Glendale rejects Coyotes referendum signatures
Jul 16, 2012, 1:50 PM | Updated: 2:05 pm
The Phoenix Coyotes franchise dodged another bullet Monday when the city of Glendale rejected a referendum that called into question an arena management fee agreement between the city and prospective owner Greg Jamison.
In a letter to Glendale resident Joe Cobb, who led the referendum effort, the city gave three reasons why the 1,568 signatures submitted by Cobb were considered invalid.
According to the city, Cobb had 30 days from June 8, when the the arena management fee for Jobing.com Arena was approved by the city council. Cobb believed he had until July 16 to submit the referendum, but the city said he only had until July 9. The signatures were submitted to the city on July 12, invalidating the signatures.
Cobb also made an error when filing, the letter said. The Application for Referendum Serial Number did not include a description of less than 100 words, nor the text of the measure the referendum was referring to, which would invalidate the signatures collected.
As stipulated by Arizona law, the number of signatures on the referendum has to be the equivalent of 10 percent of the total amount of people that voted in the last election of a mayor or council member. In Glendale, the last election drew 18,620, meaning the referendum needed 1,862 to pass. Cobb’s 1,568 signatures was ruled inefficient by the city.
Cobb was also aided by Ken Jones, another Glendale resident.
The city claims that their role in the Coyotes sale has now ended, meaning the burned now falls to the NHL and Jamison to finalize the terms.
