Finally!!! In the never ending saga that is the
Phoenix Coyotes there is finally some good news for the Yotes fans. Ken Jones and
Joe Cobb effort to put a
referendum on the November ballot has failed when they missed the July ninth deadline to turn in 1800+ signatures.
The Associated Press --- The Glendale City Clerk's Office has rejected petitions that sought to put a referendum on the November ballot about the Phoenix Coyotes' pending arena management deal.
City officials said Monday that the petitions missed the July 9 deadline by three days and lacked the required 1,862 signatures.
The two Glendale residents who spearheaded the referendum turned in 1,568 signatures last Thursday.
Ken Jones and Joe Cobb said they wanted to give voters a chance to decide whether to overturn Glendale's 20-year, $324 US million lease agreement with potential Coyotes buyer Greg Jamison. The City Council approved the deal last month.
The NHL has yet to finalize the sale to Jamison, a former San Jose Sharks chief executive. But league officials say the deal still is being worked on.
Apparently the referendum organizers don't want to go away quitely into the night. One of the lead organizers of the petition drive
Ken Jones, told the Republic's Lisa Halverstadt.
"I am one of the two originators of the referendum. We still expect a public vote on Glendale's expensive lease with Jamison, the potential owner of the Coyotes hockey team.
"We are determined to force fans to pay for their hockey. If the public doesn't get to vote on the Jamison lease, we have two backup plans.
"First, if it becomes necessary, a ground roots effort will be made to add a $30.00 surcharge or special use tax to every future ticket sold for regular season and playoff games. If this does not work, we will go to a Plan B and then continue until hockey costs are removed from Glendale's taxpayers
