Although the Tohono O’odham Nation does face some legal challenges in its road to building a casino next door to Glendale, Arizona some legal experts say that the tribe wouldn’t be risking much if it took a chance on beginning construction now.
It is true that both of the state’s U.S. Senators have thrown their efforts into a bill that would stop the casino in tracks. It is also true that the tribe might want to obtain permission from the National Indian Gaming Commission before proceeding.
Despite those caveats the tribe last week announced that it was hiring four construction and project management firms.
According to one legal observer, the tribe might be wise to wait a few months or years, but that it might be in its best financial interests to start construction right away.
Five years ago the tribe announced its plans to build a casino resort in Glendale, part of the Phoenix metro area. It obtained federal approval to put the 54 acres into trust last month.
The city of Glendale has fought the project from the beginning, spending $3 million in legal fees. Only last month did the city council narrowly vote to drop all efforts to kill the project and to support it.
The tribe is still waiting for a final ruling from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals over whether the tribe violated its tribal state gaming compacts by deciding to build in Glendale when it allegedly promised that it would not.
The tribe bought the property using a settlement approved during the Reagan administration that allowed the tribe to make up for losing thousands of acres to a federal dam project.
Nothing legally prevents the tribe from building. However, whether they can legally operate a casino is still up in the air.
Recently when he testified before a Senate committee, the tribe’s chairman, Ned Norris, declared, “The Nation’s right is based on the promises the United States made in the 1986 Gila Bend Act and in the 1987 Settlement Agreement.”
Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake recently introduced a bill that is similar to one passed in the House that would make a casino in the area illegal.
Governor Gregory Mendoza of the Gila River Indian Community, whose nearby casino would be affected by the Tohono’s casino, continues to oppose it. Last week he declared, “The Nation surely will continue to put out one press release after another claiming they’re ready to go full speed ahead on their neighborhood casino. However, this project still faces the possibility of congressional action, a lawsuit in federal court and the strong potential for future litigation.”
