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In closed Tempe city council meeting, anti-Coyotes arena activists bashed as “cave people”

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TEMPE, AZ — The ABC15 Investigators have obtained a recording of a 2022 closed-door Tempe City Council meeting where residents who opposed the Coyotes arena project were called a “crazy uncle” and “cave people.”

The discussion occurred in the ramp-up to public votes on whether to build a new arena for the Coyotes hockey team as part of a Tempe entertainment district. All three related propositions failed in a May 2023 election.

The audio recording comes from a December 15, 2022, executive session where city council members met with social media consultants hired to monitor public sentiment about the arena project. The consultants from STRATEGY forty-eight analyzed social media posts and comments, especially of city residents, to see if there was strong community involvement or resistance.

"We absolutely were exercising our First Amendment rights," said Ron Tapscott, a leader of Tempe 1st, a group with a Facebook page that opposed the arena project.

In that formerly secret meeting, one speaker compared Tapscott to "your crazy uncle sending a forwarded chain letter; I mean, at some point, people begin to tune you out."

Executive sessions typically involve legal advice, contract negotiations, or human resources issues, which state law allows to be discussed behind closed doors.

However, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office investigated three briefings by social media consultants STRATEGY forty-eight and concluded they occurred unlawfully under the state’s Open Meeting Law. In response to an October letter from the Attorney General’s Office, they sent a letter to the city saying the consultants should not have been permitted to address the council in executive session. In response, the city released minutes of portions of the three meetings as well as one 13-minute audio recording.

According to the December 15 meeting's minutes, Mayor Corey Woods and five of the six current council members attended the meeting. Councilmember Nikki Amberg was not on the list. She wasn't elected until 2024.

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There are multiple speakers on the recording, including the social media consultants. While it’s often unclear who is speaking, no one is heard trying to stop the trash-talking of local activists.

Councilmembers were also told in the meeting that "What [the consultants] are seeing is - there's just the typical who I call the 'CAVE' people: citizens against virtually everything."

"I think the city council considered that we were their adversaries, and they were launching a campaign against us," Tapscott said. "We weren't their constituents, we were their adversaries."

It's taken two years since the closed-door meeting to learn what actually happened.

"I think it's important that it does come to light," Tapscott said. "We have to have transparent governance. We have to have elected officials that are responsible to their constituents."

A Tempe City spokeswoman declined to offer an explanation about the disparaging remarks. She did tell ABC15 that the city had complied with the Attorney General by making the recordings and meeting minutes public.

To listen to the full recording, click here.

The city also told ABC15 that executive sessions typically aren't audio-recorded, but a city employee had recorded the December 15 meeting for notetaking purposes, so it was released.

Got a news tip? You can reach Melissa by email at melissa.blasius@abc15.com or call 602-803-2506. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) @MelissaBlasius or Facebook.