9.19.07
Big Lagoon tribe, Los Coyotes band may revive talks with on another anyway
By James P. Sweeney
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
SACRAMENTO – Blocked by powerful tribal opponents, gambling agreements that authorized the Los Coyotes band of San Diego County and another tribe to build large, off-reservation casinos in Barstow have expired.
The passing of a midnight Monday deadline to have land eligible for the joint project rendered the compacts “null and void,” said a spokeswoman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who negotiated the deals.
However, the bid by Los Coyotes and the Big Lagoon tribe of Humboldt County to build side-by-side casinos along a popular route to Las Vegas may not be dead.
"Within the next few weeks we'll meet with Big Lagoon and Barstow and try to get a meeting with the governor's office . . . to see what options are open," said Shane Chapparosa, vice chairman of Los Coyotes.
Jason Barnett, a spokesman for Big Lagoon, said "the compacts have expired but that doesn't necessarily mean we're at the end here."
The administration also said Barstow remains its preferred alternative to a casino on Big Lagoon's environmentally sensitive reservation along the Northern California coast.
The compacts never developed much traction after they were signed two years ago. They were conceived as a compromise after the Big Lagoon tribe sued the state, seeking a compact to develop its coastal property.
Without a compact, the Big Lagoon tribe may ask the court to push ahead with the litigation.
The off-reservation casino proposals were always controversial. The Big Lagoon reservation is 700 miles from Barstow.
Some of the state's most successful gaming tribes urged state legislators not to ratify the agreements, even though they recently approved a compact with an off-reservation casino for the Sycuan band of El Cajon.
State Sen. Dean Florez, a Bakersfield Democrat who is chairman of the committee that screens gaming compacts, said California voters never intended for Indian gaming to be hundreds of miles from a tribe's reservation.
"Gaming was to be conducted on Indian lands – period," Florez said in an e-mail. "At this point, I don't believe the two-casino compact proposal is viable and I can't imagine the administration making a strong case as to why it should be reconsidered."
By James P. Sweeney
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
SACRAMENTO – Blocked by powerful tribal opponents, gambling agreements that authorized the Los Coyotes band of San Diego County and another tribe to build large, off-reservation casinos in Barstow have expired.
The passing of a midnight Monday deadline to have land eligible for the joint project rendered the compacts “null and void,” said a spokeswoman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who negotiated the deals.
However, the bid by Los Coyotes and the Big Lagoon tribe of Humboldt County to build side-by-side casinos along a popular route to Las Vegas may not be dead.
"Within the next few weeks we'll meet with Big Lagoon and Barstow and try to get a meeting with the governor's office . . . to see what options are open," said Shane Chapparosa, vice chairman of Los Coyotes.
Jason Barnett, a spokesman for Big Lagoon, said "the compacts have expired but that doesn't necessarily mean we're at the end here."
The administration also said Barstow remains its preferred alternative to a casino on Big Lagoon's environmentally sensitive reservation along the Northern California coast.
The compacts never developed much traction after they were signed two years ago. They were conceived as a compromise after the Big Lagoon tribe sued the state, seeking a compact to develop its coastal property.
Without a compact, the Big Lagoon tribe may ask the court to push ahead with the litigation.
The off-reservation casino proposals were always controversial. The Big Lagoon reservation is 700 miles from Barstow.
Some of the state's most successful gaming tribes urged state legislators not to ratify the agreements, even though they recently approved a compact with an off-reservation casino for the Sycuan band of El Cajon.
State Sen. Dean Florez, a Bakersfield Democrat who is chairman of the committee that screens gaming compacts, said California voters never intended for Indian gaming to be hundreds of miles from a tribe's reservation.
"Gaming was to be conducted on Indian lands – period," Florez said in an e-mail. "At this point, I don't believe the two-casino compact proposal is viable and I can't imagine the administration making a strong case as to why it should be reconsidered."
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