinks this issue will go away.

It won’t.

These guys and Mrs. McClurkin really, really should publicly apologize.  This is a stink that won’t wash off.  Even an apology won’t help that much, but it will a little.

In the Birmingham News  January 19, 2011

Fifteen apologies from the BCS 15? Don’t hold your breath. People who have the gall to use their public office to personally enrich themselves and their friends probably are not inclined to say “I’m sorry.”

The BCS 15 are the 15 public servants who called Auburn University lobbyist Sherri Fulford and got BCS National Championship tickets for face value ($300 or $325): Daniel Boman, DuWayne Bridges, Gerald Dial, Chad Fincher, Craig Ford, Richard Lindsey, Jay Love, Mary Sue McClurkin, Mac McCutcheon, Barry Moore, Joe Morton, Marc Reynolds, Clay Scofield, Jabo Waggoner and Tom Whatley.

Remember them.

Jim Metrock

Obligation Inc.

Birmingham

Think the ‘BCS 15′ are bad? Think again

by Josh Moon

January 16, 2011

We have a few problems around this state.

We’re essentially broke, with a large budget shortfall. Our schools, while improving, are still well below average. And the health of the state’s citizens would be considered average only in a Third World country.

On top of all of that, we just learned that numerous state lawmakers have been accused of participating in a bribery scandal in which investigators have recorded hours of conver sations that they allege will prove electronic bingo hall owners, through their reps, bought votes for bingo-friendly legislation.

I point all of this out because it has become painfully obvious that very few people care about any of it. People see the reports in the newspaper or on TV, sigh, and move on to something happier.

That is, until last week when a group of 13 state lawmakers, including Montgomery’s Jay Love, and two state officials fi nally stepped over the line by purchasing BCS National Championship Game tickets at face value through Auburn University.

And now it’s on.

You can rob people and misuse their money around here. You can take extravagant trips and have your votes blatantly purchased by special interest groups and corporations. You can live a lavish lifestyle on lobbyists’ credit cards and have a deplorable attendance mark.

But don’t you dare go messing with our football tickets.

As Auburn fans scrambled to scrape up enough cash to pay ridiculous prices at online tick et sites (tickets averaged $2,000 each), the university was dish ing out 56 tickets to 11 Republi cans, two Democrats, the dep uty director of the state’s retirement system and the state school superintendent. Most in that group were not season ticket holders at Auburn. The university limited its ticket sales to season ticket holders and longtime donors. Students were forced to enter a lottery in which they “won” the right to buy the seats.

The lawmakers, dubbed by activist and businessman Jim Metrock as the “BCS 15,” were allowed to buy their tickets for between $300 and $325 — the face value of the tickets.

Full story at: http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20110116/COLUMNISTS17/101160339/Think-the-BCS-15-are-bad-Think-again

Note from Jim Metrock:  I think virtually every Alabamian I have talked to this past year would agree with Mr. Moon. Cut out everything, not just football tickets.

When I decided to take my project on I knew legislators and other public officials received lots of other things, but I knew everybody knew Iron Bowl tickets.  It was symbolic.

My project hasn’t had the success I hoped for, but it has generated some discussion across our great state and that has to be helpful.

Editorial: Ticket fever

By Dothan Eagle editorial
Published: January 11, 2011

“But several lawmakers took advantage of the offer of tickets at “face value” – the per-seat “ family” price offered to high-dollar university boosters. Perhaps they convinced themselves that paying for something of value removes any perception that they’re exploiting their public office for personal gain. They would be wrong.”

Some call it loyalty, team spirit and dedication. Others call it lunacy.

Whatever the label, the scramble for tickets to see the Auburn Tigers and the Oregon Ducks in the BCS championship game in Glendale, Ariz., certainly stirred up the economy. A representative for Stub Hub, the online ticket marketplace, told the Birmingham News that the game had unseated Game 5 of the 2010 World Series as its No. 1 sporting event. Last week, it was the hottest thing going.

That’s why we’re puzzled to learn that several state elected officials were given the opportunity to buy tickets to the championship game from Auburn University at “face value.”

The cost of these tickets are relatively fluid, but were available to boosters at relatively low prices depending on their level of financial support to the university. These tickets could be obtained for about $300. Students who were fortunate enough to win the opportunity to purchase one of 1,500 available to the student body would pay $200.

For anyone else, the sky was the limit.

Stub Hub told the News that the most it had been paid for a single ticket was $9,446. But that was last Thursday, and the marketplace likely changed drastically between then and kickoff Monday. Late last week, some outlets were contacting customers offering to buy back tickets for what they paid for them, along with a $2,000 per ticket bonus. At least one buyer has filed a lawsuit, contending that a ticket brokerstiffed him after he’d paid $750 each for tickets, refunding his money with the explanation that a supply of seats did not come through. The buyer contends that the broker was later selling tickets for as much as $11,000 each.

If one considers that the marketplace dictates a thing’s worth, then the skyrocketing value of a seat inUniversity of Phoenix stadium for Monday’s game speaks volumes about financial priorities and the allure of college football.

Where our elected officials are concerned, it also underscores the disingenuity of “buying” tickets to appear ethical.

Full story at: http://www2.dothaneagle.com/news/2011/jan/11/editorial-ticket-fever-ar-1328771/

Advertiser Editorial: Special ticket access wrong

JANUARY 14, 2011

All Auburn fans who had to shell out a thousand bucks or more for a ticket to the BCS national championship game and all fans who couldn’t get tickets at any price are justified in being upset with elected officials who used their positions to get access to tickets at face value from the university.

According to The Huntsville Times, 15 legislators — including one from Montgomery — bought tickets for $300 or $325 directly from Auburn University. Street value for the tickets ranged from $1,200 to $4,000 each.

But the real problem is that every elected official who took advantage of their office to get access to tickets essentially kept a student or a season ticket holder from getting a ticket, since demand far exceeded the number of tickets available.

The legislators who purchased tickets through the university’s governmental affairs office were Rep. Jay Love, R-Montgomery; Rep. Mac McCutheon, R-Capshaw; Sen. Clay Scofield, R-Arab; Sen. Jabo Waggoner, R-Vestavia Hills; Sen. Gerald Dial, R-Lineville; Sen. Tom Whatley, R-Opelika; Rep. Daniel Boman, R-Sulligent; Rep. Mary Sue McClurkin, R-Indian Springs; Rep. Barry Moore, R-Enterprise; Rep. DuWayne Bridges, R-Valley; Rep. Chad Fincher, R-Semmes; Rep. Richard Lindsey, D-Centre; and Rep. Craig Ford, D-Gadsden.

Some other state officials also bought tickets, but because legislators control the amount of state money that flows to public universities it is especially problematic for them to seek special treatment.

Readers should note that as long as lawmakers pay face value for the tickets, they are not violating the state ethics law. (Of course, if they scalp those tickets for a profit they clearly would be in violation of the law. But no one has suggested that has happened.)

However, just because it’s legal doesn’t make it right.

It’s probably not worth it to change the ethics law to make this illegal, but the universities definitely need to revisit their policies. The practice of providing special access to highly prized tickets to elected officials is not only horrible public relations for the officials, but it is horrible for relations between the universities and their fans.

In the meantime, the news media has the best chance of keeping this practice in check by publicizing it every time an elected official gets special access to Iron Bowl or other highly sought tickets.

EDITORIAL:  Ticket perks for the privileged

January 14, 2011

By John Peck, The Huntsville Times

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. _ Unless you’ve been on Mars, everyone knows how scarce tickets were to Monday’s BCS national title game between Auburn and Oregon.

Tickets were available, but at a very premium price. Even nosebleed seats were $1,500 apiece. Other tickets rose to $4,000 and $5,000 in the final days, with some prime seats going for more than $10,000.

Not if you were an Alabama legislator. Auburn made special allowances for state lawmakers to buy tickets at face value of $300 to $325 a piece. Thirteen legislators and two state employees took advantage of this perk, including two Madison County lawmakers.

State Sen. Clay Scofield, R-Arab, and Rep. Mac McCutcheon, R-Capshaw, each purchased four tickets under a special arrangement that put public officials on a ticket priority list.

Was it illegal? No. Was it ethical for lawmakers to take advantage of it? It certainly doesn’t seem to be in keeping with the spirit of the state’s new ethics laws.

Scofield, a third generation farmer and a 2003 graduate of Auburn University, said he would have gotten tickets no matter what since his family has been a longtime supporter of the university, including the donation of vehicles through his family’s auto business.

Well, then why didn’t he just use those family connections? The priority list went mostly by the level of donor giving. The majority of ticket-seekers entered a lottery or had to resort to the open market, which charged astronomical prices.

Scofield, instead, purchased his tickets through Auburn Governmental Affairs Director Sherri Fulford, who lobbies the Legislature for Auburn’s interests.

McCutcheon, an Auburn alumni and a Planning Department employee for the City of Huntsville, also used his status as a legislator to get four tickets through the university at face value. McCutcheon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the issue.

The paradox to all this is that legislators, with support from Scofield and McCutcheon, overwhelmingly approved a tough package of ethics and campaign finance reform bills just last month designed to end special interest influence-peddling in Montgomery.

If lawmakers use their position to get special privileges for athletic tickets, what’s to say they won’t accept other favors from interests they regulate and approve budgets for?

Jim Metrock, a Birmingham charity activist who has crusaded against football tickets for public officials, called the bargain ticket solicitation a “shakedown.”

“There is an open, implied threat when a legislator, who votes on Auburn funding, asks Auburn for expensive tickets. ‘You don’t want to make me mad, do you?’ is what was unsaid but communicated,” Metrock told The Times Thursday.

May they all use better judgment next time.

All quotes from the Huntsville Times.  http://blog.al.com/breaking/2011/01/some_legislators_state_officia.html

Rep. Daniel Boman

Rep. DuWayne Bridges

Sen. Gerald Dial

Rep. Chad Fincher

Rep. Craig Ford

Ford: “I know they offered tickets to other people who were not legislators.”
“I could have found tickets. If she (Fulford) had given me something as a deal, I would not have accepted it.”

Rep. Richard Lindsey

Rep. Jay Love

Rep. Mary Sue McClurkin

Rep. Mac McCutcheon

Rep. Barry Moore

Dr. Joe Morton

Morton:  ”I never asked Auburn for free tickets and Auburn never offered me free tickets.”
“I was able  to purchase two tickets for the friends and did so.”

Marc Reynolds - no photo available

Reynolds: “If they had said no, I would have said ‘thank you for trying.’”
“I never saw anything wrong with it. All you can do is ask and they can say no.”

Sen. Clay Scofield

Scofield: “We’ve been there for three generations, we’ve been big supporters of the university financially for a long time.”
“I would have gotten tickets one way or another.”
“We did not get anything free. We paid the full price just like everyone else did.”

Sen. Jabo Waggoner

Sen. Tom Whatley

Some legislators, state officials got special treatment from Auburn on BCS bowl tickets

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

By Bob Lowry, The Huntsville Times

MONTGOMERY – In what ticket resellers called the highest priced college football ticket ever, 13 Alabama legislators and two state officials were given special access to buy multiple tickets to the BCS national title game at face value from Auburn University.

Two of the legislators – Rep. Mac McCutcheon, R-Capshaw, and freshman Sen. Clay Scofield, R-Arab, – represent Madison County. Each got four tickets, which carried a face value of between $300 and $325.

Advertised prices the week before the game started at $1,500 for nosebleed seats and rose to $4,000 to $5,000. StubHub listed two first-row club seats for $15,000 each.

According to a list provided Wednesday by Auburn, other legislators who got tickets through Auburn and the number they purchased were:

Sen. Jabo Waggoner, R-Vestavia Hills (four), the Senate majority leader; Sen. Gerald Dial, R-Lineville (four); Sen. Tom Whatley, R-Opelika (four); Rep. Daniel Boman, R-Sulligent (four);

Rep. Jay Love, R-Montgomery (four); Rep. Mary Sue McClurkin, R-Indian Springs (four); Rep. Barry Moore, R-Enterprise (four); Rep. DuWayne Bridges, R-Valley (four); Rep. Chad Fincher, R-Semmes (four);Rep. Craig Ford, D-Gadsden (two); and Rep. Richard Lindsey, D-Centre (four).

Full story: http://blog.al.com/breaking/2011/01/some_legislators_state_officia.html

Published: Thursday, January 06, 2011
By Bob Lowry, The Huntsville Times

MONTGOMERY – Twenty-six state legislators, including Sen. Paul Sanford, R-Huntsville, and Sen. Shadrack McGill, R-Woodville, were given special access to buy tickets to the Southeastern Conference Championship game at face value.

The general public, and many long-time Auburn University season-ticket holders weren’t able to buy tickets to the Dec. 4 game between Auburn and South Carolina because of the limited allotment.

Three other state officials were included on a list provided Wednesday by Auburn.
As many as 15 legislators and state officials were also permitted to buy tickets at face value to Monday’s BCS National Championship game in Glendale, Ariz., between Auburn and Oregon, Auburn spokesman Mike Clardy said.

He said Gov. Bob Riley, as president of the Auburn board of trustees, was sent a form to purchase tickets to the SEC game through the Auburn Athletic Department.

But Clardy said Wednesday he didn’t have a list of the names those who purchased BCS tickets because the school’s office of governmental affairs didn’t handle the ticket deliveries, and the tickets would be picked up at the game’s site in Glendale, Ariz.

Full Story at http://blog.al.com/breaking/2011/01/legislators_get_special_access.html

Published: Friday, January 07, 2011

By Birmingham News editorial board

Trying to defend Cam Newton might be easier than defending Auburn’s ticket policy when it comes to Alabama lawmakers.

At least the Alabama Crimson Tide shut down the Heisman Trophy winner for a half before he led Auburn to a comeback victory for the ages in the most recent Iron Bowl. There’s no defending a ticket policy that gave lawmakers — who vote on Auburn’s state funding every year — special access to tickets to the Dec. 4 SEC Championship game and Monday’s BCS National Championship game.

Twenty-six lawmakers and three other state officials bought tickets to the SEC Championship game at face value, even as many longtime season-ticket holders and the general public had no chance to buy tickets because of Auburn’s limited allotment. As many as 15 lawmakers and state officials also were permitted to buy tickets at face value to the national championship game, Auburn spokesman Mike Clardy told The Huntsville Times.

For those of you who thought the new Republican majority in the Legislature might be different from some of the ethics-challenged Democrats, it is worth noting that 23 of the 26 lawmakers who got SEC Championship game tickets are Republicans. Auburn did not have a list of the 15 officials who bought tickets to the national championship game.

And the school’s justification for the special access?

Full story at: http://blog.al.com/birmingham-news-commentary/2011/01/our_view_try_as_it_might_aubur.html