Tribes like the corruption riddled Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians REALLY don't want to lose market share. They got theirs, so they want to keep it, not expand gaming. We don't support off reservation casinos, but with the choice being helping Chukchansi, it's hard to choose the right thing.
Opponents, including the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians near Temecula and Morongo Band of Mission Indians near Banning, argue that the pact will lead to “casino-shopping” by tribes and investors trying to open casinos in places such as Barstow. Funny how Pechanga didn't care about the law when they added Class II machines to their limit of 2,000 machines against state law...
Supporters of a controversial casino agreement between the state and a Madera County tribe have opened a fundraising committee. The action comes two weeks before the deadline for the deal’s opponents to turn in voter signatures seeking to put the issue on the ballot.
If it qualifies for the June 2014 ballot, the referendum on this year’s legislation ratifying the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians’ compact would be the first since voters considered casino-expansion deals for a trio of Riverside County tribes in February 2008.
A committee called “Voters for Central Valley Jobs and the Environment, a coalition of tribes, labor organizations, business and environmental groups, North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians and Station Casino LLC” this week filed paperwork with the secretary of state’s office. Las Vegas-based Station Casino is the developer of the North Fork project.
The committee has not reported any contributions.
Ratified by the Legislature in June, the agreement between the North Fork tribe and the Brown administration allows the tribe to open a casino with 2,000 slot machines along Highway 99 in Madera, about 38 miles west of the its rural reservation near Yosemite National Park.
Supporters, including the Brown administration and the California Labor Federation, say the 20-year pact would help the economy in the high-unemployment Central Valley.
12 comments:
I wonder if the State could yank compacts away from tribes that engage in anti-competitive strategies that unduly burden the goal of Indian gaming in California?
IGRA is not my specialty, so I don't know if that's legally feasible.
I wonder why the Brown administration really supports this?, I am sure it is not because they really care about Native Americans. Is Howard Dickstein somehow involved too? It sucks when you want to be happy for the tribe to try and do good for their people, but then when you read between the lines and look at the sources behind the project, it makes you hold back. I sure hope this is not some loophole that some lawyers found in order to make this idea abundant. It really has become a lawyers playground where they all win and the team captains make multi-millions.
Why would the state yank anything when they get 30 million a year from the Pechanga Casino ?
Rookie comment,
Isn't the station casinos owned by the Maloofs.or at least a good percentage.check the history of the station casinos, and "BAM" there is howard prickstien, and robber smith.
Woohoo North Fork!!!
Woohoo North Fork!!!
Whatever happened to all the money that we Californians were going to get from the expanded gaming?
It went in robert smiths pocket!!!!
I am so tired of these casino tribes throwing road blocks to prevent other tribes from getting the chance to compete. What makes them so special? There were strings pulled and favors involved for them to get casinos, now they are fronting the likes of Sheryl Schmitt and her so called Stand Up For California group. Talk about dirty hands !! She is no better than those thugs that try to stop Wal Mart Super stores. If its good for one tribe, then the other tribe should too. These tribes have had to go well beyond what the already established casino tribes did. It's just not right for Indian to fight Indian. Karma is something that will bite hard" Indians have a hard enough time, with the likes of Cheryl and those who don't want the casinos.
Indian v Indian country. Why? Greed and competition, these casino tribes have lost their native way. Competition is good and it usually weeds out the weak. Northern California needs help with the economy and these tribes have jumped through every hoop and still have to fight their own people. It would be interesting to see what Pechanga ,Colusa,Thunder Valley and others did to get their casinos. Where is the fairness. Get past the Greed !!!!
I totally agree with anon. above. He asks why. If these greedy Native Americans, that already have casinos in CA.,keep trying to stop other tribes they are just going to get hurt themselves. They think by linking up with Cheryl Schmitt (non-native) and groups like that will stop the other casinos from being built. Where do you people have your heads??? This my friends is just the beginning of stopping all INDIAN CASINOS. Native Americans woke up one day and had the right to have casinos and have you noticed all the racist slurs towards our fellow NATIVE brothers? We fight against our own and these others are just fueling the fire. I'd like to see the sign "STOP CHERYL SCHMITT" STOP Them all, not our Native Brothers.
Try to keep in mind, the California voters specifically chose to allow gaming on tribal land not next to freeways where they bought land. The question is why is the Governor allowing this at all.
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