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Wednesday, September 25, 2019
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LOCAL SCHOOL NOTCHES 25
Gee doubles down in face of adverse ruling
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BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
ismissing the stinging rebuke from the Arizona Court of Appeals which upheld a lower-court order to rebuild the Ahwatukee Lakes Golf Course, owner Wilson Gee is doubling down. He not only reasserted the 101-acre site “will never be a golf course again” but told AFN he is upping his offer to Lakes homeowners. “If they want a golf course, I’ll give them Ahwatukee Country Club and throw in another million to upgrade it,” Gee said. “If they finally want to deal, I’m pretty much open,” added Gee. Gee, earlier this year, offered 20 percent of the proceeds if he could sell the course to homeowners Eileen Breslin, Linda Swain and
the Ahwatukee Board of Management. Gee, who is trying to sell the Ahwatukee Country Club for $3.2 million, said his newest offer is also contingent on changing the Lakes courses’ covenants, conditions and restrictions so he can sell it to a homebuilder. He also dismissed the impact of the appeals panels’ unanimous ruling. “It doesn’t really change anything,” Gee said. “Obviously we’re not going to do anything and the next guy’s not going to do anything because it doesn’t make sense to be a golf course. That’s wrong. That’s the reality. Doesn’t matter what the courts rule. It’s not going to happen.” He called hopes for a restored golf course “a pipe dream” and added, “It’s going to stay that way.” Referring to the “nuclear option” of just giving the land away he said, “And, guess what?
Then what it’s not is a golf course because whoever buys it is not going to spend $6 million to build a golf course there.” Tim Barnes, who represents Breslin and Swain in their lawsuit to restore the course Gee closed in 2013, has a different idea of what comes next after the appeals panel upheld Superior Court Judge John Hannah’s January 2018 ruling. He plans to ask the new Superior Court judge on the case – the third to inherit it because of customary judicial rotations – to order Gee to comply with the standing court ruling and restore the course. “I would be shocked beyond belief if they don’t ask the Supreme Court to review the decision,” Barnes said. “I expect they’re going to
see LAKES page 6
Pride Nation trumps coach’s betrayal BY ZACH ALVIRA AFN Sports Editor
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he entire Mountain Pointe High School community rallied behind its football program, showing support for a team betrayed by a former coach. Students and supporters plan to do the same in the winter for the boys’ basketball team. But more importantly, they want to show the girls’ basketball program – which LEFT: Mountain Pointe students made the trip to Hamilton Friday night to support the Pride football program against the Huskies. RIGHT: Signs were lost its head coach in an un- displayed on the visitor’s bleachers at Hamilton High School in support of the Mountain Pointe football program after a difficult week. (Photos by imaginable way – they aren’t Kimberly Carrillo/AFN Staff) alone during a difficult time. “They’ve kind of been the forgotten story with Mountain Pointe, I haven’t been to one for us.” Justin Hager, hired in 2016 to lead the girls’ in all of this,” said Jim Sawitzke, the president of their games, but I plan to this season. “I’m really hoping those girls have a great basketball program, faces firing by the Tempe of the Mountain Pointe football booster club. “I feel really terrible for what they have to go season because, in some ways, this has probsee COACH page 10 through. In my three or four years involved ably been worse for them than it has been
Coming October 25, 2019
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