GLENDALE, Ariz. — If you were hoping for definitive word on the Coyotes ownership saga after Friday’s Glendale City Council executive session, you were disappointed. But given the fact that council members are prohibited from publicly discussing the doings of those closed-door sessions, you should not have been surprised.
This was the official statement from Glendale spokesperson Julie Watters after Mayor Jerry Weiers and council members Norma Alavarez and Ian Hugh passed the media largely without comment, while council members Gary Sherwood, Manny Martinez, Sam Chavira and Vice Mayor Yvonne Knaack slipped out a back door without addressing the media:
"We are continuing our negotiations with the Renaissance group, and we expect that early next week we will have some sort of a statement or press release, and it will be with the council's direction for the management of our arena,” Watters said. ”We are also hopeful that in that time, we can discuss everything in more specific detail such as deal points.
“Our current anticipation is that we will take this to a public vote — for the council to bring for a public vote on Tuesday, July 2. We’ve got a tight calendar, and we’re aware of (the remaining) days. We want to get this out so the public can view it.”
To reiterate, no vote was ever planned for Friday and council members are prohibited from discussing specifics of closed-door meetings. But the outcome of Friday’s meeting was not the doomsday scenario many were forecasting on Twitter. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.
Multiple sources told FOX Sports Arizona there are a couple remaining concessions Glendale is looking for from Renaissance Sports and Entertainment, the ownership group that includes George Gosbee, Anthony LeBlanc, Daryl Jones and Avik Dey, as well as one more from the NHL.
While specifics were not provided, none of those issues is expected to derail the process, and sources said the deal will likely be made public on Monday or Tuesday, with a vote scheduled for July 2.
Of equal importance is this: sources now say the political will exists to approve this deal by council vote, with the added concessions made following the previous meeting on June 18. There remains the possibility that public discussion could still sway the council ahead of the July 2 vote, but that is viewed as unlikely.
“They’ve got it to a point they want to continue these negotiations and they’re going to see if we have something more to share early next week,” Watters said.
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