Governor Signs Two New Compacts – Another Long Battle Brewing?

Governor Schwarzenegger announced last Monday the signing of two related tribal-state gaming compacts with the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians and the Wiyot Tribe.

If approved by the Legislature, the North Fork compact would allow the tribe 2,500 slot machines at a site off Highway 99 just north of Madera, about 35 miles from the tribe's traditional home in the Sierra foothills.

It would be the state's first off-reservation casino.

The rub is that the North Fork must get the 305-acre site put into federal trust, a process that could still take many months and along with that would be the inevitable strong opposition from casino-operating tribes in the area and anti-gambling groups who say it sets a bad precedent of "reservation shopping."

The compacts are the first of their kind in a few ways… another evolution… which calls for the North Fork Rancheria to share a small fraction of casino revenues with the Wiyot tribe on California's North Coast. In return for the estimated $3 million to $5 million in annual payments, the 600-member Wiyot tribe has agreed to forgo its right to game on tribal lands along Humboldt Bay near Eureka.

Also a first is that the North Fork compact includes that in addition to providing for an annual independent audit, the compact allows the state to conduct its own annual audit.

It is also the first to include comprehensive provisions relating to employment discrimination and minimum internal control standards (MICS).

"The compacts avoid construction of a casino along California's coast and in the Sierra foothills while respecting both tribes' sovereign right to pursue economic development through gaming and other means," Schwarzenegger said in a statement.

The state would stand to receive about $25 million a year out of profits from slot machines and banked card games, the governor estimated.

Senator Dean Florez, a longtime opponent of the North Fork casino, wasted no time in coming down hard on the Governor's proposal. He said the Governor is defying voter’s wishes by encouraging an Indian tribe to establish a casino in an urban area. "Placing a casino along Highway 99 right at the foot of the city of Fresno is certainly an urban casino -- there is no other way to see it," state Florez said in an e-mail.

Alison Harvey, who is the executive director of the California Tribal Business Alliance, which represents several casino-operating tribes in Northern and Southern California, chimed in with,” The administration is just opening the door to all the other tribes that have land that is not commercially situated for a casino.”

Administration officials touted strong local support for the casino, citing a phone survey of area residents. The casino also has the backing of the Madera County Board of Supervisors.

Florez questioned the phone survey's validity and called for a vote of the people.

"Relying on a telephone poll, by all means, hurts North Fork's chances for ratification of their compact in the Legislature, and it certainly hurts the tribe's credibility in any claim that they have local community support," he said.

North Fork chairwoman Elaine Bethel Fink said the tribe would be OK with a local vote if the governor requested one.

"We've got so much local support," she said.

The 1,700-member tribe has been pursuing the casino since 2004.

Some of the loudest opposition is coming from other Valley tribes.

With easy access to bustling Highway 99, the planned $250 million casino would likely draw customers from tribal casinos in nearby Coarsegold and Friant.

"We believe that all tribes deserve to have gaming .... but gaming should be done on Indian lands," said Morris Reid, chairman of the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians, which operates the Coarsegold casino.

Schwarzenegger said he would not seek legislative approval on the compact until the federal government puts the land into trust. The Interior Department is not expected to rule until the end of the year at the earliest. The North Fork casino recently cleared one important hurdle when federal officials considered it within "commutable" distance from the tribe's original reservation.

The governor announced the North Fork compact now in order to give the public more time to review it, administration officials said. Other observers said the timing allows Schwarzenegger to include projected state revenue from the deal in his latest budget plan, to be unveiled next month.

Sources:
http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/558491-p2.html
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=12249
http://www.kget.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=73ebeb8e-27f4-4937-b149-00cafa9bdd27