It is the season for Arizona mayors to give their annual “State of the City” speeches, but some people who want to attend are being charged admission fees.
Some mayors will be giving the speeches at hotel events sponsored by local chambers of commerce, and some people will be charged for a meal. It will cost up to $90 to rub elbows with Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton during his luncheon speech next month. In Glendale, tickets for next week’s speech and dinner are going for $70, and Nogales is charging some citizens $15. Some people are complaining about the fee.
Ken Strobeck is director of the League of Arizona Cities and Towns. He said there is still room for anyone who wants to attend for free.
"I have observed that there are seats available in the room for people who didn’t pay for those events who expressed interest in wanting to hear whatever the mayor was having to say so there was space available for them to come even if they weren’t paying for a seat,” Strobeck said.
Some cities like Phoenix are also broadcasting and/or streaming the speeches for free online.
Updated 2/19/2014 4:12 p.m.