Seven candidates vying for seats on the Glendale City Council “oppose the current council's approval of a Phoenix Coyotes deal and made those views clear” yesterday, according to Lisa Halverstadt of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC. The candidates, including “mayoral contenders Walt Opaska and Jerry Weiers, signed a letter that requested interim City Manager Horatio Skeete delay signing the lease agreement with Coyotes suitor Greg Jamison.” The letter comes “amid two potential ballot measures that could cripple the city's 20-year, $324 million agreement, which the current council approved last month.” One group is “gathering signatures to refer the Coyotes deal to the November ballot.” Another group “hopes to reverse the 2.9 percent city sales tax increase and require a citizen vote on any future tax hikes.” Skeete said that Jamison will “need to decide if he wants to buy the team knowing future council members might not support appropriating money for the management agreement.” Skeete acknowledged that if the sales-tax increase were "reversed, the city would have to consider whether it could afford the annual $10 million to $20 million operations fee.” Jamison had been waiting for a Maricopa County Superior Court judge's ruling “on whether Glendale's vote could be invalidated by a Goldwater Institute challenge.” Skeete said that because the judge last week ruled in the city's favor, he “believes Jamison is moving forward with efforts to buy the team.” But the ballot measures “could complicate things” (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 7/3).
