Four former Tempe mayors have endorsed propositions on the May 16 ballot to create an entertainment district and provide a home for the Arizona Coyotes.

Harry Mitchell, Neil Giuliano, Hugh Hallman and Mark Mitchell led Tempe from 1978 to 2020 and have said propositions 301, 302 and 303 are an opportunity to improve Tempe’s environment, generate more tax revenues, boost the local economy and improve Tempe’s quality of life, according to a press release.

If the propositions are approved a development group led by the owner of the Coyotes would purchase the site of a landfill next to Tempe Town Lake and clean up the area.

The group would spend $2.1 billion to create the entertainment district, which would include new retail and restaurants, housing and the Coyotes arena.

“This project is a win for Tempe. The city ensured that there would be no cost or risk to the city, while also benefiting from the thousands of jobs, hundreds of millions in revenues and billions in spending this project will bring,” Harry Mitchell said.

Giuliano added: “Not one dime of public money is at risk to develop a project that will create nearly 7,000 sustainable, good-paying jobs and bring a massive financial windfall for our city to help fund municipal services into the future such as affordable housing, park improvements, public safety, emergency medical response and more.”

Hallman said the city “drove a hard bargain that uses private sector dollars for the greater good.”

Mark Mitchell said the landfill site, which poses “huge environmental liabilities,” would be transformed “into a project that will provide future resources and revenues.”

The developer has committed to cleaning up that landfill through the use of a small surcharge on purchases within the limited entertainment district, the release stated, adding only purchases made inside the district will include the surcharge.