Judge Orders Glendale to Produce Public Records in Coyotes Sale Negotiations

Phoenix–A Maricopa County Superior Court judge has ruled that the City of Glendale must produce public records related to the negotiations of the sale of the Phoenix Coyotes. The Goldwater Institute requested the records several weeks ago, and when Glendale refused to turn them over, the Institute sued to get them.

“The court tore down the wall Glendale tried to build around the Coyotes negotiations,” said Goldwater Institute attorney Carrie Ann Sitren. “This ruling lets taxpayers finally see what incentives their elected officials are offering to a potential buyer of the team. And since taxpayers will pick up the tab, that’s only fair.”

Judge Edward Burke’s ruling orders the City of Glendale to:

* Immediately produce all the records that are not confidential.

* Produce records of negotiations with everyone who submits a bid to buy the team and keep it in Glendale, “including but not limited to, any such documentation which evidences concessions made and incentives proposed to be given by the City to a proposed new owner of the Team.” The City must produce records of negotiations with Jerry Reinsdorf, the only bidder who has come forward to keep the team here, by Friday, July 24.

* Produce to the judge any records it believes are confidential so the judge can decide whether those records must be made public.

* Make the requested records available on an ongoing basis as new records are created.

Goldwater Institute v. City of Glendale was filed by the Goldwater Institute Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation. For more information about this or any other Goldwater Institute lawsuit to protect individual rights and keep government within its constitutional limits, please visit https://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/litigation. The Goldwater Institute is a nonprofit public policy research and litigation organization whose work is made possible by the generosity of its supporters.