Arizona attempts to block casino opening

Arizona Department of Gaming director Daniel Bergin, in a letter to the Tohono O’odham Nation, said the state could block the casino opening based upon, “fraud perpetuated by (the tribe) upon the state, Arizona gaming tribes and the state’s voters.”

Gov. Doug Ducey supports the position of the Department of Gaming and requested that the department deny the tribe’s approval of the casino.

In an April 8 letter to Bergin, Ducey wrote the tribe is attempting "to force a casino on the people of Arizona, rather than allow the legal process to play out.... It also appears to be a calculated risk by Tohono O'odham that ... they are building a structure that will never qualify for its intended purpose as a gaming facility."

In a strongly worded response, Tohono O’odham Nation’s attorney, former U.S. Solicitor General Seth Waxman, said “ADG - which calls itself an independent regulatory body - appears to have changed its position based on improper political pressure, not reasoned decision-making. ADG’s new position overreaches the bounds of ADG’s authority, ignores the express requirements of the compact, and flouts the federal district court’s considered judgment.”

The Tohono O’odham quickly responded to the attempt to stop the casino.

“In a blatant abuse of power, Governor Ducey and Attorney General Mark Brnovich's office improperly politicized the decision-making of an independent regulatory agency, ADG, in an ongoing attempt to create a no-competition zone for two East Valley tribes, the Gila River and Salt River Indian Communities,” said Tohono O’odham Chairman Ned Norris Jr. in a press release. “This unlawful action seeks to halt the Tohono O’odham Nation’s West Valley Resort, the first phase of which is already under construction and will be completed in the fourth quarter of 2015.”

The Tohono O’odham Nation is a federally-recognized Indian tribe, with reservation lands in Maricopa County, Pinal County, and Pima County, Arizona.  The West Valley Resort is located on the Nation's reservation land at 95th and Northern avenues.

Norris was quick to point out that the Nation felt targeted and that the new project had already added more than 1,300 jobs to the West Valley and it will continue with the construction.

“I wasn't sure it was possible, but the opposition has stooped to a new low. Unbelievably, the governor and the attorney general have put ADG in an untenable position by instructing them to ignore the law,” Norris said. “The Nation is committed to providing these thousands of jobs to the people of the West Valley, and this latest political strong-arm tactic will not deter our efforts.”

The tribe is in the first phase of building the West Valley Resort and Casino at Northern and 95th with a projected opening in December.