SPOKANE — Two Spokane County commissioners are asking the Bureau of Indian Affairs to overturn a contract that blocks the county from taking sides on an American Indian tribe’s proposed casino in the Spokane suburb of Airway Heights.
County Commissioners Al French and Todd Mielke voted last week to send the request to BIA Assistant Secretary Kevin Washburn.
The resolution asks the BIA if a 2010 contract signed by the county with the Spokane Tribe and the city of Airway Heights is invalid. French wasn’t on the commission when that deal was signed. Mielke voted against the contract, which would give the county a cut of the revenue from the not-yet-built casino. In return, the county agreed to remain neutral on the project.
The proposed casino would be built in Airway Heights, not far from the Kalispel Tribe’s Northern Quest Resort and Casino.