Another side to Skywalk dispute

As a Las Vegas businessman, I've had the good fortune to work with the members of northern Arizona's Hualapai Tribe for more than 20 years. I have brought hundreds of thousands of tourists from around the world to visit the beautiful Western Rim of the Grand Canyon, owned by the Hualapai Nation.

In 1996, I approached the Hualapai Tribe with an idea to build the Grand Canyon Skywalk, a one-of-a-kind glass bridge extending 4,000 feet over the Canyon floor. The Skywalk opened in 2007 and has exponentially increased tourism to Grand Canyon West by creating hundreds of jobs and attracting more than 1.5 million visitors.

I signed over ownership of the Skywalk and a beautiful new visitors center to the Hualapai people. We signed a contract that allows me to recoup my $30 million investment by handling day-to-day operations of the Skywalk in a 25-year management agreement.

Since opening the attraction four years ago, I have not received millions of dollars the Hualapai Tribal Council owes me for managing the Skywalk. They continue to collect profits, yet refuse to distribute the money to me or the Hualapai people.

Now the Hualapai Tribal Council is threatening to keep my entire investment by using an over-reaching government tactic known as eminent domain. This is clearly a desperate attempt to avoid opening their books and paying me three years of back-owed profits. The council members appear to be equally desperate to convince the media and the public that this action is justified ("Skywalk mess," Wednesday Review-Journal commentary).

The Tribal Council claims that I abandoned the visitors center and left it unfinished. The truth is, two years ago the Hualapai Tribal Council issued a stop-work order to block me from finishing the building. According to their public meeting minutes, they were concerned the new Skywalk restaurant would compete with the food service the Tribe operates at the Grand Canyon.

These council members plan to seize my assets, valued at nearly $100 million, because they claim I am obligated to provide power, sewer and water utilities to the area and have not done so. In reality, the Tribal Council has failed to bring this infrastructure to the Skywalk so the visitors center can be completed and open to the public.

Earlier this year, the former Hualapai chairman issued a public notice announcing that the tribe was awarded a $13 million federal grant to bring water to Grand Canyon West. It also stated they applied for a $3.5 million grant to bring power to the area. Why did the Tribal Council apply for federal grants if they expected me to bring utilities?

I am disheartened to engage in a legal battle with members of the Tribal Council -- let alone be forced to respond to their negative commentary in this newspaper. However, I must protect my substantial investment. I believe this is a case of a few elected officials working to cover up the mismanagement of their books, without the full backing of the Hualapai people.

In fact, the Hualapai people recently had to remove the chairman of their tribe for inappropriately spending tribal money.

The Hualapai Tribal Council has a moral and contractual obligation to abide by our signed contract and go to arbitration, which is the mediated process we agreed to use to resolve any disputes involving the Skywalk. I am more than happy to have a third party resolve these issues. Unfortunately, the Tribal Council objected to arbitration as recently as a few days ago in Hualapai Tribal Court in Arizona.

Why won't they distribute the millions of dollars sitting in our shared bank account to their people?

Why are they instead spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on high-priced attorneys?

Why are they paying a public relations firm to tarnish my name after I invested millions of dollars to create jobs and improve their economy?

The Hualapai people must decide if they will allow this eminent domain law to stand. If the Hualapai Tribal Council seizes my assets through eminent domain, it will impact tribal people far beyond the Hualapai borders. No businessperson will have confidence investing in tribal communities if the Hualapai Tribal Council shows the world that they will not honor the contracts they sign.

The members of the Tribal Council owe me and the Hualapai people a simple and clear resolution: Abide by our contract, attend the arbitration and open your books.

David Jin is a Las Vegas businessman and the developer of the Grand Canyon Skywalk.