Glendale official believes Coyotes will win legal battle over arena deal
Jun 11, 2015, 6:01 PM | Updated: 6:02 pm
PHOENIX — A Glendale city council member said he is doubtful the city will win in court against the Arizona Coyotes.
Councilman Gary Sherwood is one of two council members who voted against prematurely ending the city’s 15-year lease agreement with the Coyotes on Wednesday.
“I truly believe they will prevail,” Sherwood said. “Unless there is a smoking gun there, I don’t know how (the city would win), I don’t see that at all.”
Sherwood explained not only were the Coyotes blindsided by the vote, he and other members of the council were too.
“There was mention last night that we had been working on this for four months,” he said. “There had been no discussions with council members until the executive session on June 8.”
He admitted there could be other factors related to the vote of which he is not aware.
“For the city attorney to make such a big deal out of this he must have some merit, he must have some evidence that there is third party interference; But what is that?,” Sherwood questioned. “They’re obviously keeping that very close to their chest.”
While Glendale claims the Arizona Coyotes violated a conflict-of-interest law by hiring former City Attorney Craig Tindall, Sherwood said he does not see the merit behind that claim.
“Most of the conversations that I or a few other had with him was more about (legal) process,” he said. “They had nothing to do with any contract content.”
