Coalition News: Join the fight against Goldwater & help to educate Glendale citizens!

Hi all,

Just a quick update first of all to bring everyone up to speed - the city of Glendale was in court Tuesday to argue their case against the Goldwater institute. 

If you are not familiar with the case, you can read AZCentral's Lisa Halverstadt's article detailing the case and what went on during the court appearance. 

You can also hear NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman's comment regarding the situation, complements of Aaron at AZ Vibe Sports by clicking here.

Coyotes fans have come together via Facebook to form a Political Action Group that will help garner support to do what we can to win the fight against Goldwater. This Saturday at noon there will be a planning meeting for those interested in helping with the Political Action Group. The meeting will be held at McFadden's in Glendale. I strongly encourage Coalition members to support this and attend the meeting if possible. We could all benefit from each other's talents and individual abilities to what we can for our team. Those of you with law or political backgrounds could be a huge asset to this cause.

Here's is some additional information from the Political Action Group's Facebook page:

Background:

Joe Cobb and GWI are on the hunt for signatures to negate the lease agreement vote that took place on June 8th. They need 1862 signatures in order to push this to a referendum which will allow the residents of Glendale to vote on the lease agreement in NOVEMBER! 

What can we do as a group?

The county and city will only check the validity of 5% of the signatures. As a group, we can request the remaining signatures and cross reference them and try to invalidate the rest. The more help we have, the easier this job will be. Aside from that, we can be the voice of so many who want to speak out against GWI but don't know how. 

I am unsure at this point as to whether or not I will be able to attend the meeting myself, due to my work schedule. However, we will have representation from the Coyotes Coalition present at the meeting (look for Monique!)

We need "all hands on deck" to help with the work that will need to be done as Glendale continues to fight this court battle. You can get information for Glendale residents from this website. It is important that Glendale residents know the REAL issues going on here and not just what Goldwater is trying to make them believe. Word of mouth is going to be our biggest asset - so please talk to any Glendale citizen you know. Give them the link to the website. Whatever you can do will help. If you live in Glendale, talk to your neighbors. Invite them to this meeting so that they too can be informed and help to protect their city from losing Jobing.com Arena's anchor tenant. 

If you are one of our many long distance supporters, I am certain that there will be work that can be done via your computers or phones, I will keep you up to date with that and let you know how you can help. Keep watching here on our site for more information.

Speaking of our website, I hope you like our new design! It's been a long time in the making and I'm excited about how it's turned out. I hope that you will be too. If you have any pictures that you would like to submit for possible inclusion in our new slide show at the top of our home page, please feel free to email them to me. I will add on as many as possible. I'd like to have a diverse representation of Coyotes fans (dressed in your Coyotes gear, at Coyotes games, with players, and/or Coyotes management, Arena staff etc.) on our website and give everyone a chance to have their pictures up on the site! Let's show everyone how much fun we have thanks to our hockey team! :)

I hope all is going well and that you are enjoying your summer so far. Don't forget about the Coyotes Draft Party tomorrow at 18 Degrees in Scottsdale! The Draft parties are always a fun excuse to hang out with your hockey friends during the summer when we're all missing each other and our hockey team!  

Best,

Heather McWhorter

President, The Coyotes Coalition

Website, Twitter, Facebook

2012 Phoenix Coyotes Draft Party

{via}

www.18-degrees.com

Located inside the Alltel Ice Den at:
9375 E. Bell Rd. Scottsdale, AZ 85260
Phone:(480) 344-COLD

CITY COUNCIL VOTE TOMORROW! (Please Pardon Our Dust)

We are in the middle of a site re-design - so please pardon our dust! 

But I have some VERY important information to share!

Tomorrow at 10:15am there will be a special Glendale City Council meeting at which they will be voting on the new Arena lease for Jobing.com Arena.

I know it's not the most convenient of times, but if we could get some people out there in support of the team - and some Glendale residents to speak in favor of their council members approving the new lease agreement with Greg Jamison - it could have a huge impact on whether the lease is approved or not.

If you'd like to read over the information, you can find it here and here.

The meeting will be held at the Glendale City Council Chambers - the address, agenda and additional information can be found here. Your presence there would be greatly appreciated - and don't forget to wear your Coyotes gear! The Council members will meet today to be briefed on the lease in a closed session. I hope to see you there tomorrow!

Best,

Heather McWhorter

President, The Coyotes Coalition

Website, Twitter, Facebook

Coalition Update: City of Glendale Website

The City of Glendale has made it easy for those of us who want to voice our support of the Coyotes remaining in Glendale to do so. They have dedicated a special section of their website to those who wish to voice their support of the Coyotes remaining in Glendale.

Here's a direct link to the site:
http://glendaleaz.gov/news/CoyotesInfo.cfm 

You can also access it from their home page GlendaleAZ.gov

The site is complete with a link to write directly to the City and tell them how you feel about your Coyotes. It also lists the dates and times of upcoming City Council meetings. This is an opportunity for everyone - but especially residents of the City of Glendale - to express themselves directly to someone who will actually be reading and processing what is submitted.

So click on the link that says "Click here to email us your comments" on the site, type in your comments and what city/county/district you live/work in. The more people they hear positive comments from, the more we get responses like this nifty web presence and access page and of course that all important reminder to them to vote to keep our boys.

Also, if you scroll down the page - there are some pictures of some of the City Council members with our favorite team and management members. You can also pick up a Go Yotes poster at the Glendale Visitors Center. There is even an exclusive spirit video on the site.

-- 

Best,

Heather McWhorter

President, The Coyotes Coalition

Website, Twitter, Facebook

A Very Important Message From Our VP

Coalition Vice President Monique Reaux has written up some information on her blog that we feel is imperative to share with you all so I am posting it here as well. Some of it was in our last newsletter - but we have more detail and clarification here.

From Monique:

People ask why I attend the City council meetings when the Coyotes are not on the agenda. Well I’ll tell you, there is a portion of the meeting at the end that lets people talk about items that aren’t on the agenda. That portion is where people who are passionate about a subject say their piece for between 2 – 5 minutes of uninterrupted attention from the Council. Huge decisions have often been made based on 11th hour emotion stirring. Our team often needs a voice that will correct the damage caused by those stray voices disparaging the Coyotes value to the city. There were a few of the usual suspects and a couple of T-bagger types that spoke.


It is funny how belligerent and pugnacious some of those people are, attacking the council members with personal slurs against their characters, insinuating that they are on the take in some fashion and complaining about everything both within the council’s purview and some that the council has no control over. The Coyotes fans were amazing, there were only a handful of us but we were eloquent and courteous and stuck to the point.


There are basically 3 council members that still have our backs. 1 is on the fence and 2 that haven’t got a clue about anything that is going on and 1 that was absent so I couldn’t get a read for where he stands on the Jamison Group’s offer.


Councilman Fraates was absent from the meeting but I haven’t heard about him changing his opinion or else he has decided to play his cards close to his vest and stay out of the line of fire from either side. He has been in favor of keeping the team as long as the costs don’t do any more harm. 


Councilwoman Alvarez continues to make me sincerely glad I do not reside in her district. She appeared sleepy and confused again. More like the querulous Auntie on the porch that you feared waking up… they deliver ferocious lectures about weird ass stuff then drop back off to sleep, leaving you wondering WTH? After one person asked that any member of the council recuse themselves from voting on a liquor license if they had received any donation or consideration from WINCO (who had applied for the liquor license) Councilwoman Alvarez lifted her head and went on a long rambling monologue about not believing anything about wrongdoing without proof. 3 looong minutes of saying she wouldn’t give credence to that sort of talk and how wrong it was to hurt people, then she slumped back into her normal somnolent pose as if she had never spoken… scary thing.


Councilman Lieberman has probably been a wonderful leader… in the past. He has clearly passed his sell by date/shelf life/viable use cycle. A fractious and clueless and persnickety Miss Emily Latella is what he has turned into. (Any one not old enough to get that reference… check out Gilda Radner’s Miss Emily from old SNL skits.) He jumps into discussions without fear and without correct information, rambles through stories like some demented narrator from the Twilight Zone. He mixes metaphors in a word blender that makes your brain mushy and just generally drags the proceedings into the realm of the absurd every time he opens his mouth.


Council members Knaack, Martinez (attended a playoff game and loved the hell out of it) and Clark are solidly in the corner of not losing a valuable resource. These are not the same charmingly naïve council from 3 years ago who truly believed that there would be a white knight that would come along and save them from the Blackberry Dragon, the Swift Snake in the Grass and other dire consequences of owning an arena in a perilous economy.


Council woman Clark was amazingly candid in her opinion about the deal and about what is actually at stake in both scenarios (if the team stays and if the team leaves). All three actively stated that they are confident that this can get finished and get done in a way that benefits both the team and Glendale. Loved Clark’s GO COYOTES! at the end of the night.


Here is the clarification that I got that night.


1. The management fee that is causing such a ruckus has only been in play since the BK. That’s right, the team had always covered the booking of the arena with a team of people who were experienced in contracting entertainment and scheduling time around the team’s 41 plus nights. This service was provided within the arena lease agreement. The City did nothing on that front at all. With the lease invalidated and no new owner willing to take on the task, the City is responsible for that job. The fee is around $11 – $14M for a venue like the Jobarena. The NHL is charging $25M for that service but we all know that this is basically a place holder fee not a REAL management fee. This needs to stop, regardless of the ownership situation. I am a fan but the City is basically being raped on this deal and can’t afford to continue to bend over.


2. The difference between what the CoG would have to pay to manage the arena if the Coyotes left (11-14 milllion in realistic fees) and what Jamison wants(approx. 17 million) is about $3M. A lot of anti-Coyotes pundits are slinging these huge numbers around (I’ve heard $20-40 M, depending on who is hawking the hate at the time). Apparently what may be on the table is a more realistic figure of approx. $17M (which, if Jamison is as smart as I think) he will make a deal that allows him to use that money to hire an EXPERT team to fill the arena when the Yotes are dark and have this deal yield him AND the City a percentage of the profits on those bookings which would add to his coffers AND help the City mitigate the initial costs.*In the past this was not handled well and I don’t believe there was a mechanism in place to share the results* SOOOO it boils down to this:


$11 – $14 million if the team leaves (upkeep/maintenance/staff/utilities) + debt service


i.ZERO revenue back *unless a self-sustaining event or a concert series of magnitude is booked*
$17 million to Jamison to keep the team here and reap the following possible returns: 


i. – the $6 million payment from lease to Coyotes***


ii. – the possible % of any non-hockey revenue from bookings


iii. – the possible % of per seat charges for every ticket sold for all events


iv. – the possible % of other revenue streams i.e. rebranding/naming possibilities within the arena & its parking area/premium parking fees… etc


***the must have payment that services the original arena construction debt, that the City is paying one way or another***


If Jamison can get all his dough back in one wallet, it seems like he’s being very, very smart and fair. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.


Dear Mayor Scruggs,


You have served during really sweet times and now during very turbulent times. You have been the consummate lady and politician. I have admired your grit and determination to make Glendale Arizona a place to be proud of.


I hope you remember the plan, the plan to make Glendale a sports megaplex city. I hope you remember that jettisoning the Coyotes removes one huge chunk of the supporting infrastructure of the Plan. I hope you remain on the side of the hockey angels even though you are leaving. If you can hold on, get the deal done with Jamison and finish what you envisioned all those years ago, I think you can look back from your comfy spot in civilian life and know what a great job you did and be proud of what you built despite all the naysayers and road blockers that stood in your way.


I wish you well as you journey back to civilian life. Thank you.


Last but not least… I had a little run in with Liebs at the end of the night… When the cameras are off and there is no audience to play to I have to say Councilman Lieberman is not acting. He really is that befuddled, sway in the wind, ranting, little mean man. Liebs, you are rude and belligerent and thoughtless. You interrupted a conversation you were not invited to be part of and then had the nerve to get in my face. I’ll probably read in some interview somewhere how you were savaged by an irate Coyotes fan unprovoked or something equally ludicrous but telling you off felt really good. Somebody find a baby who does a really cute howl, dress it up in a mini jersey with Lieberman on it and distract this guy into voting for Jamison. His closing statement about how the fans that show up don’t live in Glendale and he was sorry we were going to lose our team but if 50 fans that actually LIVED in Glendale showed up or talked to him, he might reconsider his vote. If you live anywhere within Glendale’s borders please email or call Councilman Lieberman with your opinion on the Coyotes situation and the ways new ownership would affect you. CC me here: coyoteshipcheck1@gmail.com (that way I will have exact numbers and maybe a few quotes to throw at him the next time he uses that tired refrain)


It is important to put your butt in a seat at the arena. It is important to hie off to the airport to welcome back the conquering heroes. It is important to show up en mass to the City Council meetings where the Yotes are on the agenda… but it is equally important to show up at the meetings in which nobody expects to discuss the team. Bad things happen when the little things aren’t taken care of. I hope to see a lot more of you at these things, especially those of you who REALLY want to support and keep your team. Especially those who actually live and are affected the most… the Coyotes fans of Glendale.

Time For Action!

Hello all,

First of all - how awesome is it to see our boys win their first playoff series since they arrived in Arizona? So many of you came out to the airport to greet them and I know they appreciate that more than you know! These guys just won't quit and can't wait to prove everyone wrong. Hard work and perseverance DOES pay off my friends! What an inspiration they are! Which brings me to my reason for writing. I know we don't want to think about the ownership situation amidst all this celebrating - but there are some very important matters going on in Glendale that need our attention.

The Glendale City Council members are working on their budget for next year and they seem to be losing patience with the NHL over the Coyotes situation. We are told Jamison is close to finalizing a deal to buy the team but we've yet to see it reach fruition.

The Mayor's stance has always been that she wants the Coyotes to remain in their Glendale home - but as time wears on and the ownership dilemma continues, she is becoming less and less patient and supportive.

Our Coalition Vice President Monique Reaux went to the Glendale City Council meeting tonight and spoke to Councilman Phil Lieberman, who continues to voice his opinions against the Coyotes. He told Monique that as of late he has not received one single email or phone call from anyone in support of keeping the Coyotes in Glendale. It is up to us to change this. You can find the contact information for the city council members here: http://www.glendaleaz.com/citycouncil/contact.cfm And for Mayor Scruggs here: http://www.glendaleaz.com/Mayor/contact.cfm

If you have access to a blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc please help me share this message. We have seen our efforts make a huge impact on the situation in the past and our team needs us again - now more than ever.

If you live in the area, try to make some time to attend the Glendale City Council meetings. Even if the Coyotes aren't on the agenda - its good for the council members to see a room full of people wearing howling Coyote heads. Visit  http://www.glendaleaz.com/meetings/ for information on the City Council meetings. The meetings are held in the Council Chambers Building of the Glendale Municipal Office Complex at 5850 W. Glendale Ave, Glendale, AZ.If you don't live in the area, you can still contact the city council members and the mayor via email to encourage their support and let them know we want our team to stay here. My mother always tells me that "the squeaky wheel is the one that gets the grease" so let's be squeaky wheels! :)

Let's also take advantage of the attention our team is getting right now. Tell people about our website, invite them to sign up for our newsletter. There is power in numbers and we can come together and be a very powerful force. Talk to your co-workers, your neighbors and friends. Talk to the people around you at the games, makes Save Our Coyotes signs & be sure to put our website on the sign (www.coyotescoalition.com) so they know where to go for information.

Thank you Coyotes fans!!!

-- 

Best,

Heather McWhorter

President, The Coyotes Coalition

Website, Twitter, Facebook

Pre-Game Tailgate Tomorrow!

Hi all,

The Coyotes have invited us to participate in a pre-game tailgate with the Anaheim Ducks Booster Club. The tailgate will be catered by Shane's Rib Shack and the cost is $5.00 per person. The tailgate starts at 3:30pm tomorrow and will be held in parking lot J at Jobing.com Arena. If you'd like to go please RSVP by sending an email to Kevin.West@PhoenixCoyotes.com so he can get a count of how many people will be coming. I hope you can make it - should be a blast!

Go Coyotes!

Best,

Heather McWhorter

President, The Coyotes Coalition

Website, Twitter, Facebook

Greetings!

It's been a while since you've heard from me - but we're still here! I hope you are all enjoying the season and looking forward to the play-offs - AND keeping the faith that our Coyotes will have an owner soon who will keep the team in Glendale where they belong! This has been such a long process - but I know the Coyotes organization is grateful for your continued support and loyalty. I am appreciative of it as well! 


I want to let you know that Coyotes goaltender Jason LaBarbara and his wife Kodette have asked the Coalition for help with a project they are involved in. They both sit on the board for the American Lung Association and their project is the Walk For Air in April.They are going to be selling 50/50 raffle tickets during the Coyotes home game on March 12th - which is this coming Monday - against the Predators. Kodette has asked the Coalition for some help providing volunteers to assist them with selling 50/50 raffle tickets that night. 


If you are willing to volunteer, you will be admitted into the game that night for free and all you have to do is walk to concourse and sell tickets. If you are interested simply click here to email me and I will put your name on the list to participate. 


They need about 20 volunteers so I will take the first 20 who express interest. Feel free to email me with any questions. If I can't answer them - Kodette can! Further instructions will be emailed to those who sign up.




Best,
Heather McWhorter


President, The Coyotes Coalition
Twitter, Facebook

Town Hall this Saturday: Q&A with Coyotes COO Mike Nealy, GM Don Maloney, and Head Coach Dave Tippett

The Coyotes have asked me to let you all know about a Town Hall they are hosting this weekend at Jobing.com Arena.

Please see the flyer below for additional information and hopefully we'll see some of you there!