City of Glendale Council members vote “YES” by a 5-2 count to extend its agreement with the National Hockey League, and secure the financial mechanisms that are reasonably necessary to satisfy the NHL’s requirements for the Phoenix Coyotes to remain in Glendale during the 2011-12 season. 

Goldwater Institute come away looking silly!  Their attorney even mentioned cupcakes prior to his statement.

(l-r) Councilmember Yvonne Knaack, Barrel District; Councilmember Manny Martinez, Cholla District; Councilmember Phil Lieberman, Cactus District; Mayor Elaine Scruggs; Vice Mayor Steve Frate, Sahuaro District; Councilmember Joyce Clark, Yucca District; and Councilmember Norma Alvarez, Ocotillo District.

Takeaways from City of Glendale Council Meeting: May 10, 2011

The following are some of the people that spoke and my takeaways from their time in front of the Council. Many of the below comments will make a lot more sense when you get a chance to review the meeting official transcript at www.glendaleaz.org.  I apologize in advance for typos and poor grammar.  I wanted to get something posted asap!

Art Lynch: SRJ Government Consultant

• Did a great job breaking down economic impact for the Coyotes and Jobing.com Arena
  Sales tax revenue advantages
  Need additional time to get it right
  Mentioned $500 million direct/indirect economic impact
  Cost of operating arena is fixed, does not change

Phil Lieberman: Councilman-AGAINST

• Bless this guy– he is getting old. He really struggled to speak
  He mentioned $20 million was already budgeted for this season for the Coyotes
  He was concerned with the outstanding debt/balance – somewhere around $240 million.
  Threw out some numbers of money that comes in: $5.1 million of $12.2 million is sales tax and $2.75 per ticket
  Compared Wal-Mart to Westgate in regards to sales tax revenue that goes to debt service
  Expenses may cost city -$25 million plus $12 million
  I finally figured out why he was so against this deal –he needs $30 million to finish his courthouse in his district
  Said in his final remarks – 5-2 yes vote

Bill Daly: Deputy Commissioner

• Committed to Glendale and the community
  Felt the structure for the deal should have worked, but due to the GWI, they made it impossible to make the transaction work
  Need more time
  Some great facts: Ticket sales up; Attendance up; and average gate revenue up –which are better than every other club in the NHL
  AND, season ticket renewal is at an all time high in May at nearly 80%

Don Maloney Phoenix Coyotes General Manager

• He really touted the play of his club -107 points two years ago and 99 last season.
  Used the Nashville Predators as an example of how the Coyotes are going to be both on the ice and off
  Talked about the young talent.

Goldwater Institute: Nick Dranias
Started saying “not bearing cupcakes”
Stated Article 9 Section 7 – too long to write
Mayor Scruggs stopped Dranias two minutes in! Love it! Mayor interrupts and asks if his issue is the extension of this arena management deal or Matthew Hulsizer deal
GWI is now on the record as against the $25 million discussed tonight.
Pointed out that bailing out business is violation of AZ Constitution. But he did not explicitly threaten legal action.
Asked City Council to call the NHL’s bluff
Called NHL desperate to keep a team in the South
Asked council to get breakdown operating expenses

Fans

• Un-believe-able residents and non-residents showing their support
  Goldwater Institute suing a fan’s school district
  Goldwater Institute really looks awful in this mess
  Fans dominated the overall time
  Cupcakes Fiasco!
  Team being used by GWI as political scapegoat
  Intangibles
  Best support: Luke Air Force Base show support for their airmen and women 
  I now know the difference between a Pole Cat and Skunk
  Same guy offers house that he can structure the deal

Ms. Alvarz: Councilwoman-AGAINST

• This could be fixed if we had a buyer to pay full price instead of the city subsidizing
  We should get bids for taking care of stadium (thought it was an arena)
  Wants other mayors in the west valley to split the bills
  We should challenge the GWI if they are wrong, why not?
  She started in January –new on the council, wasn’t at December meeting
  We have needs in the community
  Southside needs money

Ms. Clark: Councilwoman-PRO

• Agrees and disagrees with a lot of Ms. Alvarz points
  Thanks everyone especially with the NHL
  Properties are declining in value. We do not have the capacity to pay back debts on the property bonds –meaning the $25 million can be spent on parks, libraries etc.
  $10 million from Westgate arena/$2 million Northern Crossing pay debts/bonds payment
  Did not like the termination clause with Matthew Hulsizer deal. Originally voted against MH deal
  Putting skin in this game for one more year, then she’s done…
• Publically called them out!
  We are going to pay one way or another!
  Gambling for the best interest in Glendale
• GWI telling Glendale how bad they are! She totally dislikes them!
  

Mr. Frate Vice Mayor-PRO

• It’s in the best interest to keep the Coyotes if the costs are less than the economically impact, which they clearly are.

Mr. Martinez: Councilman-PRO

• $25 million payment is to operate the arena for 2011-2012 season
  $25 million is not a boondoggle…it is a payment to operate the hockey team/arena…an investment in the future
  Payment for a service
  If Coyotes leave, you ain’t see nothing, it will be very bad

Ms. Knaack: Councilwoman-PRO

• Ticket sales were very positive
  Guys are not giving up
  90% of the emails are from the citizens and they were positive
  Can’t afford to lose the Coyotes
  Doesn’t want a foreclosure on arena
  Can’t afford to lose more jobs
  GWI –not elected; we are elected!
  Not a perfect deal

Side notes:
Coyotes howl sounder went off after Don Maloney spoke
Dog barking while GWI attorney spoke
Rebekah Sanders from the Arizona Republic tweets at 9:30pm “Go for tribe offer to put money into hockey in return for casino” Hmmmm, not sure on that one!
Was the live-streaming from Glendale 11 dial-up!?

Mayor Scruggs Closing:

• Mayor breaks down bonds and how they are represented; City is not filing bankruptcy; Bond investments overall $711 million dollars. They some tremendous misrepresentation out there!
  No automatic 10 years, it’s a one year agreement
  Not paying the NHL to rent our arena - received $512k from NHL last year
  If team leaves, still have debt, cost of arena, don’t have revenue from team playing there
  50% of the attendance from the arena is from the Coyotes
  $25 million is already in budget for 2011-2012
  Coyotes are an enterprise is growing
  80% season ticket renewal
  Gate receipts were up
  Wish we could communicate facts – glossy mailers/flyers from GWI –What a sad thing.
  George Will talking about this terrible city of Glendale on the flyers –
  Who told him a big fact lie!
  U of Phoenix Stadium-asset of the state, is not expense of the city of Glendale. But George Will makes a fat out lie about it.

Not actual quotes – typed as fast as I could…

Statement from COO Mike Nealy:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, May 10, 2011

GLENDALE, AZ - “On behalf of the entire Phoenix Coyotes organization, we are very pleased that Glendale City Council voted in favor of keeping the Coyotes in the Valley for the upcoming 2011-12 NHL season. We are grateful to Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs, City Manager Ed Beasley and Glendale City Council for their unwavering support. The City of Glendale and the National Hockey League are committed to hockey in Arizona and we will continue to work with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly and Mayor Scruggs to find a long-term ownership solution that will keep the Coyotes in Glendale for many years to come.”