Goldwater Institute: Glendale missing significant portions of Coyotes deal

The city of Glendale may be working towards an agreement
to keep the Phoenix Coyotes in Glendale, but the city may
be working without all the facts, the Goldwater Institute
said.

“They just voted on a contract they don’t have the
financial justification to explain,” said Starlee Rhoades,
Executive Vice President at the Goldwater Institute on
News/Talk 92.3 KTAR’s Mac & Gaydos Show.

According to Rhoades, Glendale approved a deal that is
missing two critical parts in the written contract.

“We know how much the city of Glendale is going to pay to
the guy who is going to buy the team — [Greg] Jamison —
and his company that’s going to run the arena,” she said.

Rhoades said the contract that the Goldwater Institute
received on Monday refers to several exhibits in the
contract, but some of those exhibits were included with
the contract. Those exhibits have not been shown to
Glendale City Council members either.

One missing exhibit missing is a written budget for
Jobing.com Arena. The other missing exhibit details the
performance standards the arena management company is
supposed to meet, including how many events the company
will bring in, the plan for repairs and maintenance and
other requirements. The other missing exhibit missing is a
written budget for Jobing.com Arena.

According to Rhoades, the lack of these documents is a
breach of the open meeting law and public records law in
Arizona, something a judge agreed with.

“The judge said, ‘I don’t have the legal authority to
block them from voting today, but I agree with you,
Goldwater Institute, that they are violating open meetings
law,'” said Rhoades. “‘They are violating public records
law and they are in violation of court orders to provide
documents to the public and if you come back to me, after
they’ve passed this deal, I will strike it down.'”

The Institute wanted Glendale to delay the vote until the
paperwork was in order, but the city approved the deal on
Friday.

“We said, ‘Hey, do this in a couple of days when you’ve
had a chance to finish these exhibits and get everything
public and give taxpayers the chance to look at the
documents and weigh in,'” said Rhoades. “And that is all
we’re asking for: that people have the chance to be heard.
They rushed this thing to a vote without being ready.”

Rhoades said the deal was rushed by the NHL and rumors
that Jamison’s investors are faltering.

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