Tribe plays along with yet another Sacramento PR stunt hatched by its Detroit Developer

posted 6.27.07 by KQED's John Myers at Capitol Notes:

Tribe Hitches Up, Heads North

The long-running debate over plans for side-by-side Indian casinos in Barstow gets a new dose of PR later today at the state Capitol.

Last month, we reported on the status of the tribal casinos proposed by San Diego's Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians and Humboldt's Big Lagoon Rancheria. The two tribes signed gaming agreements with Governor Schwarzenegger in 2005, but those agreements have sat in limbo in the Legislature ever since. Some say it's because the agreements, which would allow each tribe to open its own casino in Barstow, sets a bad precedent for off reservation tribal gaming. Others claim that powerful gaming tribes have had a hand in blocking the efforts of what could be two new competitors.

In a story that aired on The California Report in May, we introduced you to Francine Kupsch, a Los Coyotes tribe member whose meager life inside a tiny camping trailer was portrayed in one of the original political ads in support of 1998's Proposition 5 tribal gaming initiative.

This morning, Kupsch and her dilapidated old trailer are scheduled to pull up to the grounds of the state Capitol.

Kupsch no longer lives in the trailer; it's been sitting next door to her current home for a few years. But as we found when visiting Los Coyotes' rural San Diego County reservation, her current home is badly in need of repair. And the tribe hopes to make a simple point with today's event: there's still a lot of economic hardship on many California reservations.

This is actually Los Coyotes' second round of PR campaigns on the grounds of the statehouse; last year, several tribe members staged a short hunger strike in hopes of getting the casino compact ratified.

You might also remember that Los Coytoes' partner tribe, Big Lagoon, agreed last month to allow the negotiations to keep going in Sacramento-- rather than return to court in their quest for a tribal casino.


http://www.kqed.org/weblog/capitalnotes/2007/06/tribe-hitches-up-heads-north.jsp

as predicted: Ilitch Casino Team fails to produce any hopeful news

KQED’s John Myers @ Capitol Notes reported this afternoon …

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

One City, Two Casinos, Three Months

That kind of sums up the latest chapter on efforts to bring two tribal casinos to the city of Barstow, as new legislation was introduced today to finally ratify these unusual... and controversial... deals.

The formal gaming compacts struck between Governor Schwarzenegger, the Big Lagoon Rancheria of Humboldt County, and the Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla Indians of San Diego County failed to make it out of the Legislature last year. Los Coyotes' reservation is easily more than 100 miles from Barstow; Big Lagoon
is easily several hundred miles form the desert city.

… This afternoon, the Big Lagoon and Los Coyotes compacts were re-introduced as SB 157, by Sen. Pat Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa) and Sen. Roy Ashburn (R-Bakersfield).

…So what does the "Three Months" in the headline refer to? Well, that may be all the time that's left on the Barstow deal.

The Big Lagoon tribe's legal battle with the state over their original plans for a casino in Humboldt has been on hold, while the tribe has attempted to set up shop down south. But tribal chairman Virgil Moorehead told reporters today that the time out could end as soon as May. In May, the tribe can legally walk away from the Barstow project and take their chances in court with a casino back at home.

"We decided to go to Barstow upon the request of the governor of this state," he said. "This legislative session is the final go for us." (Full Post)

NPR's Sacramento Bureau Chief says Barstow Casino deal on death watch

Previously posted by blogger John Myers @ KQED – Capital Notes:

08.21.06
Gaming Pact Advances, Wage Deal Struck

…One tribe's victory is hard to notice without also mentioning another tribe's problems... just outside the Capitol, members of the Los Coyotes Band of Mission Indians are continuing to protest the legislative blockade created against their gaming deal with the state. Los Coyotes, one of two tribes looking to set up casinos in Barstow, has seen their compact languish a slow death, after criticisms that the casinos would be too far from native lands-- and an example of what critics call "reservation shopping..." (Full Post)

NPR's Sacramento Bureau Chief says Dem leaders skeptical of Barstow Casino deal

Previously posted by blogger John Myers @ KQED – Capital Notes

03.28.06
Tribal Casino Deal Debated

If the Legislature signs off on a deal to allow two Indian tribes from different parts of the state to converge and build side-by-side casinos in the city of Barstow, will it be making lemonade out of lemons... or setting a dangerous precedent for expansion of tribal gaming?

Those seemed to be the key questions in a marathon hearing of the Senate Governmental Operations Committee that lasted into the evening, and included at least one testy exchange between lawmakers.

Under discussion were gaming agreements between Governor Schwarzenegger and two tribes: San Diego County's Los Coyotes Band of Mission Indians and the Big Lagoon Rancheria of Humboldt County (actually, only Big Lagoon's deal was on the agenda).

The agreements would allow each tribe to build a casino in Barstow, more than 150 miles from Los Coyotes' tribal lands and more than 700 miles from those of Big Lagoon. In part, the deal would settle Big Lagoon's seven year legal battle with the state, which arose over environmental concerns about a casino on the tribe's north coast reservation. Barstow city leaders also support the deal, leading Schwarzenegger tribal negotiator Daniel Kolkey to tell the committee it's a "win-win" agreement.

But two Democrats, committee chairman Sen. Dean Florez (D-Shafter) and Sen. Gloria Romero (D-LA), seemed skeptical and suggested the deal could set a precedent for off-reservation Indian gaming in areas where a tribe has no ancestral ties... (Full Post)