Albuquerque – Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr. on Monday appointed a chief executive to head the tribe’s gambling enterprise – a move that should fast-track development of casinos on the country’s largest Indian reservation.
Robert Winter, a New Jersey lawyer who works with several tribes on resort development projects and casino management, will oversee the Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise Board once he is confirmed by the tribal council’s Economic Development Committee.
“I am certain that when its members review his credentials, they will be as impressed with him as I am,” Shirley told delegates in Window Rock, Ariz., as they met for the first day of their spring session.
Voters approved gambling on the reservation in 2001, and the tribal council approved a central board in September to oversee and manage casinos built on Navajo land.
Delegate Ervin Keeswood, whose chapter of Tse’ Daa’ Kaan has the tribe’s only local gaming board, commended Shirley for “moving forward on matters of importance.”
Winter’s appointment “brings added value to this whole initiative of bringing gaming to Navajo,” Keeswood said.
Winter, reached by telephone Monday, said the Navajo Nation asked him to help speed up the Church Rock operation and help in getting other potential facilities running.
“I’m looking forward to working with the nation to increase its potential to have fair and profitable gaming for its people,” he said.
Winter was chosen from among three finalists who were interviewed for the post. Terms of his contract should be available within the next two weeks, Shirley said.
Winter served as vice president and general counsel for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation in Connecticut from 1993-98. He negotiated contracts for the multimillion-dollar construction of that tribe’s casino resort.
From 1989-93, Winter was assistant attorney general in New Jersey.
