In a heated 4 ½-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 Arizona Republic’s coverage by Peter Corbett and Kaila White says 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.
The deal with the Tohono O’odhams clears another hurdle in the tribe’s push to build the casino southeast of Loop 101 and Northern Avenue.
Some residents and council members said the deal would shortchange Glendale.
“What we are being presented with tonight is peanuts compared to what other cities have negotiated,” said Councilman Manny Martinez, who voted no.
Mayor Jerry Weiers and Vice Mayor Yvonne Knaack joined Martinez in opposing it. Council members Gary Sherwood, Sam Chivera Ian Hugh and Norma Alvarez voted in favor.
