The mayor of Glendale, Arizona, said she welcomes the Tohono O'odham Nation -- as long as the tribe doesn't use its land for a casino.

The tribe owns 134 acres near Glendale. The land is unincorporated but the city has been trying to annex it without the tribe's consent.

"We respect the right of the Tohono O'odham nation to develop the 134-acres of land they own if done as every other land owner and developer has done and will do in the future," Mayor Elaine Scruggs said at a forum in which the tribe was not invited to speak, The Glendale Star reported.

"The land does not need to be removed from state and local jurisdiction and converted into an Indian reservation for the nation to build the office buildings, hotels and resorts and shopping centers and residents that they speak of," she said.

A federal judge has blocked the city from annexing the tribe's land.

Get the Story:
Chamber of Commerce hosts casino opposition luncheon (The Glendale Star 8/18)

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