Glendale Mayor: ‘I want the Coyotes to be successful’
Jul 3, 2013, 6:14 PM | Updated: Aug 23, 2013, 2:07 pm
PHOENIX – The Glendale City Council voted 4-3 to keep the Coyotes in Glendale Tuesday night after more than four years of deliberation.
Glendale Mayor Jim Weiers spoke with News/Talk 92.3 KTAR’s Mac & Gaydos after the decision was made and why he voted no to keeping the team.
“It doesn’t make any difference if I’m happy or disappointed, the fact is they’re here and all I can do at this point is work my tail off to make sure that they’re successful, that they come up with a winning team and have a chance for the Stanley Cup.”
Initially Weiers didn’t seem to keen on the idea of the team staying, but said that once the decision was reached all that mattered to him was the city of Glendale.
“I want desperately for the Coyotes to be successful.”
The deal, which will cost the city approximately $15 million a year, would recover the monetary loss through ticket surcharges, naming rights fees for a planned, smaller venue inside the arena, as well as charging for parking spots for all events. It also includes a five-year opt out clause in case the Coyotes lose $50 million during that time frame.
But Weiers remains confident of the success this deal will have. “The city will win,” he said.
Weiers acknowledged the fact that the decision to either keep the Coyotes or not was held up until the very last minute, but said that he was looking out for the best interests of the city.
“I’m not saying that we’re not going to do the deal, I’m just saying, let’s find the absolute best deal possible for citizens and I was getting pounded for that, and yet in the last 24 hours a lot of advancements were made that got better deals for the citizens. Is it the best possible? It is now because the deal is done. Is it the best we could have gotten? I think we could have done better.”
Weiers said that now is the time to move forward and leave behind talks of what could have or should have happened.
“We really need to be talking about… is that we have Coyotes that are going to stay in Arizona.”
