Casino Stalker

City supports Tohono O'odham Nation's off-reservation casino

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Artist's rendering of the proposed West Valley Resort. Image from Tohono O'odham Nation

The city council in Glendale, Arizona, voted 4-3 to support the Tohono O'odham Nation off-reservation casino.

The vote reversed the city's long-standing opposition to the tribe's proposed West Valley Resort. The two parties will now negotiate an agreement to address the impacts of the development, which remains controversial among other tribes and politicians elsewhere in the state.

"This will be a major economic benefit to the West Valley and the state of Arizona," Tohono O'odham Chairman Ned Norris Jr. told The Arizona Republic.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has approved the tribe's land-into-trust application for the site. However, the agency, nor any other federal body, has determined whether the land can be used for gaming.

The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, generally, bars gaming on land acquired after 1988. But Section 20 of the law creates an exception for land acquired in connection with a land claim settlement.

The tribe appears to qualify due to the Gila Bend Indian Reservation Lands Replacement Act of 1986. However, a bill in Congress -- H.R.1410, the Keep the Promise Act -- would bar gaming at the site.

The House passed the bill in September. It remains stalled in the Senate but news media in Arizona have reported that the Senate Indian Affairs Committee will discuss the issue at an oversight hearing next week.

The July 23 hearing was called to address general Indian gaming issues and not a specific bill. However, leaders from tribes that oppose the Tohono O'odham casino have said the hearing will look into the matter and it's possible one of them might be on the witness list, which hasn't been released.