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November 6th, 2012 | no responses
By Kevin Fagen, San Francisco Chronicle
Two impoverished Indian tribes in Central California have received preliminary approval to be the first in the state to build casinos off their tribal reservations ? a move some say is long overdue, while others worry it may lead to a new boom in casinos.
On one hand, advocates for existing Indian gaming palaces hate the idea of more competition in an already crowded gambling market. And some residents have complained that they don?t want more gamblers around.
On the other hand, local businesses and the two tribes say they are hungry for the customers and millions of dollars that new casinos would probably generate.
Hovering over these competing emotions is the fear that by approving two off-reservation casinos, federal and state officials may have opened the door for more off-reservation operations elsewhere, including in the Bay Area.
The biggest of the two tribes is the 1,950-member North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians, located near Oakhurst in Madera County. It wants to build a 2,000-slot-machine casino just north of Fresno, about 38 miles from the rancheria.
The casino would annually pump more than $100 million in wages and other revenue into the local economy, the tribe says.
The other tribe is the 800-member Enterprise Rancheria of Maidu Indians, near Oroville in Butte County. It also wants to build a 2,000-slot casino, and would locate it 32 miles south near Marysville in Yuba County. The tribe says its operation would generate a $280 million annual boost to the local economy.
Opening the door
?If these actually go through and get built, this could kick open the door big-time for more casinos everywhere,? said Cheryl Schmit, director of Stand Up for California, a nonprofit that focuses on gambling issues. ?The Bay Area would not be safe; nowhere would.?
Gov. Jerry Brown approved the North Fork and Enterprise casino plans on Aug. 30 ? but in his approval announcement he noted that he doubts other tribes will be able to follow suit.
In a letter notifying U.S. Secretary of the Interior Kenneth Salazar of his decision, Brown said there were ?exceptional circumstances? ? such as historical connections to the land ? that persuaded him to give the go-ahead, and because of that ?I expect there will be few requests from other tribes.?
The agreements next need approval from the state Legislature and the federal Department of Interior, which already gave its tentative OK.
California?s Indian casino market is the biggest in the nation. Fifty-nine of the state?s 109 federally recognized tribes run gaming operations that rake in a combined $7.5 billion a year.
David Quintana, political director of the California Tribal Business Alliance, said allowing the two new casinos to open and compete with existing ones ? such as Thunder Valley, near the Enterprise operation, and Chukchansi Gold, near North Fork?s ? is ?a horrible decision.?
?This turns the idea of Indian gambling on its head,? said Quintana, whose alliance represents tribes around the state. ?This will create what I call ?a new Gold Rush? in California.?
He noted that under the laws approved in 2000 to expand Indian gambling in California, tribes that have no casino are supposed to get about $1 million a year from those that do.
?The idea of allowing gambling was that if you can put a casino on your land, that?s awesome, but if not, you don?t,? he said. ?These two casinos do have land, but it?s just not in areas that are good for putting up a casino. So they shouldn?t be doing this.?
Objections dismissed
Richard Lehman, a former congressman and now an advocate in Sacramento for the North Fork Rancheria, dismissed such opposition as ?disingenuous.?
He noted that once the Federal Register publishes the new casino agreements, the casino lands will be put in trust for both tribes, ?and it will then be part of their reservations.?
?The North Fork people are good people, they played by the rules with a transparent process, and they deserve this opportunity,? he said.
Charles Banks-Altekruse, a consultant and spokesman for both tribes, echoed Lehman, saying the casinos will ?bring jobs and critical investment to these needy areas of the Central Valley.
?These casinos will bring in thousands of jobs, and that is a huge benefit,? he said. ?People who say we?ve got too many casinos already ? well, I say we should let the market determine that. And I don?t think anyone could ever say we have too many jobs.?
Among those opposing the proposed casinos is Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who didn?t want to see an off-reservation precedent set. And Yuba County voters in 2005 expressed opposition to the Enterprise project.
However, the Madera County Board of Supervisors and the Madera Chamber of Commerce have been among those advocating for the North Fork operation, saying it will bring in needed money.
In Yuba County, meanwhile, Supervisor Mary Jane Griego helped lead a county study showing that the Enterprise casino would bring in $5 million in fees to the county every year.
?The 2005 vote was funded by surrounding casinos who clearly had their own interests at heart, and they put out ads scaring people that a new casino would bring in prostitution and crime,? Griego said. ?But this casino would actually be a great economic engine for our county, and under our agreement local would be preferential hiring treatment.
?It would be good thing for us.?
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