Attorney general asked to investigate council misconduct during Coyotes negotiations

Glendale, Arizona mayor Jerry Weiers met with concerned citizens on Monday at Glendale City Hall to discuss an alleged violation of "open meeting laws" during the negotiations between the Arizona (then-Phoenix) Coyotes and members of Glendale's city council in the days before Glendale voted to approve a deal to keep the Coyotes at Jobing.com arena, the Glendale Star reports.

The mayor has forwarded a complaint to the attorney general requesting an investigation.

An open meeting violation is essentially a private gathering of a group of public officials or members of a public body in which they discuss, deliberate or propose a variety of actions. At the root of this charge is an e-mail from June 29, 2013 that council member Gary Sherwood, who voted to approve the lease deal, sent to fellow council member Manny Martinez, who also voted in favor.

Here's what Sherwood says in the e-mail, which was obtained by the Glendale Star:

Yvonne (Knaack) and I spent over an hour with Nick Wood last night (June 28, 2013) and out of the three concerns from what I shared with Nick after our e-session … two were okay with the city and had to deal with the errors the city made.

Yvonne Knaack is another Glendale city council member who voted in favor of the lease deal, while Nick Wood is an attorney who was negotiating on behalf of Renaissance Sports & Entertainment (since re-branded as IceArizona).

"I got a call from a staff member (July 19) about the e-mail and I read it and find it pretty incriminating," mayor Weiers said. "I think it is a clear violation of the open meeting laws. This is not a witch hunt; it just seems compelling that I may have to turn this over to the attorney general."

"It is no secret that I was pushing for the Coyotes," Sherwood told the Glendale Star in response. "At the time we had acting attorney and city manager and a deputy city manager that we were not trusting of. All of the items discussed (at the meeting with Wood) were supposed to be posted on our website; they just got delayed in the posting.

"I am not going to comment on the email directly, but there is no open meeting law violation. It is ironic that the mayor handled this while I am out of town."

In the first full season of operation since the lease deal, the Coyotes saw an increase in attendance but the deal was still a money loser for the city, in part due to issues with paid parking around the arena.