Leaders to discuss casino sites
Shirley wants to meet with Gallup mayor to mull potential locations

By Bill Donovan
Staff writer

GALLUP — The question surrounding whether Gallup will have a Navajo casino built nearby is not an if. It's a when.

That question is expected to be answered soon by Navajo tribal officials.

Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. said this week that he wants to meet with Gallup Mayor Bob Rosebrough soon, and that's one of the two issues the two leaders are expected to discuss.

Shirley said he didn't have a date in mind for the meeting but he wanted to have it "in the near future."

Rosebrough said he and Shirley discussed having a meeting a couple of weeks ago when Shirley came to his office and delivered a letter of support for the way Rosebrough was handling the liquor issue in Gallup.

The two leaders have met at various meetings and functions over the past two and a half years but Shirley said it was time that the two get together to talk about some of the issues that affect the relationship of the city and the tribe. This includes the proposed Navajo-Gallup water pipeline and plans by the tribe to build in the next few years several casinos in areas surrounding the reservation.

One area the tribe is looking at is Gallup, but exactly where the casino will be located is still up in the area. The Manuelito chapter just west of Gallup and the Iyanbito Chapter just east of Gallup have both indicated they would like to see a casino built in their area.

Church Rock, on the city's northeast boundary, has also expressed an interest in the past and Shirley this week said that one of the possibilities is for the tribe to make use of Red Rock Park.

The park, which is on state land, could not be used as a site for a casino because federal law requires tribes to build casinos on trust land but the tribe does have trust land just west of the park and could make use of the park to hold events that would attract customers to the casino.

This brings the issue to the city since it operates the park or at least did until a private company was given a lease to do the actual operation. But the city still controls the park and any use by the tribe would have to get city approval.

Rosebrough said the door is open to a possible agreement with the tribe, pointing out that he has spoken in favor of partnerships with the county and other governments and doing one with the tribe would fit in with this philosophy.

For the city, it's a win situation since the city is now spending more than $600,000 a year subsidizing operations at the park.

No decision has been made as yet as to where the casinos will be located.

Currently 13 chapters located all over the reservation have passed resolutions in support of casinos in their areas, but the most the tribe will approve, said Shirley, is probably five. Any more than that and the casinos will be competing against each other, in Shirley's mind, and this will just make it harder for them to show a profit.

The Manuelito proposal, which just a few months ago seemed to have the best chance, is now facing stiff competition from Iyanbito.

The Manuelito proposal called for building a casino at about milepost 8 east of Gallup but the problem there is that there is a off-ramp only coming from the east and not the west. Westbound traffic, if another off-ramp is not built, would have to go to Gallup and then come back.

Shirley had hoped to have the first casinos under construction this summer, but delays have occurred as the tribe hunts for someone who has experience in casino operations to be the first tribal director for the gaming office.

Shirley said the tribe is currently negotiating with an individual no names have been released but he hopes to have that contract finalized by the end of the month so the person selected would be on board when the tribal council holds a special session on gaming in early September.