GLENDALE – Glendale interim Assistant City Manager Tom Duensing said Tuesday that the city planned to stay the course in its battle with the Arizona Coyotes.
“As we’ve consistently indicated to the team, we are willing to negotiate a mutual agreement where everybody is a winner,” Duensing said. “We have an obligation to our (citizens) above anything else. We continue to believe in the strength of our case and those facts will come out. Over time, those facts can only come out in the appropriate venue. That venue is in the court of law.”
The statement came after a Glendale City Council executive session Tuesday afternoon regarding the city’s 15-year, $225 million lease and arena management agreement with the Coyotes. Duensing could not share details about the meeting because executive sessions are closed to the public by law.
The council voted last Wednesday to void the deal for the Coyotes to play in city-owned Gila River Arena. On Friday, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge granted a temporary restraining order against the city on behalf of the team, keeping the city from evicting the Coyotes for now.
The Coyotes issued their own statement Tuesday after the council’s executive session, and it was direct.
“We expect the city of Glendale to honor its contractual commitments. We intend to continue to honor ours,” read the entirety of the statement.
The Coyotes released their preseason schedule Tuesday afternoon. Demonstrating that they currently expect to play in Glendale this fall, the final preseason game is scheduled at Gila River Arena on Oct. 2 against the San Jose Sharks.
A June 29 pretrial conference is the next scheduled step in the Coyotes case against the city.