If you're still smarting over your failure to snag Elton John tickets for his Sudbury concerts, you may want to give your friendly neighbourhood city councillor a call. He or she may have a couple to spare.

The Star has learned more than 100 tickets for the once-in-a-lifetime concert at Sudbury Community Arena were made available to council members before they went on sale to the general public.

The mayor and each councillor had the opportunity to purchase up to eight tickets apiece, The Star confirmed on February 8, 2008, ending rumours of such an arrangement that had been circulating for days. An undetermined number of tickets also were made available to others, although details of those arrangements have yet to be confirmed.

With 13 members on city council, that means 104 tickets for the March 2, 2008 Elton John concert were made available to the politicians. If a councillor opted not to buy all the tickets at his/her disposal, the remaining tickets were offered for purchase to other councillors, which means some politicians were able to buy more than eight.

Public buyers were limited to a maximum of six tickets each when they officially went on sale on the morning of February 1, 2008. More than 6,000 tickets sold out within 45 minutes, the city reported at the time. The vast majority of tickets were purchased via the city's website, while a few lucky people who lined up outside the arena were able to buy a small number. The city reported its website received one million hits during the ticket-buying frenzy.

The Star attempted to contact all 13 council members about their concert ticket purchases, but only Mayor John Rodriguez and three councillors replied.

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