Glendale’s outgoing mayor, Elaine Scruggs, blasted the NHL Tuesday for leading the city to a “terrible point.”
Scruggs is upset the league-owned Phoenix Coyotes still don’t have a new owner that will either keep the team at Jobing.com Arena or move it away. And with a $25 million payment due to the league on May 2 and the city facing a significant budget deficit, she wants some action.
Because, you know, Glendale could really use that money.
The city’s already put $20 million of the $25 million payment in escrow. However, according to the Globe and Mail, Scruggs indicated it doesn’t have the additional $5 million.
In fact, the mayor wants the entire $20 million back. She says the league led Glendale to believe a new owner would be found long before now, thus the money would already be back in city coffers and never have to be paid anyway.
“It’s [the NHL’s] problem, they misled us and they can’t do this to our city,” Scruggs said, adding later, “They have been in control of this process for the entire time. They have led us to this terrible point we’re at today.”
So, given the above, should we put the unofficial deadline to work out a solution at May 2?
Or maybe it should be May 3. That way the NHL gets to collect its $25 million from Glendale, and…it’s off to Quebec City!
That would be really mean.