Glendale willing to talk Arizona Coyotes lease, but sticking to guns in court
Jun 16, 2015, 2:51 PM | Updated: 4:04 pm
PHOENIX — The city of Glendale said it is willing to renegotiate a lease for the Arizona Coyotes but stands by its conflict of interest reasoning for canceling it in the first place, following an executive session Tuesday.
“This is not about hockey…it’s about the law,” Interim Assistant City Manager Tom Duensing said after the session.
Duensing said the facts of the case would come out in time, but only in a courtroom.
In a brief statement, the team said it plans to honor its lease and expects the city to do the same.
The city held the executive session to determine how to proceed. The team filed a lawsuit within days of the lease cancellation and said it would not renegotiate with Glendale.
“This is cheap, political gamesmanship,” co-owner Anthony LeBlanc said before the team filed suit. “It was a threat to try to get us to renegotiate an agreement that is less than two years old.
The Coyotes filed a restraining order against Glendale on Friday, which was granted by a judge. Under the restraining order, the current lease agreement remains in effect.
KTAR Legal Analyst Monica Lindstrom said the session was a step along the path, but no legal action could have been taken. City leaders could have discussed backing out of the vote or continuing to battle the team in court.
The council is scheduled to meet June 23 at 6 p.m. but no agenda has been released.
KTAR’s Cooper Rummell and Jessica Suerth contributed to this report.
