In a heated 4½-hour meeting, the Glendale City Council voted Tuesday to approve a deal with the Tohono O’odham Nation that will bring $26 million to city coffers over 20 years, completing the city’s about-face on the tribe’s planned casino near Westgate Entertainment District.

The TON Casino & Resort has been knocking at Glendale’s door since January 2009, when the O’odham Nation first announced the community’s gaming plans for a West Valley casino. Such a casino, right off the Loop 101, would create untold competition for the Gila River Indian Community, a tribe that currently has the West Valley’s only casino — Vee Quiva Hotel & Casino about 25 miles away from the proposed site of the TON’s resort-style casino.

The council listened to dozens of residents’ comments in a packed council chamber before approving the deal in support of the Southern Arizona tribe’s $400 million casino project on reservation land.

Some residents and council members said the deal will shortchange Glendale.

The nearly two dozen residents who spoke at the meeting were split on the casino development. Some argued it would increase crime and lead to further gambling addiction. They also complained that the decision was being rushed.

“What we are being presented with tonight is peanuts compared to what other cities have negotiated,” Councilman Manny Martinez said.

Tohono O’odham cleared all legal hurdles to build the Glendale casino

The deal with Glendale and the Tohono O’odhams clears another hurdle in the tribe’s push to build the casino southeast of Loop 101 and Northern Avenue.

The agreement, approved 4-3, will also bring in $2 million for the city’s Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Councilmembers Gary Sherwood, Norma Alvarez, Ian Hugh and Sam Chavira voted for the casino. Mayor Jerry Weiers and Councilmembers Yvonne Knaack and Martinez voted no.

Others said they favored the casino, arguing that it would bring entertainment, jobs and much-needed revenue to Glendale.

The Rev. Jarrett Maupin said Glendale is in no position to ask for a better deal because it has opposed the tribe for the past five years.

“These are peace talks,” Maupin said. “You lost the war.”

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As we were writing the Tohono O’odham casino in Glendale would be moving ahead yesterday, (see Tohono O’odham Nation Moving Ahead with $500 M West Valley Casino / Resort)
U.S. Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake of Arizona were busy introducing a bill to prohibit any new casinos in metropolitan Phoenix. The measure aims to stop a proposal by the Tohono O’odham Nation to build a major casino resort on its land less than two miles from Jobing.com Arena and University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale. The legislation is a companion bill to U.S. House Bill 1410, which was introduced by Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona and approved by the House in September.

The Tohono O’odham Reservation largely falls in Tucson and further south. The tribe is using a congressional settlement to designate the land near Glendale as a reservation.

“Despite the opposition’s latest efforts, we are confident that Congress, like so many others, will recognize the incredible benefits the West Valley Resort will provide to the region and all of Arizona,” Tohono O’odham Chairman Ned Norris Jr. said.

The Glendale City Council opposed the casino plan for years but recently shifted its position, opposing HB 1410 and supporting the casino plans.

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