Voters approved a deal in 2008. The City rewrote it.
“Voter approval is limited to the purposes disclosed to voters at the time of the election.” — Friedman v. Cave Creek USD No. 93, 231 Ariz. 567 (App. 2013).
In 2008, Phoenix voters approved Proposition A — extending the Phoenix Parks and Preserves Initiative — on three express conditions: a restricted purpose, an independent citizens’ oversight committee, and an annual public audit. Counsel has concluded the City has failed all three.
Restricted 3PI funds were used to retire golf-enterprise debt — a purpose never put to voters. The annual audit was replaced with a management-controlled “attestation” that the City itself has admitted is not an audit. Material expenditures, including a $1.85M Papago Golf Course debt purchase, were not properly classified for the Oversight Committee.
GOOD|GOAT served a hold letter on February 10, 2026. The City Attorney responded on February 20. The matter is now in the meet-and-confer window before formal filing.
What the 2008 ballot pamphlet said. Word for word.
Restricted Purpose
3PI funds may be used only for purposes disclosed in the 2008 election materials — 60% parks, 40% preserves, with itemized permitted uses.
Citizen Oversight
All 3PI expenditures must be reviewed by an independent citizens' oversight committee — not pre-cleared, not handed drafts, not bypassed.
Annual Public Audit
Expenditures must be subject to an annual public audit. Not an attestation. Not a management assertion. An audit — the kind voters understand when they vote yes.
The City sent PDFs. The records live in SAP.
On February 12, 2026, GOOD|GOAT submitted Public Records Request R031544-021226 seeking general-ledger and Funds Management line-item detail for 3PI Funds 1022 and 1437 — the underlying transaction data for FY 2025 and January 2026. The City’s ledger is maintained in SAP and exports natively as Excel or CSV. The City responded with four PDF reports.
Arizona’s Public Records Law requires production in the format records are kept in. For SAP data, that is structured export — not a printout. PDFs strip out the technical metadata (user, entry date, document header text, offsetting account) that makes a ledger a ledger and turns thousands of transactions into a haystack to read by hand.
On April 30, 2026, GOOD|GOAT issued a Notice of Intent to Treat as Denial, naming the exact SAP transaction codes and source tables that satisfy the request. The deadline passed on May 1, 2026 without compliance.
Four counts. Each independently sufficient. Together, dispositive.
Unauthorized Use of Restricted Funds
3PI funds were used to retire golf-enterprise debt — a use never disclosed to voters in the 2008 ballot pamphlet. Arizona courts hold that voter approval is limited to the purposes disclosed at election time.
Failure of Voter-Mandated Annual Audit
Voters required an annual public audit. The City has substituted a management-controlled "Independent Accountant's Report on Examination of an Assertion" — which the City has admitted "is not considered an audit." Attestations are not audits.
Misclassification & Concealment
The 2011 Papago Golf Course debt purchase ($1.85M of 3PI funds) was not described to the Oversight Committee as a debt-retirement transaction — depriving the Committee of its voter-mandated review role.
Record-Keeping & Disclosure Failures
The City was unable to produce working papers supporting material compliance representations and initially denied the existence of the $7.15M Sonoran Preserve Acquisition project number — a breakdown in basic record-keeping duties.
The paper trail.
Pre-filing record.
Every step has been documented. Next milestone: meet-and-confer with City Attorney’s office, or formal complaint filed in Superior Court.
202 E. Earll Drive, Ste. 490
Phoenix, Arizona 85012
(602) 844-8610 · joshua@robinsonlawoffices.com
Jerry Van Gasse, President
jerry@goodgoat.net
Document requests: include exhibit number and date range.
Matter GG-2026-003 · 3PI Compliance