Tribe and lawmakers clash over casino
Posted by Carl Barnett on 23 Mar 2010 at 15:03
A dispute between an Arizona city and an Indian tribe that plans to develop a casino close to it has reached the courts, with some strong feeling and controversy attached.
The Tohono O’ odham tribe plans to build on unincorporated land near the city of Glendale in Southern Arizona, with a casino to be the project that arrives on completion.
Glendale has quite strongly opposed the plans to give the land to the tribe, stating that they feel the city itself was not consulted during the process.
The state legislature are now mulling over the issue, with one bill in particular aimed at preventing the tribe from making headway on their project.
The tribe made a formal statement on the issue last month: ‘This legislation is nothing more than a full scale assault on the sovereign rights of all 21 of Arizona’s Indian tribes.’
The man who has sponsored the bill that seeks to prevent building, Rep Jerry Weiers, told Businessweek: ‘We’re simply saying if they want to build motels or hotels or swimming pools or bars or restaurants they can do that. They just would not be able to build a casino there.’
Gambling at land based casino, including table games of Blackjack and Omaha Poker, is enjoying considerable growth in the United States.
