California Indian Casino News

Federal Court Dismisses Amador County Lawsuit - Buena Vista Rancheria Compact Stands

4 years after being filed, federal district court Judge Richard W. Roberts ruled last Thursday to dismiss Amador County's lawsuit against the U.S. Department of the Interior and then-Secretary Dirk Kempthorne for the de facto approval of an amended compact between the state of California and the Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians.

De-facto in that Kempthorne never decided on way or the other on the amended compact when it was submitted to him in 2004. But under federal statute, if no decision is granted after 45 days, the compact is considered approved.

The Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians, a five-member band headed by chairwoman Rhonda Morningstar Pope, originally sought to build a casino to house 2,000 slots but after months of negotiations with the county, agreed to scale back the plans to 1,150 slots and 40 gaming tables.

But even after those negotiations the county, along with the Ione City Council, the Ione Band of Miwok Indians, who are pursuing their own casino project near Plymouth, and an anti-casino group called Friends of Amador County, continued to pursue legal avenues to block the construction of the casino.

Judge Robert’s main reason to dismiss the case was based on Kempthorne’s lack of making a decision which ultimately made the compacts approval "unreviewable."

Amador County officials are considering their options which could include some sort of an appeal.

Source:
http://www.ledger-dispatch.com/news/newsview.asp?c=252539&topStory=1



Yolo County and Rumsey Band Going Into Arbitration

Under the terms of the Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians compact with the state, if the Tribe and Yolo County cannot come to an agreement on ways for the tribe to mitigate the impacts of the future expansion of the Rumsey’s Cache Creek Casino Resort then they must go into private arbitration.

Negotiations came to an end on Monday of this week, so arbitration is likely.

The Tribe’s compact requires that an arbitrator be chosen by following the procedures outlined by the American Arbitration Association.

During negotiations both sides submitted written offers but, in the end, could not come to an agreement. The deadline to submit the offers was Jan. 5.

The Rumsey Band wants to add 467 hotel rooms, a 62,500-square-foot event center and thousands of square feet of dining, shopping and gambling areas which will triple the overall size of the complex from 414,000 square feet to more than 1.2 million square feet over the next couple years.

Randy Takemoto, general manager of the casino, said that the Tribe submitted a written offer that went above and beyond its legal obligations under the compact. The offer included detailed ways in which it would enhance such services, such as, transportation, law enforcement, and education.

The Tribe also offered to pay the County for tax revenues it would otherwise recover from the Tribe's business if it were not a sovereign entity. Pretty generous in my view and something the county may not get out of arbitration.

Its interesting to note that the Tribe and county actually agree on what the total cost to mitigate the impacts of the casino expansion would be… $3.4 million per year. It seems the dispute lies on when the money will be given to the County and how the money will be spent to handle increased traffic.

Seems a shame that they are that close but cannot come to a compromise.

It’s also a shame that Yolo County voted 4-1 to use $800,000 out of existing mitigation funds to help pay for the arbitration.. money that should be going to support community programs.

Sources:
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/news/ci_11443755
http://www.sacbee.com/yolo/story/1521831.html
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/ci_11392502