Slots No Jackpot for Californa; Schwarzenegger says off-reservation casinos not likely in his lifetime

1.20.09

Tribal Slots No Jackpot for California

By Peter Hecht

As California government verges on going broke, one long-promised elixir – Indian casino gambling – is proving to be not such a sure bet...

...But in recent years, some casino deals pushed by Schwarzenegger couldn't pass political muster.

The governor signed a creative, yet controversial deal to allow two poor, isolated tribes from San Diego and Humboldt counties to build side-by-side hotels and 2,000-slot casinos in Barstow in exchange for the state getting 16 percent to 25 percent of profits.

The deal failed in the Legislature amid vehement opposition from powerful Southern California tribes, calling the planned Barstow development – along Interstate 15 to Las Vegas – an egregious case of "reservation shopping."

The Barstow deal was encouraged by Schwarzenegger to settle a lawsuit from an Indian band seeking to build a casino on tribal lands bordering a pristine North Coast estuary and state parklands. The Barstow tribal partnership has since collapsed.

Virgil Moorehead, chairman of the 23-member Big Lagoon tribe, said he is returning to court to build a casino on its Humboldt County land. He said talks broke down with the governor on the tribe's request to build a temporary, 350-slot machine casino in exchange for the state finding an alternative, off-reservation site later.

"He nixed the idea," Moorehead said. "... He didn't think he could get land into trust for off-reservation gaming accomplished in his lifetime. So we're going back to court."... (Original Post)

Allegations that Mayor Dale's letter contributed to Interior's rejection of casino proposals

In a post at the Desert Dispatch, allegations have been made suggesting that an unauthorized letter Barstow's Mayor Lawrence Dale sent to an Interior Department official blasting the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe was one of the contributing factors that resulted in rejection letters sent last week by an official at the Department of Interior to three tribes who had sought to take land in trust in Barstow for the purposes of developing casino resorts.

Dale wrote a letter on Aug. 20 to Clay Gregory, director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Sacramento office, accusing the tribe of providing "misinformation" to the bureau and "continued meddling in the City’s affairs." Dale wrote his letter in response to an Aug. 8 letter the Chemehuevi tribe submitted to the federal government regarding the proposal of the Los Coyotes/Big Lagoon tribes to build a casino in Barstow. In that letter, the Chemehuevi accused the two other tribes of lacking ancestral ties to the area and of "reservation shopping."

Gaming Compacts held by two of the tribes backed by Mayor Dale were rejected by the California legislature last Fall and have since expired. With this latest rejection, it seems relatively certain that Mayor Lawrence Dale has failed in his 7-year bid to bring casino gambling to Barstow -- this scheme has been the cornerstone of Dale's plan for Barstow's economic recovery.

Barstow Compacts set to expire on Monday; City Council meeting that same day

9.13.07

Barstow casino compacts may expire

BARSTOW, California -- As reported by the Desert Dispatch: "The state Senate adjourned for the 2007 legislative session at 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday and failed to approve the agreements necessary for the Big Lagoon Rancheria and Los Coyotes Indian tribes to build a casino in Barstow.

"The Barstow casino compacts, signed by the governor on Sept. 9, 2005, will expire if not passed by both houses of the state legislature by Sept. 17, 2007. Tuesday was the last day for the senate to pass any legislation.

"Tom Shields, spokesman for BarWest, LLC. blamed the failure to pass the contract on 'wealthy Indian gaming tribes' and said the 'legislature failed to do the right thing.'

"He said that the project had the support of Barstow city officials, Indian tribes and major environmental groups who are opposed to the Big Lagoon tribe building a casino on a environmentally sensitive lagoon on their Humbolt County reservation.

"...Sabrina Lockhart, spokeswoman for governor's office, said that the governor was 'disappointed by the legislature's failure to approve the compacts.'..."

Gov. Schwarzenegger's chief negotiator confirmed without Big Lagoon, Los Coyotes no longer has Governor's approval for Barstow casino

From transcripts produced of a March 28, 2006 California Senate Governmental Organization Committee hearing on the Big Lagoon Rancheria Gaming Compact; this dialogue was between the committee's chairman State Senator Dean Florez and Dan Kolkey, then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's chief negotiator for Compacts...

SENATOR FLOREZ: So, Los Coyotes without Big Lagoon wouldn’t be a valid use of State policy then.

MR. KOLKEY: No.

SENATOR FLOREZ: So, there lies one issue. So, you have Big Lagoon that normally wouldn’t be eligible is eligible now—excuse me, Los Coyotes—because of Big Lagoon. Is that correct?

MR. KOLKEY: The project is eligible under the Governor’s policy because it facilitates Big Lagoon’s relocation.

SENATOR FLOREZ: So, in essence, what came first then—Big Lagoon or Los Coyotes? Why would Los Coyotes even be on the topic if the Governor’s policy itself wouldn’t allow for that?

MR. KOLKEY: Well, number one, the only way for us to facilitate the relocation of Big Lagoon was to find a site in Barstow. Barstow had already identified this site near outlet malls as part of its plan for renovation of the city. And they had an exclusive agreement with Los Coyotes. So, the only way that we could facilitate the Big Lagoon relocation was through the site identified by the City of Barstow with Los Coyotes. And these were the facts that the State was dealing with then...

Los Coyotes Gaming Compact requires partnership with Big Lagoon. Without Big Lagoon, Los Coyotes has no valid gaming Compact with Govenor Schwarzenegger.

Without Big Lagoon, Los Coyotes land-into-trust effort would have to be restarted as the Enviornmental Impact Statement is for a joint project and examines alternatives that would no longer be applicable.

BREAKING NEWS: SB 157 has been gutted indicating the Barwest gaming Compacts for Barstow are DEAD!

As of September 7, 2007, SB 157 "An act to add Sections 12012.53 and 12012.54 to the Government Code, relating to gaming" has been gutted by its author Senator Patricia Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa) and is now "An act to amend Sections 23356.1, 23399.6, and 25503.9 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to alcoholic beverages."

That would seem to imply that the efforts to ratify two separate gaming compacts for the Big Lagoon Rancheria and the Los Coyotes Band of Indians are dead for this session as a lobbyist for both the Big Lagoon Rancheria and the City of Barstow reported in late August.

For the second year in a row, the principals behind Detroit-based Barwest LLC have failed, despite their propoganda machine's claims, to gather any real support for either of the Compacts in the state legsialture. In 2006, an Assembly Committee actually voted down the two Compacts. And with Big Lagoon chairman Virgil Moorehead threatening to return to pursuits to build a casino on his Humboldt County reservation; it would seem the Compact for the Los Coyotes tribe is no longer valid.

For at least the second time since 2001, Barwest is back to square one -- the first time being in 2004 when Governor Schwarzenegger denied a stand alone casino for Barwest and the Los Coyotes tribe in Barstow.

Los Coyotes says it's reopened negotiations with Governor Schwarzenegger's office for stand alone Barstow casino project

as posted 9.05.07 by John Myers at KQED's blog, CapitolNotes:

"Meantime, the vice-chairman of San Diego's Los Coyotes, Shane Chapparosa, told reporters that his tribe has now begun separate negotiations with the governor's office for a solo Barstow casino. The governor's office won't confirm whether that's the case."

But consider the following:

• Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger previously turned down a proposal to build a stand alone Los Coyotes tribal casino in Barstow in Spring 2004.



• Further, Governor Schwarzenegger's negotiator told a Senate Governmental Organization committee hearing in April 2006 that Los Coyotes would not qualify for a stand alone agreement based on the Governor's May 2005 proclomation for gaming.



• The Department of Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs currently has an Environmental Impact Study underway for the larger joint casino site. Presumably that process would need to start all over.



• Governor Schwarzenegger's office has previously had a "confidentiality" policy with tribes it's negotiating with banning them from making statement like Chapparosa made at yesterday's press conference in Sacramento.

Big Lagoon and Los Coyotes prepared to part company; Los Coyotes reports new negotiations with Governor for solo Barstow casino

as posted 9.05.07 by John Myers at KQED's blog, CapitolNotes:

Final Push For Barstow Casino Project

The two Indian tribes that have been lobbying for several years to build side by side casinos in Barstow are giving it one more shot in the final days of the 2007 session of the Legislature. And if the project remains in limbo next week, the two tribes now say they'll go their separate ways.

We've reported several times on the efforts of the Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians and the Big Lagoon Rancheria to open casinos in the desert town -- even though the tribes hail from hundreds of miles away.

Los Coyotes' reservation is in rural San Diego County; Big Lagoon's is on the coast up in Humboldt County.

At a news conference this morning at the state Capitol, the tribes announced an 11th hour media campaign, with a TV ad (online here) that they say will be broadcast in Sacramento, the Bay Area, and Los Angeles over the next few days.

But there's no indication that the casino deals will be ratified before legislators adjourn for the year early next week. While the two tribes signed formal casino compacts with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2005, those compacts have been in limbo in the Legislature ever since.

Critics say the projects might set a precedent for tribal casinos on non-tribal land. And several politically powerful tribes in southern California say that's why they oppose the casino deal -- even though Los Coyotes and Big Lagoon accuse those tribes of being more concerned about casino competition in the region.

And if the Barstow agreement isn't acted on by September 17, the two tribes say they will go their separate ways -- Big Lagoon back to a casino on their coastal reservation, and Los Coyotes to a new Barstow casino project solely of their own.

You may remember that in May, Big Lagoon agreed to wait a little longer before going back to a Humboldt casino project. That project would sit smack dab in the middle of what everyone says is an environmentally sensitive region. The tribe was persuaded by the Schwarzenegger administration to drop their legal battle for a Humboldt casino... in exchange for one in Barstow.

So what's happened since late May?

"A lot's happened," said Big Lagoon chairman Virgil Moorehead, alluding to the ratification of amended casino deals for some of the tribes opposing his project. "Our [compact] got pushed down, kind of to the bottom of the barrel. Why did it get pushed down to the bottom of the barrel? Because these tribes don't want us down there... A lot has happened [since May], but not for us."

Moorehead also said he thinks Schwarzenegger hasn't done enough to cajole legislators into ratifying the deal, an accusation the governor's office disputes. Meantime, the vice-chairman of San Diego's Los Coyotes, Shane Chapparosa, told reporters that his tribe has now begun separate negotiations with the governor's office for a solo Barstow casino. The governor's office won't confirm whether that's the case.

Regardless, the two tribes' quest to be part of the club of gambling tribes may be about to start a brand new chapter.

NOTE: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger previously turned down a proposal to build a stand alone Los Coyotes tribal casino in Barstow in Spring 2004. Further, Governor Schwarzenegger's negotiator told a Senate Governmental Organization committee hearing in April 2006 that Los Coyotes would not qualify for a stand alone agreement based on the Governor's May 2005 proclomation for gaming.

Tribes launch ad campaign to push Barstow casino; ignore fact that Prop 5 allows on-reservation casinos not off-reservation

9.05.07

Tribes launch TV campaign for Barstow casinos

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer San Bernardino County Sun

Two California Indian tribes launched an 11th-hour media campaign Wednesday with a televised ad they hope will prompt state Legislators to ratify their gaming compacts so they could build casinos in Barstow.

Big Lagoon Rancheria of Humboldt County and the Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians in San Diego County negotiated gaming compacts with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in September 2005, but the compacts have remained in limbo ever since.

No hearings on the compacts have been scheduled in Sacramento.

"My family was used as the face of Indian poverty in the campaign to pass Proposition 5," said Los Coyotes tribal member Francine Kupsch, referring to a 1998 televised ad that featured her and her children sitting in their trailer on the reservation, reading a book by oil lamp light. "But a decade later, the wealthy tribes are using their gambling dollars to keep poor tribes like Los Coyotes from having the same opportunity to succeed."

With only a week to go before the 2007 Legislative session ends, the clock is ticking.

Both tribes are hoping a public rallying cry will draw attention to their cause.

If not, the tribes are likely to go their separate ways, with Big Lagoon considering a casino or hotel somewhere on their 20-acre reservation off the Pacific Coast and Los Coyotes continuing its push for a Barstow casino.

Both tribes want to open a joint casino - the Barstow Casinos and Resort - that could pull an estimated 60 million cars traveling to and from Las Vegas to the casino, a venture that could mean millions of dollars in new revenue to Barstow and about 1,700 full-time jobs.

An ad posted on YouTube on Wednesday and expected to run on cable television in the next several days in Sacramento, the Bay Area and in Los Angeles shows a snippet of the 1998 televised ad featuring Kupsch and the message for California voters to "Stand up to the greedy tribes" and to "Call your legislative leaders" to support the tribal fairness bill.

Some gaming tribes including the San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians are fighting the move by Big Lagoon and Los Coyotes to build casinos in Barstow, calling it an encroachment on Serrano ancestral lands.

But Los Coyotes and Big Lagoon believe San Manuel and other gaming tribes are more concerned about competition.

San Manuel spokesman Jacob Coin said that while he had not yet seen the YouTube ad or was aware of the news conference the tribes held at the state Capitol, San Manuel's position was still status quo.

Moving so they can have a better market location is just not what we promised the voters would happen," Coin said, referring to Big Lagoon Rancheria, whose reservation lies more than 700 miles northwest of Barstow.

San Manuel also hit a roadblock getting its amended compact ratified this year when the tribe refused to sign a side agreement that would make the compact more palatable to some Assemblymembers.

The compact would allow the tribe to add 7,500 more slot machines to its casino near Highland and would generate $45 million a year in state revenue to start.

Big Lagoon spokesman Jason Barnett said the lack of progress Big Lagoon and Los Coyotes have made in Sacramento in the last two years is an "unfortunate commentary on how much power the big tribes have in Sacramento."

"We've been locked out of the game for months. We can't even get an informational hearing, let alone an up or down vote," Barnett said.

Contact staff writer Joe Nelson at (909) 386-3874 or via e-mail at joe.nelson@sbsun.com

Clock running out on previously rejected gaming Compacts

9.06.07

Time is running out for Barstow compact
Jessie Faulkner/The Times-Standard

Patience and extensive lobbying have not moved the Big Lagoon Rancheria's gaming compact any closer to ratification.

On Wednesday, Rancheria Chairman Virgil Moorehead, representatives from the Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians, state Sen. Patricia Wiggins, city of Barstow officials and others gathered in Sacramento to launch a media campaign designed to get the attention of legislative leaders.

Under the gaming compact, signed by the governor on Sept. 9, 2005, both the Big Lagoon Rancheria and Los Coyotes would be allowed to open casinos in Barstow. The arrangement, the first to allow construction of an Indian casino away from tribal lands, would prevent construction of a casino along the shores of Big Lagoon.

Both tribal entities have applications before the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs to bring the Barstow land into trust.

The gaming compact is the settlement agreement of Big Lagoon's bad-faith negotiating lawsuit against the state. If the gaming compact is not ratified by Sept. 17, Big Lagoon's chairman has pledged to go back to court.

The campaign will begin today with television ads airing on cable television in Sacramento, Oakland and Los Angeles, according to Big Lagoon spokesman Jason Barnett.

Organizers are hoping the campaign will prompt residents to urge Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata to bring the gaming compact -- Wiggins' Senate Bill 157 -- to the legislative floor for action.

"This is a legislative leadership issue," Barnett said. "If (they) wanted it on floor, they could make it happen."

To date, the bill has not made it out of the rules committee.

"This is the last opportunity we have to avoid development on an environmentally sensitive habitat in Humboldt County,” said Wiggins, who represents the North Coast, in a release. “If the Legislature doesn't ratify these compacts, the Big Lagoon Rancheria will have the sovereign right to negotiate for gaming rights on their tribal land."

During the 2006 legislative session, a bill to ratify the gaming compact -- then sponsored by former state Sen. Wesley Chesbro -- was voted down in the Assembly Committee on Governmental Organization, but with the proviso that the item could be brought back.

The primary stumbling block both during both legislative sessions has been opposition from other gaming tribes opposed to the compact's more liberal labor language and the higher-percentage of casino revenues earmarked for the state.

"We're running out of time,” Barnett said, “we're running out of options."

If the gaming compact is not ratified, Moorehead has pledged to build a casino on the tribal land at Big Lagoon. The first step in that process may be alleging that the state negotiated in bad faith.

Jessie Faulkner can be reached at 441-0517 or jfaulkner@times-standard.com.

Despite lobbyists admitting defeat; Barwest launches ad campaign in last ditch effort

9.05.07

Casino backers try last minute effort to pass compacts

By JASON SMITH, staff writer

With about a week left in the 2007 legislative session, supporters of one proposed off-reservation Indian casino in Barstow are trying one final push to get the state legislature’s approval before the agreements expire.

State senators, Mayor Lawrence Dale, and representatives of the Big Lagoon Rancheria and Los Coyotes Indian tribes met in Sacramento on Wednesday to announce a renewed effort to lobby legislators to pass the compacts with the tribes to build a casino in Barstow. The compacts, signed by the governor on Sept. 9, 2005, will expire if not passed by Sept. 17.

The supporters have created a 30-second television commercial that will air in the districts of Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez, D-Los Angeles, and state Senate President Don Perata, D-Oakland, and in Sacramento. The commercial features Francine Kupsch of the Los Coyotes tribe, who originally starred in a 1998 ad used to support Proposition 5, which expanded Indian gaming in California. The ad blames “rich tribes who own casinos” for the stalling the compacts in the legislature and urges viewers to call the offices of Nuñez and Perata.

“We’ll be taking the issue directly to the public,” said Tom Shields, spokesman for the casino’s developer, BarWest LLC.

The tribes and BarWest will pay for the commercial, which will be broadcast during the next week.

“It’s unfortunate that it’s come to this,” he said.

Alicia Tross, spokeswoman for Senator Perata’s office, said she doesn’t think the efforts will be successful.

“There is just no time left in this session to move the compact,” she said.

She said that the senate has a rule that compacts must sit at the senate desk before being taken up for a vote.

Steven Maziglio, spokesman for Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez’s office, said that the speaker has not decided whether or not to support the compact because the compacts have not reached the Assembly floor.

Shields said that although the deadline will be tight, there is still hope to pass the compacts this year. He said last year at this time the compacts for the TASIN tribes, the Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations tribes, passed in one afternoon at the end of the legislative session.

“In Sacramento, where there’s a will there’s a way,” he said.

Nick Medeiros, a lobbyist hired by the city of Barstow, recently wrote a letter to the city of Barstow calling passage of the compacts “doubtful this year. In order for the Barstow casino development to proceed the compacts would have to be approved by Sept. 17 and land for the project would have to be put into federal trust, a lengthy process that is still underway.

Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4126 or jason_smith@link.freedom.com

Desert Dispatch Editor still Clueless; head buried in the Mojave Desert sand!

9.03.07

NOTE: This struggling daily newspaper has taken tens of thousands from Detroit gambling syndicators who seek to maintain their grip on the Barstow gambling franchise. TVT has been told be various sources that The editor of this paper has never met with Chemehuevi tribal leaders.

EDITORIAL: The casino project stall leads to misplaced blame

By SCOTT SHACKFORD, editor

Although there’s still a chance the compacts for the proposed Los Coyote/Big Lagoon Rancheria off-reservation casino in Barstow to be approved by the state legislature, it seems very unlikely it will happen by the end of their 2007 session Sept. 11.

This is the second year in a row the compacts have not been able to get through the legislative process for approval. They actually made it further last year than this year. The compacts expire Sept. 17, and while the governor and the tribes could just draft up a new version of the compacts with new deadlines, we’ve come to conclude the state legislature is simply not going to allow it to happen. (And before the competing Chemehuevi celebrate, we don’t believe a tribe that already has a casino will ever be allowed an off-reservation casino either, so they haven’t "won" anything other than the pleasure of being used by San Manuel to eliminate a potential competing development — we hope the Chemehuevi at least got something out of it)

We think local Barstow leaders realize it’s pretty much over, too, which is why there’s again a sudden buzz of angry bickering between different factions about he future of the projects, and of course, the laying of blame.

It would be easy to lay a lot of blame on the local level. Barstow Mayor Lawrence Dale stubbornly resisted a referendum for Barstow residents to simply vote on whether they supported Indian casinos in general. This opened the door for opponents in Sacramento to question whether the community actually supported the project and created an opportunity for project-killing Measure H to be deceptively marketed as a pro-casino initiative. And speaking of Measure H, promoter Manuel Gurule to this day still apparently refuses to accept that the point of Measure H was to kill the Los Coyotes/Big Lagoon project, even though most voters saw through it. For most of us, such deceptive tactics would cause us to rethink our allies.

But really, blaming Dale or Gurule assumes that they ever had the ability to influence the outcome of this fight in Sacramento, and we don’t believe that they ever did. This isn’t an insult to the influence of these men, but an acknowledgment of the limited influence of our region in this particular area.

Clearly, the powerful gaming tribes were calling the shots here, but even so, they’re behaving no differently from most other businesses, governments, and lobbying organizations by protecting their own interests. By blaming the tribes for the failure of the project to pass, we’re blaming the symptoms, not the disease.

The tribes are powerful because they throw around money, and here’s the important part — people take it. Tribes give millions of dollars to state legislators’ campaigns and political parties to influence decisions. We have a tendency to blame the tribes, the corporations, and the lobbyists for these corrupt tactics, but if it works, then why shouldn’t they use them?

The blame lays squarely on the politicians who take the money and then look for weaselly ways to justify their votes — and the complicated laws behind Indian gaming always allow a technical justification for any decision that just happens to also support the status quo.

Billionaire Detroit Casino Syndicators with ties to Las Vegas have launched California ad campaign against established gaming tribes

Detroit Funded Ad Campaign

This advertisement is funded by Billionaire Detroit Casino Syndicators who are exploiting Native American interests and trying to get a foot in the lucrative California gaming market.

Last Fall, the California Fair Political Practices Commission fined the promoters behind this advertising campaign for two counts of violating California's Political Reform Laws when they failed to report a $26,6000 contribution they made to the San Joaquin County GOP Committee in 2004.

Mrs. Marian Ilitch (founder of Little Caesars Pizza; family also owns Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings) has previously partnered with Mandalay Resort Group and MGM Mirage. Her casino syndicate partner Michael Malik has partnered with Harrah's. The Michigan Gaming Control Board refused to grant her partner Michael Malik a gaming license in Michigan so now they're trying to break into the California market.

Together they're trying to push an unorthodox proposal to relocate two tribes from opposite ends of the state to a location in Barstow where they plan to develop and manage side-by-side off-reservation Indian Casinos for tribes that have no ancestral ties to the Barstow area.

Ilitch, Malik and their Las Vegas friends have spent millions trying to convince the California legislature to approve their Barstow scheme. They failed the last two years to win any legisaltive support so now they're joining with Labor Unions and Horse Racing Tracks in an attempt to beat up California's homegrown gaming tribes.

Several weeks ago their own lobbyist has already reported that their plans for Barstow casinos are dead in this year's legislature (the second year in a row Ilitch's team has failed to win support).

PRESS RELEASE: Detroit Billionaires failed at lobbying so launch political ad campaign in California to push gaming scheme

9.05.07

PRESS RELEASE

Tribes Fronting for Detroit Billionaires Launch Media Campaign to Urge Passage of Barstow Compacts
Legislators, Environmental & Tribal Leaders Appeal to Legislative Leadership

DETROIT, Michigan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tribal leaders from the Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeño Indians and Big Lagoon Rancheria today unveiled a media campaign, funded by Detroit billionaires, urging legislative leaders to ratify the Barstow compacts. (Note: the television advertisement unveiled to the news media may be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvipfS9MVPo)

Last Fall, the California Fair Political Practices Commission fined the promoters behind this advertising campaign for two counts of violating California's Political Reform Laws when they failed to report a $26,6000 contribution they made to the San Joaquin County GOP Committee in 2004.

While compacts for the richest California tribes have been passed by the State Assembly and Senate, there have been no hearings or any consideration of the Barstow compacts. With compacts set to expire on September 17th and only days remaining in the legislative session, the Tribes were left with no option but to make their case directly to Californians.

"My family was used as the face of Indian poverty in the campaign to pass Proposition 5," said Francine Kupsch, Los Coyotes tribal member. "But a decade later, the wealthy tribes are using their gambling dollars to keep poor tribes like the Los Coyotes from having the same opportunity to succeed." [Prop 5 did not approve of off-reservation casinos like those promoted by Detroit billioaire Marian Ilitch].

Opposition from the state’s richest gaming tribes has been a roadblock to the legislature’s timely consideration of the Barstow compacts, preventing even an informational hearing on this issue from occurring. Given the upcoming deadlines, direct action is needed from Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata.

"Now is the time for our state’s legislative leadership to stand up and fight for all Indian tribes," said Virgil Moorehead, Chairman of Big Lagoon Rancheria. "The future of our people is truly in the hands of Speaker Nuñez and President Pro Tem Perata. Without your leadership, the environment at Big Lagoon will be jeopardized."

Big Lagoon Rancheria’s homeland is located along the environmentally sensitive Big Lagoon and is one of two remaining naturally functioning coastal lagoons left in California. The lagoon has long been recognized as an important natural habitat area, and the State of California has asserted it has a legitimate interest in protecting it. It was the State of California who asked the Tribe to consider moving its proposed gaming facility elsewhere. As part of the compact agreement, Big Lagoon Rancheria agreed to forgo commercial development at the lagoon.

"This is the last opportunity we have to avoid development on an environmentally sensitive habitat in Humboldt County," said Senator Wiggins." If the legislature doesn’t ratify these compacts, the Big Lagoon Rancheria will have the sovereign right to negotiate for gaming rights on their tribal land."

Signed by Governor Schwarzenegger in September 2005, the Barstow compacts are a model for tribal-state gaming agreements in California. The agreements include: significant revenue sharing for the State of California; provisions for labor unions to organize and bargain collectively; mechanisms for independent audits of casino revenues; and systems to enforcement payments of child support. These provisions have been hailed by legislators, labor unions and good government advocates as positive benefits for the State of California.

The City of Barstow has approved Municipal Services Agreements with both tribes that are expected to generate millions of dollars of revenue for the desert community. The compacts will also generate hundreds of good-paying permanent jobs.

"The compacts represent a tremendous partnership that meets the needs of the Tribes, the community of Barstow and the State of California and we hope legislative leaders will do the right thing to pass the compacts immediately," said Barstow Mayor Lawrence Dale.

The Los Coyotes and Big Lagoon have submitted land-into-trust applications to the federal government and the Bureau of Indian Affairs is currently preparing a draft environmental impact statement to identify potential environmental impacts of the project. California lawmakers must pass legislation to approve the compacts, the final state step in proceeding with jointly developing the casino resort.

(Note to news media: High Definition versions of the commercial are available. Please contact Toby Allen at 517-372-4400 or tobya@mrgmi.com to request a copy.)

Last Fall, the California Fair Political Practices Commission fined the promoters behind this advertising campaign for two counts of violating California's Political Reform Laws when they failed to report a $26,6000 contribution they made to the San Joaquin County GOP Committee in 2004.

The Barstow Casinos and Resort are designed to capture some of the market of an estimated 60 million cars that travel through the community on their way to and from Las Vegas each year. The projects will support approximately 900 construction jobs and 1,700 full time positions at the casinos. It is expected that the Los Coyotes and Big Lagoon tribes will contribute to the local community government yearly and generate millions of dollars in new revenue for the Barstow economy. The Barstow community has lagged behind the state in economic development with more than 35 percent of the residents on public assistance. More than 2,000 local residents signed postcards addressed to the Governor asking him to negotiate the compacts. More information is available at www.barstowcasinosandresort.com.

Sacramento lobbyist says Compacts are dead; people in Barstow & Detroit insist deals are still on life support

An article published this afternoon in the Desert Dispatch indicates a Sacramento-based lobbyist for both the Big Lagoon Rancheria and the City of Barstow says the Barwest Compacts are dead at this time. But for the second year in a row, the same few people in Barstow and Detroit are trying to cover up the Barwest failures and want people to believe the Barwest Compacts are still on life support.

The truth is, legislative leaders indicated the Barwest Compacts were DOA (Dead On Arrival) back in 2005. An Assembly Committee voted the compacts down after an official hearing in 2006; and in 2007 Barwest failed to even get a hearing on the fatally flawed Compacts. The future for the Barwest Compacts gets dimmer each passing year.

Mayor Dale and Tom Shields are working for people who stubbornly refuse to back a plan that could get approved in the legislature.

As my grandmother often said, "...And people in Hell want ice water!"

8.30.07

City's lobbyist: Casino project probably dead

By JASON SMITH, staff writer

BARSTOW — Barstow appears unlikely to get state approval this year to build a casino, according to the city’s lobbyist.

Nick Medeiros, a lobbyist hired by the city of Barstow, said Thursday it is doubtful the state senate will approve the compacts for the Los Coyotes/Big Lagoon dual casino project before the legislative session closes on Sept. 11.

"We’re running out of time. It’s unlikely that the compacts could be moved out of committee and be approved by both houses of the legislature before the end of session. It’s probably not going to happen," he said.

In a Aug. 22 letter to Patricia Morris, assistant to the city manager, Medeiros delivered the bad news to the city.

"The Barstow gaming compacts appear dead for this year. The incredible power of the gaming tribes and their unlimited financial resources coupled with a lack of interest on the part of the governor have doomed this most worthy project," he wrote.


'There’s always hope'

However, Barstow Mayor Lawrence Dale said that Medeiros’ statement was an "independent observation" and did not reflect the city’s opinion. Dale said that there is still time this year for the compacts to pass.

"We have not closed the door on it, and I don’t feel the governor has closed the door on it," he said.

City Council members will lobby state legislators on the issue next week, when council members will attend the League of Cities Convention in Sacramento, he said.

He blamed other tribes that already have casinos for the lack of progress.

"It’s no secret that the big tribes are fighting us and fighting us hard," he said.

Tom Shields, spokesman for the casino’s developer, BarWest LLC, said that the fight would continue to pass the compact.

"It’s not dead. The legislature just passed the budget, we have three more weeks in session, and we will focus all our attention on convincing the legislature to pass the Barstow compacts," Shields said. (Full Story)

Tribes once again poised for failure to meet Governor Schwarzenegger's extension of previous casino gaming deadlines

Last May, Governor Schwarzenegger granted the Big Lagoon Rancheria and Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians and their Detroit-based casino backers an extension of the original deadlines he had set for them to have completed the federal land-into-trust process for Barstow, and the deadline to win legislative ratification of the Barstow Compacts.

Schwarzenegger granted a mid-September (through the close of the 2007 legislative session) extension of the deadline.

A lobbyist for the Big Lagoon Rancheria tribe has reported that the effort to have the Compacts ratified by the legislature has failed -- is now dead -- for the second year in a row.

The tribes will also fail for a second time to meet the deadline set by Schwarzenegger for the Tribe, through the Department of Interior, to complete a transfer of land in Barstow, currently owned by Detroit-based Barwest LLC, into trust for the Tribe . The federal fee-to-trust process is necessary if the tribes wish to establish gaming on the Barstow properties.

Tribe's lobbyist reports Barstow gaming Compacts are dead; blames Governor Schwarzenegger

With almost a month left in California's 2007 legislative session, a lobbyist for the Big Lagoon Rancheria has reported that for the second year in a row, the tribe has failed to win legislative ratification of a gaming Compact it negotiated with the Governor's office in 2005. He blames established gaming tribes and Governor Schwarzenegger for the failure without considering flaws, shortcomings of his client's unorthodox plan.

Nick Medeiros, a Sacramento lobbyist for both the Big Lagoon Rancheria and the City of Barstow, who previously worked on the failed effort by Marian Ilitch and Michael Malik to legalize gambling in the Hawaiian Islands, has reported:

"The Barstow gaming compacts appear dead for this year. "

"The incredible power of the gaming tribes and their unlimited financial resources coupled with a lack of interest on the part of the Governor doomed this most worthy project. A meeting with leadership in both houses is on the horizon to see if we can't get this project going in the right direction."

Nick Medeiros
Lobbyist, Big Lagoon Rancheria

This is the second year in a row that the Legislature has refused to ratify these unorthodox off-reservation gaming Compacts. The agreements with the Big Lagoon Rancheria and a quasi-partner, the Los Coyotes Band of Indians were negotiated by aides to Governor Schwarzenegger in 2005. Medeiros indicates that Schwarzenegger has grown increasingly disinterested with each subsequent failure.

In 2006, Barwest, the developer and manager of the planned casinos mega-resort could count just six members of the entire California Legislature who publicly declared their support for the scheme.

In 2007, only three members of the Legislature publicly declared their support.

If history's any indication, they'll be lucky to find anyone willing to author such a bill in the 2008 Session.

Medeiros' notion that a meeting with legislative leaders just might be the antidote to kick-start the proposals for a third go-around is nothing short of Pollyanna given some in legislative leadership identified the scheme as DOA when it was first revealed in 2005.

Barwest's casino syndicator Michael Malik has backed Sen. Jeff Denham, hoped for his help on the Senate GO Committee

Barwest, L.L.C. principal Michael J. Malik was betting on support from California's GOP State Senator Jeff Denham for stalled Barstow Casino Compacts when Malik contributed to Denham's re-election campaign. Denham, a Republican, is aligned with Malik's pal former Rep. Richard Pombo and other California Conservatives like Rep. John Doolittle.

Until recently Denham was vice chairman of the State Senate's Governmental Organization (GO) Committee which has oversight for Indian gaming matters in California. The GO Committee held a hearing in April 2006 on the Big Lagoon Rancheria's Barstow Compact and since then, the Committee's chairman, Democrat Senator Dean Florez, has refused to schedule another hearing on the pending Barstow Compacts prefering to have the tribes come back to the legislature for ratification of Compacts only after they complete the federal transfer of lands they intend for gaming in the Department of Interior's fee-t0-trust process.

Recently Democrats have targeted Sen. Denham for recall and even GOP Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger visited Denham's district to put pressure on Denham to support approval of the state's pending budget proposal which is stalled in the legislature. And now Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, a Democrat, has removed Denham from the Senate GO Committee and his leadership role as vice chairman.

The Barstow Casinos Compacts have been stalled in the legislature the last two years; Malik and proponents of the Compacts can't afford to lose support like Denham's.

In October 2004, during the closing days of the Presidential Election; Pombo, Denham and Malik's Barwest LLC each contributed $26,600 to the San Joaquin GOP Central Committee on the same day. Malik's Barwest LLC failed to report its major contribution under California's political reform laws. California's Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) investigated the matter and last Fall, Malik acknowledged that Barwest LLC was guilty on two counts of violating the State's political reform laws and paid fines totalling $6,5oo.

A desperate Tom Shields was compelled to fly to Barstow in the middle of Summer to attack TheVerifiableTruth.com

Tom Shields, spokesman for Detroit's Ilitch Family
and their casino syndication partner, 8.06.07

Tom Shields, a public relations and political consultant from Lansing, Michigan, is the spokesman for the Ilitch Family and their casino syndication development partner Michael J. Malik for projects and properties throughout Michigan and across the United States.

Shields flew to California this week to defend his clients' stalled casino plans before the Barstow City Council meeting.

Rather than admit his clients' plans and approach have been flawed from the beginning, or address any of the circumstances or concerns raised by TVT, Tom Shields cast his billionaire Detroit casino syndicator clients as the victims.

In scripted remarks he resorted to desperate attacks on Southern California's Native American tribes, a local citizen activist Larry Halstead and TheVerifiableTruth.com.

In particular and as one would expect, Tom Shields used unfounded allegations, manufactured circumstances and lies to attack TheVerifiableTruth.com.

In closing his remarks he indicated that he wasn't sure if TVT may or may not be effective. It seems Shields can't believe a few volunteer citizen activists could be a match for his venerable Lansing-based public relations/political consulting agency Marketing Resource Group.

TVT submits that if Mr. Shields flew half-way across the country to attack TVT at a City Council meeting in Barstow, CA - a midsummer journey to the middle of the Mojave Desert, home of "Death Valley" -- it is a clear indication that TheVerfiableTruth.com is more than effective.

Thank you once again Mr. Shields for the acknowledgements!

Note: Shields' clients have formed Barwest LLC; adopted tribal partners the Big Lagoon Rancheria and Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians; and are pushing a scheme to locate the tribes' two casinos, one as far as 750 miles away from a tribe's existing reservation, to Barstow, California. The Detroit casino syndicators are desperate to get a foot in the lucrative California gaming market. Their efforts have been without regard for Southern California's legitimate tribes and have completely ignored the tribes' concerns.

Detroit-based Barwest LLC has paid more than $613,439 for casino lobbying support in Sacramento the last 18 months

Based on newly filed disclosure documents available via California’s Secretary of State at Cal-Access, during the 2nd Quarter of 2007 Detroit-based Barwest LLC paid former California state legislator R. Keith Olberg (Capitol Ventures, Roseville) and Governmental Advocates, Inc. a total of $110,930.54 to continue to act as lobbyists for the two adopted tribal partners (Big Lagoon Rancheria and Los Coyotes Band of Indians) who are fronting plans that would allow Barwest LLC (Detroiters Michael Malik and Marian Ilitch) to develop and manage two off-reservation Las Vegas-style twin casino resort projects proposed in Barstow, CA.

For the first six months of 2007, Barwest LLC has paid the two lobbying firms at least $222,591.58 to represent its interests.

Prior to 2007, Barwest LLC had paid a total of $390,848.12 to the two California lobbying entities; that brings the grand total paid by Barwest LLC for California lobbying support over approximately the last year and a half to at least $613,439.70.

In all, Keith Olberg reports to have been paid $300,992.00 since January 2006; Although there remains a $70,000 discrepancy between what Olberg reports he's received cumulatively and what the two tribes report he's been paid cumulatively ($370,467).

The Governmental Advocates, Inc. lobbying firm has been paid $385,527.70 since October 2005.

Barwest LLC has failed to register as a lobbyist employer in California and has used the two tribes to front that burden -- sometimes akwardly -- although Barwest pays the expenses and manages the circumstances.

Another Sacramento lobbyist, C.W. "Nick" Medeiros is registered as a lobbyist for both the City of Barstow and the Big Lagoon Rancheria but has been paid $208,768 exclusively by the Barstow taxpayers since Barwest and the City first opened negotiations in 2001.

Approximately $965,000 has been paid in all to Sacramento lobbyists to promote the Barwest casino schemes.

You may want to review these additional posts:

• Where there's smoke, there's fire: Attorney attempts to clean up FPPC mess created when he failed to report $63,805 arrangement with lobbyist
• It appears the Big Lagoon Rancheria failed to file lobbying disclosures for 2nd Quarter 2007
• Lobbyist failed to report $66,677 from Big Lagoon Rancheria
• By Bankrolling lobbying expenses behind the scenes, Casino Syndicators were free to flow political cash
• Detroit-based Barwest LLC has paid more than $613,439 for casino lobbying support in Sacramento the last 18 months
• Amended lobbying registration suggests contracts with California tribes are being managed in Detroit, Michigan
• More Lobbying Irregularities related to Barstow Casino raising question about who's paying the bills and why they are hiding
• Ilitch Casino Lobbyist Keith Olberg is also president of a GOP attack committee funded by "swift-boat" founders
• Lobbyist indicates Senator Wiggins would sponsor Ilitch Family's Barstow casinos legislation
• SF Chronicle editors warned Willie Brown commands a high price and leaves little paper trail
• What was Willie Brown's role with Barwest's original Barstow casino proposal?
• Wife of Lobbyist returns to position in Governor's Office

Assembly GOP Whip urges colleagues to oppose Ilitch driven Barstow gaming compacts

Assembly
California Legislature

ANTHONY ADAMS
FIFTY-NINETH DISTRICT

REPUBLICAN WHIP

April 18, 2007

Dear Colleague:

I urge you to reject SB 157 (Wiggins, Ashburn), a bill to ratify the proposed tribal/state gaming compacts that would establish a casino in the City of Barstow by Barwest LLC and the Ilitch Family of Detroit under the auspices of Indian Gaming. These developers are trying to abuse the intent of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act for their own private benefit.

Although I understand the desire of the Los Coyotes and Big Lagoon Indian tribes to pull themselves out of poverty, these proposals stray from the spirit of the law and undermine the goodwill expressed by the California electorate when it authorized Tribal gaming. Opponents of Indian gaming tried to scare the voters by telling them “casinos would spring up everywhere,” and SB 157 will bring that claim to reality.

Tribal gaming should be conducted on Indian lands and near their reservations. These two tribes are moving across the State to create new reservations, exercise governmental jurisdiction, and build casinos on lands 700 and 120 miles away from their existing reservations. This is not what we voted for; this is not what the Tribes promised.

I understand the need to protect the environment near the Big Lagoon, but I am certain there is a 20-acre parcel of land within the homeland of the Big Lagoon tribe that they can use for gaming. In regards to the Los Coyotes Tribe, I see no prevailing public policy reason to move them from their existing reservation in North County San Diego just for a better market location.

Furthermore, you should reject SB 157 on the grounds that the proposed gaming locations are NOT INDIAN LANDS. Neither of these tribes exercises governmental jurisidiction over the property in Barstow, nor have they ever exercised such jurisdiction in their history.

Ratifying these compacts is bad public policy and sets a bad precedent in our State. How many more tribes will seek compacts to move from their remote reservations to more lucrative markets? We need to end reservation shopping now.

For all the reasons above I urge you to oppose SB 157.

Sincerely,

Anthony Adams
Assemblyman 59th District


Facsimile of original "Dear Colleague" letter

You may also want to review these posts:

• DOI Associate Secretary encourages Big Lagoon Rancheria to re-consider casino location closer to reservation; discourages Barstow scheme
• DOI Associate Secretary encourages Los Coyotes to reconsider on-reservation casino; discourages Barstow scheme
• After two years, Sen. Roy Ashburn only legislative advocate for ill-conceived Barstow Compacts
• Barwest's partners signed Compacts under false pretense; knew they would never make the May 31, 2007 deadline
• Tribe's casino pointman can't pinpoint location of proposed casino on map
• Sacramento lawmakers and journalists aren't getting the whole truth from Los Coyotes tribe's elder nor her partners