Tribe distrusts freeway talk

Gila River governor clarifies stance on 202

Betty Beard
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 23, 2005

The Gila River Indian Community remains opposed to putting the South Mountain Freeway on its reservation because of the noise and pollution and distrust that has developed in past relations with non-Indians, Gov. Richard Narcia said Thursday.

Narcia asked for a meeting with The Arizona Republic's editorial board to clarify the community's position on the freeway, saying it has been skewed in some accounts.

He recited several cases in which Phoenix, the Arizona Department of Transportation and other entities have broken agreements or treated the community disrespectfully or not consulted it ahead of time.  

"They give us something to look at, and in some instances it is already decided," he said.

A continuation of broken promises is one reason he said the community passed a resolution in 2001 opposing any freeway on the reservation. In the 1980s, the community had tried to get a freeway on the reservation.

He cited the fact that Phoenix once told the community it wanted to extend 48th Street south from Ahwatukee Foothills to the reservation. As a result, the community had built its Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa on 48th Street. But Phoenix ended up putting a park at 48th Street, north of Pecos Road, and the Gila River community now has to move its streets around.

Another issue still bothering the community is that federal officials never fulfilled some promises to put in certain improvements along Interstate 10, such as frontage roads.

Also, so far, residents of the Gila River community's western District 6 remain opposed to the freeway, and as long as they object, the Gila River Community Council will also object, Narcia said.

"The district objects to it pretty much for the same reasons Ahwatukee Foothills objects to it. They don't want the noise or the pollution," he said.

Narcia also said that even though his three terms as governor ends next week, that decisions are ultimately up to the 17-member council, not the governor or lieutenant governor. In fact, the governor and lieutenant governor cannot vote unless there is a tie.

So even though William "Bill" Rhodes will take over as governor in January, Narcia said any freeway action would be up to the council. Rhodes has declined to comment, saying he didn't want to interfere in Narcia's term.

When asked if Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano's intervention on the state's behalf would persuade the community council to change its mind, Narcia said not necessarily.

"The bottom line is what is good for the community as a whole. That would be the overriding factor," he said.

Gary Bohnee, community's spokesman, said, "The characterization that the community is saying 'no' (on the freeway) just to say 'no' is kind of a mischaracterization. Because I think that if you look back on some of these projects, the community has always tried to put a good foot forward, at least when asked to participate.

"It's not as if we're not participating at all. It's just a matter of getting that respect."