By Dennis Wagner | The Arizona Republic
Hualapai voters in northern Arizona on Wednesday recalled two Tribal Council members who had been leaders in the takeover of the Grand Canyon Skywalk from a Las Vegas tourism company.
Incumbents Charlie Vaughn and Candida Hunter were voted out just days after a tribal business filed for bankruptcy protection in response to a $28.6 million federal judgment in favor of David Jin, the Nevada developer who built Skywalk.
Dave Cieslak, a Hualapai spokesman, said the ballot count was 264-128 against Vaughn and 220-171 against Hunter. After the Tribal Council formally accepts those results, he said, a special election would be called to fill the vacant seats.
Neither Vaughn nor Hunter could be reached for comment.
The recall outcome and pending election of new council members adds a new dimension to the years-long legal dispute over the Skywalk, a glass- bottomed overlook on the West Rim. The tourist attraction was built in 2007 at an estimated cost of $30 million by Jin’s Grand Canyon Skywalk Development in a partnership with a wholly owned tribal business known as Sa’ Nyu Wa.
Also: Suit filed to block uranium mine
