Garden Grove Getting a Slot Machine Casino?

The Gabrielino-Tongva Tribe wants to open a slot machine casino just outside of Disneyland in the town of Garden Grove. The tribe is actually looking to open two lavish hotels that would rival Vegas for their slot machines. The two casinos would hold 7,500 slot machines, a stadium, and two hotels. And if Garden Grove lets them come there, every high school graduate in Garden Grove would receive a college scholarship.

The casino is not only promising scholarships, but they are also saying that they would give $5.1 billion to the city over the next 30 years, and almost 10,000 permanent jobs. They would also give them $100 million to make infrastructure improvements in the city, something they could really use.

The tribe says that with so many people coming to Disneyland every year, those millions of people could be coming to the tribe’s casino as well. They say that everyone will benefit from this, the city, the workers, the tribe – it is a win-win for everyone involved. Unfortunately, for the tribe, they are not the first ones to pitch a casino to the city.

There was talk some time back of Steve Wynn opening a casino in the city with a San Diego County tribe, but that ended up falling flat of expectations. The city says that this plan is further along than the last one was, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything to them. They say that there are lots of plans that have come through their town, but none seem to stick.

Even some within the tribe think that it is all smoke and no substance – of course that would be the group trying to take over leadership within the tribe and could be a bit biased. But the tribe does not have federal land, so they would have to get the state to allow them to build a casino somewhere else.

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