"Glendale and the Goldwater Institute have bickered over public records related to Phoenix Coyotes negotiations for more than two years, lobbing accusations at one another as the search for a team owner drags on.

Goldwater argues that Glendale may have withheld some documents while providing stacks of irrelevant ones. The Phoenix-based conservative watchdog group says Glendale residents have the right to know whether the deal was handled correctly. Glendale officials say that they have not withheld records and that the Goldwater group has taxed city resources and inserted itself into the city's troubled search for a Coyotes buyer.

The two sides have become so pugnacious that a court-appointed mediator, called a special master, was appointed this fall to move the case along. The special master -- in this case, a retired judge -- has no allegiance to either side and can offer recommendations to the court judge."