Orange Commissioner Uribe gave $70,000 in county-provided event tickets to her husband

Orange County Commissioner Mayra Uribe, locked in a tight race for reelection, now faces a controversy that could sting: Her use of county-provided tickets to local concert and sporting events.

She rarely takes those free tickets for herself but instead gives many to her husband’s nonprofit, which sells them. Since 2021, that nonprofit, All Star Dads, has received 534 tickets from Uribe to 109 separate events with a face value of $71,215.29.

Other commissioners also offer nonprofits the chance to use event tickets — which have long been shared with the commission by the venues — but none with such a personal focus.

Uribe said she sees nothing wrong with helping her husband’s nonprofit work. “I’m proud of what he does,” she said.

Uribe also said she believes the focus on her use of the tickets is being driven by her political opponents.

But County Mayor Jerry Demings says the county needs to reexamine its ticket policy, which has no rules regarding nepotism.

“In the very near future, I will seek input from the Board of County Commissioners,” he said in a statement Friday. “Given the details provided, the circumstances create the opportunity to improve our standard operating procedures regarding the use and distribution of Skybox tickets by Orange County. We want to preserve our ability to use the tickets to the best benefit of non-profit agencies in our county.”

Uribe’s use of the events tickets was first reported this week by Florida Politics.

According to the Orlando Sentinel’s analysis, Uribe has given the lion’s share of the tickets to which she is entitled to All Star Dads , the 501c3 organization her husband Kevin Sutton founded to help fathers become better dads and connect with their children.

She says the group sells or auctions off the tickets to benefit the charity.

“I support my husband and all the great work he has done. It’s his passion,” Uribe said in an interview Thursday with the Sentinel. “There’s a lot [of tickets] that go unused and I don’t think it’s wrong to give to help an organization. We give to a lot of organizations.”

“Anyone who asks, I give,” she said.

Sutton’s group started getting tickets from Uribe in 2021, getting just a few dozen that first year.

But by 2023, All Star Dads got 332 tickets to 51 events with a face value of $32,335.72.

By agreement with the City of Orlando, the Orange County Mayor’s Office has a dedicated Skybox in both the Kia Center (formerly the Amway Center) and Camping World Stadium. The mayor’s office receives tickets for most events, though some may be excluded.

Digital tickets are usually divided with four to the mayor’s office and two each to each of the six commissioners, for a total of 16.

According to the agreement, “Typically, the Mayor and Commissioners donate tickets to eligible non-profit organizations.”

If the mayor or commissioner opts to attend an event with freebie tickets, they are required to pay tax on the face value.

According to a spreadsheet obtained from Orange County government through a public records request, All Star Dads has received coveted tickets to sell-out shows by Pink, with a face value of $269.95; comedian Dave Chappelle, with a value of $129.50 each; and Latino stars Enrique Iglesias, Pitbull, and Ricky Martin, valued at $159.95 a piece.

Some of these tickets, of course, are worth much more on the resale market. In early 2022, for example, All Star Dads got two tickets for a show by Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny valued at $164.50 a piece, and offered them for sale on its Facebook page for $350 each.

Commissioners often share tickets with each other, a practice which also has benefitted All Star Dads. On occasion, most often with Orlando Magic games, the group took all 16 tickets the county commission had. That happened for at least ten Magic games since 2021, records show.

While Orange County’s ticket policy allows and even encourages officials to donate ducats to nonprofit leaders, nothing in the policy language limits the number of tickets an organization may receive. Records show commissioners Maribel Gomez-Cordero and Emily Bonilla also gave tickets to All Star Dads.

Uribe said her predecessor on the commission, Pete Clarke, gave tickets to her husband’s charity as well.

Uribe was first elected commissioner in 2018, chosen by District 3 voters to fill the unexpired term of Clarke, who resigned to run for mayor. She won a full, four-year term in 2020, wining nearly 59% of the ballots in a three-way primary. Clarke finished second.

She was the top vote-getter in August’s three-way primary winning 44.7% of the vote. Former commissioner Linda Stewart finished second with 34.7%, about 2,200 votes behind the incumbent. Gus Martinez finished last but has since pledged to back Stewart.

Sentinel staff writer Silas Morgan contributed to this story.

shudak@orlandosentinel.com