Very recently I received this email over the Glendale city hall transom. It was produced as a result of a Freedom of Information Request. It is an email sent by Councilmember Gary Sherwood to Councilmember Manny Martinez and Jeff Teetsel (IStar manager of Westgate). It was sent on June 29, 2013 approximately one week before a majority of the Glendale City Council voted to accept the $15 million a year management agreement with IceArizona.
The main figures in the Glendale cast of characters at that time were: Mayor Jerry Weiers, Vice Mayor Yvonne Knaack, Councilmembers Martinez, Hugh, Alvarez, Chavira and Sherwood. The Acting City Manager was Dick Bowers and the Acting City Attorney was Nick DiPiazza. Nick Woods represented IceArizona in contract negotiations for management of the city’s arena.
Sherwood email to Martinez
The actual email is pictured to the left but the text reads as follows: To: Martinez, Manny; Jeff Teetsel From: Sherwood, Gary RE: Out Clause and Risk Topics
“Yvonne and I spend over an hour with Nick Woods last night and out of the three concerns from what I shared with Nick after our e-session yesterday (as of 7:45p, Nick has not seen the city’s revised draft which was promised right after we got of e-session nor had it been posted to our website – consequently both happened by 8:45p) two were okay with the city and had to deal with the errors the city made — #1, we don’t own the 5500 parking spots we’re proposing to charge for therefore it must be a license agreement and not a license agreement (sic) #2) since the bonds that are held against the arena are tax exempt – only a governmental agency can hold those bonds so some different language has to be brought in – city agreed with that. The third item is problematic in that it is against the NHL for cities to hold out-clause and none of the other 29 cities have one. That would allow the city to just kick the team out, where would they play, what if in the middle of the season.
“I don’t have the time to get into all the details but I’ve known Nick Woods for a long time and know him to be a trusted friend and right now I can’t turn my back away from anyone in the city manager’s office or out (sic) acting city attorney.
“Manny, I’ve got a booked day with two Habitat for Humanity events, three radio interviews and two TV spots so contact Yvonne for details of our conversation. Sammy is already on board as he was with us last night.
“Thanks for hanging in there!
“Manny – please delete this email after you’ve read it.”
Thanks,
Gary D. Sherwood
There are several issues of grave concern with this email. The most serious is a possible violation of the State’s Open Meeting Law. The following is taken from the AG’s office explanation of one section of the Open Meeting Law:
“7.5.2 Circumvention of the Open Meeting Law.Discussions and deliberations between less than a majority of the members of a governing body, or other devices, when used to circumvent the purposes of the Open Meeting Law violate that law. See Ariz. Att’y Gen. Op. 75-8; Town of Palm Beach v. Gradison, 296 So. 2d 473 (Fla. 1974). Public officials may not circumvent public discussion by splintering the quorum and having separate or serial discussions with a majority of the public body members. Splintering the quorum can be done by meeting in person, by telephone, electronically, or through other means to discuss a topic that is or may be presented to the public body for a decision. Public officials should refrain from any activities that may undermine public confidence in the public decision making process established in the Open Meeting Law, including actions that may appear to remove discussions and decisions from public view.”
What the explanation above means is that there are to be no private discussions by a majority (4 councilmembers or more) of the governing body if the topic of the discussion is about a matter to be voted upon by the city council. The IceArizona contract was voted upon one month later. The law also prohibits an elected official (councilmember) from acting as a “go-between,” relaying a position on an issue to be voted upon from one councilmember to another. Sherwood’s email shows him relaying information to Martinez he had discussed the previous night with Nick Woods, Knaack and Chavira. That action is known as “daisy-chaining.”
Sherwood, Knaack, Martinez and Chavira were the 4 affirmative votes for the IceArizona contract. All four could be considered equally culpable of a possible violation of the Open Meeting law by discussing/negotiating elements of the Coyotes contract amongst themselves, privately, when it was soon to come before them for a public vote… all the while excluding the remaining 3 councilmember: Weiers, Hugh and Alvarez.
Another alarming admission by Sherwood in this email is that he shared Executive session material with Nick Woods. The city was negotiating with IceArizona. The ad hoc discussion between Sherwood, Knaack and Chavira and Woods may have harmed or weakened the city’s position. City contract negotiations are a direct managerial responsibility of the City Manager and City Attorney. Could this action be a violation of the city’s charter? We’ll explore this topic in the next blog.
Every councilmember knows of the prohibition about not sharing E session material. Doing so is a very serious violation of the Open Meeting Law. Sherwood says quite clearly in his email that is exactly what he did with Nick Woods and then attempts to minimize the violation by characterizing Woods as a friend. It makes no difference. E session material is not to be shared with anyone…even friends or family.
It seems that Sherwood was putting pressure on Acting City Manager Dick Bowers and Acting City Attorney Nick DiPiazza to get the IceArizona deal done…quickly. We know that Mr. Bowers publicly addressed the $15 million a year IceArizona (at that time IceArizona was called Renaissance) contract and voiced concerns about Glendale’s fiscal health if it were approved at that figure. In a June 23, 2013 Dick Bowers memo to city council he said, “Contrary to what might appear in the papers I don’t see this as a ‘done deal’. Far from it.” He went on to say, “I cannot shake the concern for the level of risk expected to be borne by the city…I keep coming back to that same level of discomfort of Glendale having all of the risk in this deal.” Clearly Bowers had substantial concerns and it is not unreasonable to think that Sherwood was advising Bowers that he had the four votes needed to approve the deal.
From this email we can see who was talking to who privately about this issue. Sherwood seems to have taken the lead and all 4 councilmembers may have been negotiating collectively yet privately with IceArizona’s attorney. He acknowledges Knaack and Chavira as participants in his meeting with Nick Woods. He then sent his summary email to Martinez.
Why did Sherwood ask Martinez to delete his email after reading? It appears to be tantamount to an admission that its contents should not have been memorialized. There are so many questions and so few answers. Is it possible that Sherwood asked Martinez to delete his email because he realized he was “daisy-chaining?” Did Martinez delete this email as requested? Maybe…maybe not, leading to its discovery now, over a year later.
Sherwood’s email and his comments within it warrant an investigation by the Attorney General’s Office to determine the validity of Open Meeting law violation allegations sure to arise as his email becomes more and more public. At this point, Sherwood’s email raises a lot of questions. I suspect that it may generate many citizen complaints to the AG’s Office. From my years of experience on council, it looks like a “smoking gun,” written by Sherwood himself that implicates him and 3 other councilmembers in possible Open Meeting Law violations.
So, for all those citizens who spoke in favor of or against the Coyotes deal the night council voted on the matter, it was in vain. It appears that 4 councilmembers, Sherwood, Knaack , Martinez and Chavira, had already made their minds up and shared their positions with one another at the end of June, 2013.
Update 1:00 PM. I am pleased to report that I have scooped the Arizona Republic. At 11:16 AM I published my blog on the Sherwood email. At 12:30 PM Peter Corbett, a reporter for the Arizona Republic released his story on the same Sherwood email. Here is the link:
http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/glendale/2014/07/21/glendale-mayor-council-members-violated-open-meeting-law/12956523/ . I knew Corbett had made the FOIA request for said email but I was perplexed because there was no Arizona Republic story. I was beginning to think someone had quashed it.
Mayor Jerry Weiers is considering filing a complaint with the AG’s office. If after reading this blog and Corbett’s article, you think Mayor Weiers should file a complaint, please send him an email at: jweiers@glendaleaz.com and let him know you support such an action.
© Joyce Clark, 2014
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And so very grateful those 4 voted as they did and have me the confidence to make the Coyotes and the Westgate restaurants my number one investment… Much to the chagrin of the rest of my family.
Very Machiavellian attitude. The ends justify the means.
I think it’s been clear that open meeting laws have been violated by pretty much everyone on the council at one time or another during all the hubbub over the arena issue. This email is pretty damning hard evidence, though.
I was/am in favor of the arena deal (no secret there), but this email deserves to be brought up to the AG so that (at minimum) this behavior gets corrected sooner rather than later.
Sure fish! whatever. Tell “Tom” he needs to fix issues not related to this. But of course, the best course is to ask any empty suit his opinion. Joyce, remember my “selections” NOT elections comment…no need to rehash. Words to the wise…this will open the portal to what you always knew was present.
Im not sure Machiavelli has anything to do with it…Your name is on that big brass plate that I stand next to each night that i stand in line. You brought them here, im just one of many and a growing many who wants to make the decision that you made to bring them here and get your name on that plaque, and to stay positive to keep them here and not make the city of Glendale look like a joke that is only fit for melon and chocolate festivals.
i know nothing of the sport and only followed them after you brought them here.
it was good then, it is great now and growing.
Robert
The blog is not about the Coyotes’ viability. It is about actions that 4 councilmembers took to keep the Coyotes.
Actually it’s not even about that. It’s about right and wrong and what is required of elected officials . The Coyotes are collateral damage. It’s a shame because folks are notw justifying anything goes because it just happened to be the Coyotes vote.
The reporter made it about the Coyotes by going to Them for comment. THEY didn’t violate the open meeting law. It doesn’t apply to them.
Actually it is also about a mayor that for some reason has chosen only now to bring up something that he probably knew about for some time and has put it in his back pocket to play another hand of dirty politics and embarrass the city of Glendale ONCE AGAIN across Phoenix and probably somewhat nationwide and into Canada. Does anyone realize what this kind of dirty politics is doing to the reputation of Glendale and Phoenix? I have a client from Maine, yes Maine, that wanted to move to Glendale and they chose Florida instead because of what they heard about Glendale/Phoenix and their dirty politics…Time to grow up politicians…your city is large enough to get big time exposure but your antics make you look like a corrupted small town Mayberry, USA.
What Im trying to say (without the typos..sorry) is not Machivellian but Thatcherarian..As she said to Ronald Reagan..Joyce “don’t go all wobbly on us”..
You and the council were forward thinkers wanting to bring big things to your city…
That’s what makes a big city worth living in as Ive said many times before.
I do understand but definitely dont agree with the objections on publicly funding sports, arts etc…
The team has never had a chance to succeed.
By the way, it was announced today that jobing.com is sold out for Justin Timberlake…..
Which before is where the weakness was. Non-hockey events.
Agreed but the actions taken by the 4 councilmembers, after an AG’s investigation, may prove deadly to them.
Well, “deadly” is a bit excessive. My understanding (going off memory here, so be warned) is that open meeting violations typically result in little more than a $500 fine (if that). I know there are provisions in the law for removal from office, but I don’t recall them being exercised very often at all.
There is a range of penalties if the allegation proves true…from a fine to removal from office. In addition, any and all councilmembers involved in a complaint cannot use the City Attorney and will have to pay for a private one. At the very least, it could prove costly. Former Glendale Councilmember Goulette received a $1,000 fine for accepting an illegal campaign contribution plus he had to get his own attorney and had to reimburse the illegal contribution.
So Joyce, file a complaint with the AG’s office? Really, do you know Tom Horne is one of the most corrupt ones out there? Stick to something else. Good lord..pick up a hobby.
The Mayor is already doing that (filing a complaint.) And if he doesn’t you can bet Norma will find someone to ghost write one for her.
She doesn’t have to. I am so concerned about the allegations, I am filing a complaint as well.
Joyce… I certainly wouldn’t blame you if you do.
Sure… like fishbert above, I’m a fan of the Coyotes and glad they’re still playing in Arizona.
But at the same time I see the activities of certain members of the city council and the amount of damage it’s causing to the image of the city, but also further damaging the confidence the citizens of Glendale have in their leadership.
It’s got to stop somewhere.
Will “Jerry” mention his intimate connections to one of the other “bidders” to the AMA? What about our dear put-upon downtroden CM Norma? Should someone dare mention or whisper this “saints” donations etc. for a certain “tribe” looking to fleece a community? Why ask why I guess. Or do you also forget that? like everything else? Just wondering. I will if needed.
Sounds like someone is pissed off that Sherwood was silly enough to write an email and not cover his tracks and got caught… and is defending him by practicing the art of deflection. Ms. Clark has railed against CM Norma more than Sherwood in the past. Or did you forget that? If you look back two or three JC election blogs you would know that. Just a target of opportunity for you? If so, why? Are you implying that this possible malfeasance be allowed to stand with no inquiry? If so, why? And are you threatening to “open a portal” in the hope that this one closes? If so, why? And why don’t you post your real name?
Do you know the “Weirs” brothers dirty laundry? I guess in the north lands, silence is golden right?
I guess when it comes to using your real name and not hiding, it is.
I thought Joyce was smarter, your nice Lady. I do very much like you. Just rinse the “rose” colored glasses. Who do you think “hired” the racist clown for the speech before the council?, that evening. Ask who or “whom” is now supporting this clown. The last time I saw a racist clown like this he went by the name of David Duke. If you want to “rent” a racist clown….I recommend a Spike Lee move, at least the production values are better.
I think your last few comments have been pretty rough and unwarranted. Unless you can clean up your act, I may have to delete future comments.
Joyce,
The problem with the open meeting laws is that it is only a problem when people get caught. What does getting the AG involved a year later prove? The meeting and circumvention happened. Now we are going to use tax payer money, government resources, and take up everyone’s time to pull Glendale City Council (this biggest political s**t show out there) through the media again? Nothing will get resolved by legal action or inquiry, you and I both know it.
I applaud the Council for having the guts to get a deal done vs. having an empty arena in a former cotton field.
One of the worst things that has happened for that City is you left office. You had vision and foresight as to where the City could go. Too bad and idea is really only as good as those who scuttle it.
Keep up the good work.