Ducey offers smart way past tribal gaming fight
Gov. Doug Ducey’s deal to resolve the dispute over the Tohono O’odham casino near Glendale looks like a smart proposal. One that could bring healing to the state’s tribes and restore public confidence that tribal gaming will not turn Arizona into a mini-Las Vegas. The West Valley casino was a breach of the spirit of the 2002 agreement with voters that created a framework for limited tribal gaming, and it was a breach of trust with other Native American nations. It led to controversy, legal battles and plenty of hard feelings.
The main player — the Tohono O’odham Nation — has not signed on to Ducey’s plan, and it may well hope for a better deal through the courts.
But Ducey has identified a way forward that would end a lawsuit and make the Tohono O’odham’s West Valley casino much more lucrative now.
The governor’s plan recognizes the reality of the Desert Diamond Casino West Valley and gives the Tohono O’odham the full-scale urban casino the nation wants. It currently operates more limited gaming under a Class II license.
The governor’s plan has buy-in from 10 other tribes, including those that objected to what they saw as unfair competition from the Tohono O’odham.
In return for signing on, other Native American groups would get to increase gaming operations, which means increased revenue for them and for the state.
Arizona’s revenue-sharing agreement under the current gaming compacts brings in about $100 million a year.
Ducey’s plan could settle a lawsuit brought by the Tohono O’odham after Arizona denied a Class III gaming license for the West Valley casino. That lawsuit remains the tribe’s ace card, and it is unclear whether the Tohono O’odham are willing to give it up.
The nation has good cause to do so: Court cases can drag on for a very long time and Ducey’s proposal provides immediate benefits.
It would give the Tohono O’odham the Class III license, which permits more extensive gambling activities. But the tribe would have to agree not to build more casinos in the Phoenix metro area and to limit gaming to the tribal land that existed in 2003.
The Tohono O’odham has said they would agree to “language regarding no new casinos in the Phoenix area during the current compact,” according to a press release from tribal officials.
The Tohono O’odham’s statement also says it wants to consider “any proposed compact amendment” under the framework of the Arizona Indian Gaming Association.
But the Gila River Indian Community and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, which are two of the biggest players in metro-Phoenix gaming, both resigned from the AIGA in May saying, “actions of the Tohono O’odham Nation to secretly develop a casino in direct opposition to the promises made by AIGA and other tribes has destroyed AIGA’s unity and undermined the principles of the organization.”
The Tohono O’odham has won court battles, and accepting Ducey’s plan would mean walking away from litigation that it might yet win again.
But at what cost? Continuing the fight will continue to inflict wounds.
Stephen Roe Lewis of the Gila River Indian Community, one of the harshest critics of the West Valley casino, signed Ducey’s plan and called it a way to move beyond intertribal disagreements. “It’s a win-win for everybody,” he said.
If the Tohono O’odham go along, it would restore credibility to gaming compacts. And that would begin necessary healing among tribes and between the Tohono O’odham and the state.