No Big Surprise: Phx City Council Votes To Challenge CityNorth Appeals Court Decision

I'm sure The Goldwater attorneys were not surprised by the Phoenix City Council voting 8-1 to appeal the CityNorth (Turkin vs. Gordon) Appeals Court unanimous decision against the almost $100 million subsidy to the out of state developer Thomas J. Klutznick Co.

As reported in the Feb. 18 Phoenix Business Journal, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon said legal action is necessary because the appeals court decision cast a shadow over every incentive that cities have offered in the state — past, current and future.

Gordon is quoted as saying:

“Most of us on the council are appealing not the structure of the agreement (with CityNorth), but we’re looking for clear instruction for future projects. We want to know if this ruling is retroactive to prior agreements like Glendale (Westgate) and Tempe (Marketplace).This is an issue much larger than just Phoenix.”

From our prospective, Mayor Gordon could have included the Oro Valley giveaways as being applicable. The OV Council recently voted to put all subsidy monies (approved by a previous council) in an escrow account.

Now we'll have to wait and see if the Arizona Supreme Court will take any action, or let the Appeals Court decision stand.

Read the article here.
http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2009/02/16/daily35.html?surround=etf