Glendale-area casino-ban bill passes hurdle in U.S. House

Glendale-area casino-ban bill passes hurdle in U.S. House
Block of Tohono O'odham operation in Valley goes to House
by Erin Kelly and Cecilia Chan
Republic Washington Bureau


WASHINGTON - A key House panel approved a bill Thursday by Arizona Republicans to bar the Tohono O'odham Nation from building a casino near Glendale.

Leaders from Glendale and two Valley Indian tribes praised the decision, while those from Peoria and the Tohono O'odham Nation criticized the measure.

National leaders on Indian policy showed "us they get it," said Greg Mendoza, a councilman and governor-elect of the Gila River Indian Community. "This illegal, off-reservation casino should not be allowed to go ahead because it's wrong to break the promise tribes made to the voters of Arizona."


But Tohono O'odham Chairman Ned Norris Jr. said the legislation seeks to protect Valley gaming tribes at the expense of his southern Arizona-based one.

"Despite a desperate effort to mislead members of Congress, the legislation is nothing more than an attempt to shield special interests from competition," Norris said.

Members of the House Natural Resources Committee voted 32-11 to send the bill by Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., to the full House for action. Only two Arizona lawmakers serve on the committee: Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., and Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz. Gosar voted in favor of the bill; Grijalva voted against it.

It is not yet clear when the House might consider the bill, but the GOP-controlled chamber is likely to approve it. The measure faces an uncertain future in the Democrat-led Senate. The legislation is opposed by President Barack Obama's administration.

Gosar and Grijalva sparred over the bill before the panel took action. Their argument mirrors the one that is taking place in Arizona, where debate over the proposed casino has pitted Arizona tribes, local elected officials and residents against one another.

Glendale officials say a tribal reservation would siphon anticipated tax hauls from the land near their sports and entertainment district the city eventually planned to annex. City leaders and some residents also criticize the location, near 95th and Northern avenues, not far from a high school.

"This vote proves once again that a casino located across the street from a high school and in the middle of a neighborhood is a bad idea in many respects," Glendale City Attorney Craig Tindall said.

Peoria Mayor Bob Barrett views the planned resort and casino as an economic boon, dismissing Glendale's argument about the loss of taxes. "The problem is Glendale is talking about someday-jobs and maybe-jobs. With the Tohono O'odham, we are talking about jobs now," he said.

The proposal has created discord among Arizona tribes, as Gila River and others say it would destroy a carefully crafted compact agreed to in 2002 by Arizona's tribes, the state and voters.

State officials have joined Gila River and others to say the compact, which was signed by the Tohono O'odham Nation, limits the number of casinos allowed in the Valley to the seven currently in operation. The Tohono O'odham's proposed casino would bring that number to eight. The tribe now operates three gaming facilities in Arizona: two in the Tucson area and one near Why.

"The tribe is reneging on their obligations and on their word," Gosar said. "It's simply that."

But Grijalva said the compact did not take away the 30,000-member tribe's right to build a casino on land it acquired as part of an agreement made with the federal government 25 years ago.

In 1960, the Army Corps of Engineers built the Painted Rock Dam on the Gila River. That dam resulted in the continuous flooding of nearly 9,880 acres of tribal land, destroying a 750-acre farm that had generated revenue for the tribe.

Congress, at the urging of Arizona lawmakers, passed a bill in 1986 to give the tribe $30 million to purchase up to 9,880 acres of new reservation land in Pima, Pinal or Maricopa counties to replace the property lost to flooding.

One of the parcels the tribe bought was about 135 acres in Maricopa County between Peoria and Glendale. The tribe cannot build the casino unless the Interior Department determines that the land is eligible for gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. Interior officials have not yet issued a ruling.

Interior Department officials said Franks' bill would contradict the 1986 law, which says any replacement lands purchased by the Tohono O'odham Nation "shall be deemed to be a federal Indian reservation for all purposes," including gaming.

But an amendment by Gosar that passed the committee Thursday would specifically exclude a casino on reservation land in the Phoenix metropolitan area.