A collection of Ilitch affiliates with revenues reported at $1.6 billion only spends $14,000 lobbying in Lansing?

Who are they kidding?

Michigan’s Secretary of State maintains a free, online searchable data base with access to information required to be reported routinely under Michigan’s Lobby Registration Act.

That makes it easy for organizations like the Michigan Campaign Finance Network (mcfn.org) to publish, among other things, an annual list of Michigan’s Top 200 Lobbyists. In 2007, those 200 lobbyists each reported spending between $33,700 and $1.4 million on advocacy. In all, Michigan lobbyists reported spending $32.1 million in 2007.

But take a look at that list. You won’t find Ilitch Holdings, Inc., ranked 300th on Forbes' List of America's Largest Private Companies, on that list of Michigan's Top 200 Lobbyists -- nor will you find any of a dozen plus other major Ilitch affiliates including Blue Line Foodservice Distribution, Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Tigers, Little Caesars Pizza, MotorCity Casino, Olympia Development, Olympia Entertainment, Uptown Entertainment, etc..

In fact, while Ilitch Holdings, Inc. reports its collection of Michigan-based companies has annual combined revenues totaling $1.6 billion or more; the same collection of companies reported spending just $27,650 on State lobbying activity over almost two years. And then consider that, based on information available at OpenSecrets.org, these same people and their partner contributed more than $234,000 to federal political candidates and committees during the same two years – and many of those contributions are capped at $2,300 each.

Considering the mountain of tax and regulatory policy, alone, that is under consideration in Lansing at any given time -- matters which could have very positive or very negative impacts on any number of Ilitch affiliates that span the range from sports, gaming and entertainment ventures to hospitality and food service enterprises to major real estate management contracts and development projects -- it’s curious that only two of the Ilitch affiliates have registered their lobbying activity; and even more curious that, in total, they report having spent less than $14,000 per year on lobbying expenses. Now ... take a moment to recognize that such an amount represents less than 1.5 weeks worth of work by a $250 an hour attorney/lobbyist.

Who are they trying to fool?

Barstow's Mayor driven to change wastewater treatment facility consultant mid-stream despite opposition, in-experience, ethics and common sense

excerpted from a 8.27.08 story written by Jason Smith and published in the Desert Dispatch, "Council meets to consider wastewater contract, again:"

"BARSTOW — The City Council will meet in special session Tuesday at 3 p.m. to discuss a contract to build a wastewater treatment facility.

"According to the meeting’s agenda, city staff is concerned with negotiating with MicroMedia Filtration Inc. to build the facility because the contract was awarded by a council vote and not a competitive bidding process as is normally done. In a July 18 meeting, the council voted 3-2 to cancel the city’s previous contract with consultant HDR, Inc. causing a loss of about $1.7 million already spent on engineering drawings..."

You may want to review these additional posts:

• Plot to give balance of wastewater contract to another consultant coincides with introduction of Rep. McKeon's half-a-million-dollar earmark
• Barstow Mayor Lawrence Dale shotdown in first attempt at scheme to switch wastewater consultants mid-stream
• Rep. McKeon secures $500,000 for Barstow sewer improvement project
• Barstow Council gambles on young wastewater firm
  

American Policy Roundtable tracking Ilitch gambling activity

from an earlier tracking post at The American Policy Roundtable:

Little Caesars' Marian Ilitch and her itch for gambling

"Although Ilitch owns most of her ventures jointly with her husband, the casino is an exception. As owner of the Tigers, Mike Ilitch is prohibited by Major League Baseball rules from owning any gambling interests. Ilitch, who currently owns 25 percent of MotorCity, is paying $525 million for the 53.5 percent stake in the casino owned by Mandalay Resort Group. One of three Detroit casinos, MotorCity is being sold because of the pending merger between MGM Mirage Inc. and Mandalay. MGM already owns Detroit's MGM Grand Casino, and Michigan law prohibits the company from owning more than one casino in the city. Ilitch also is buying an 11.5 percent stake held by Atwater Entertainment, a group of more than 100 local investors, for $106 million, and the remaining 10 percent from another local investor, Tom Celani, for an undisclosed amount"

The mission statement of the American Policy Roundtable and each of its state-based operations remains the same: To restore traditional Judeo-Christian principles to American public policy.

Plot to give balance of wastewater contract to another consultant coincides with introduction of Rep. McKeon's half-a-million-dollar earmark

Is it just a coincidence that these directly related actions were going on at the same time on opposite coasts:

• Barstow's GOP Mayor Lawrence Dale went public with his intention to re-award an important multi-million dollar contract mid-stream by firing HDR, Inc., the consultants retained two years ago to manage state mandated upgrades to Barstow's wastewater treatment facilities, and hiring a firm with no track record at all, MicroMedia Filtration Inc.; and
• GOP Congressman Buck McKeon slipped an additional half-a-million dollar earmark into the Department of Interior's FY 2008 Appropriations Bill designated for the balance of the same contract to upgrade the Barstow wastewater treatment facilities. The funds earmarked by Rep. McKeon would come out of Environmental Protection Agency, State and Tribal Assistance Grants.

You may want to review these additional posts:

• Barstow Mayor Lawrence Dale shotdown in first attempt at scheme to switch wastewater consultants mid-stream
• Rep. McKeon secures $500,000 for Barstow sewer improvement project
• Barstow Council gambles on young wastewater firm

Rep. McKeon secures $500,000 for Barstow sewer improvement project

6.27.07

Funds for community project expected to pass the U.S. House tonight

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. House Representative Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (CA-25) today announced that federal dollars are set to be approved by the U.S. House tonight for the revival and advancement of the City of Barstow sewer system. The 2008 Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act includes $500,000 specifically for the City of Barstow Sewer Master Plan Implementation, Phase II.

"The Mojave River Basin has been severely over-drafted throughout the years, and as a result, the quality of the drinking water has been severely declining," said McKeon. "While the directed funds for this community improvement project are modest by comparison, they will significantly improve the quality of life for the residents of Barstow."

City of Barstow Mayor Lawrence Dale, said he was thankful for Congressman McKeon's assistance in securing these funds, especially because of the firm timeline the city faces for water improvement.

"This money comes at a critical time." said Dale. "A Cease-and-Desist Order has been issued by the State Water Quality Control Board requiring us to have measures in place [to reduce contamination of the water table] by June or July of 2009."

Since the 1960s, the City of Barstow's Water Reclamation Facility (WRF) adjacent to the Mojave River has released secondary-treated runoff to seep back into back the water table. In order to comply with the State Water Quality Control Board, the City of Barstow is working to implement Phase II of its Sewer Master Plan. Phase II will expand and upgrade the city's WRF to Tertiary Treatment, allowing the reuse of up to two million of the three million gallons per day currently being treated, and alleviating both the serious overdraft of the Mojave River and contamination of the water table.

Dale went on to say that he "certainly appreciates Buck's efforts to secure funding for the City of Barstow Sewer Master Plan Implementation, and would like to thank him for all his efforts for the community."

House passage of the 2008 Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act bill is expected Tuesday evening.

Submitted by Lindsey Mask, Press Secretary, Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (CA-25)
---------
Posted at http://www.inlandempire.us/news/2007/06/mckeon-secures-500000-for-barstow-sewer.html

Attorney General Gonzales visits with Michigan Tribal Leaders, announces grants

8.14.07

Gonzales announces grants to fight crime on Indian reservations

HARBOR SPRINGS, Mich. (AP) -- The Justice Department plans to use $3 million in grants to help American Indian tribes in Michigan fight violent crimes, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced Tuesday.

Gonzales also met with leaders of the state's 12 federally recognized tribes. The discussion was held at a Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians center, about 230 miles northwest of Detroit.

"The challenges of Indian country are American challenges involving crime and drug abuse. No neighborhood is immune to these crimes," Gonzales said.

The grants are for crime prevention and improvements to victim assistance. Similar grants have helped the Odawas establish a Web-based system to share criminal history records with other tribes, Odawa grant writer Heidi Yaple told the Petoskey News-Review.

Last year, Gonzales said federal authorities would re-examine unsolved criminal cases on American Indian reservations to see whether new investigative tools could be used.

Gonzales did not comment Tuesday on the dismissal of Margaret Chiara, former U.S. attorney for Michigan's western district.

Chiara had worked with tribal leaders to establish programs curtailing violence against women. She was one of eight top federal prosecutors forced to resign earlier this year by the Justice Department.



Information from: Petoskey News-Review, http://www.petoskeynews.com/

Barstow Council gambles on young wastewater firm

7.19.07

OPINION: Council gambles on young wastewater firm

By SCOTT SHACKFORD

City Council’s risky decision to switch firms for the upgrade of Barstow’s wastewater treatment facility could ultimately save taxpayers money — or it could backfire terribly, costing us untold millions.

Council voted 3-2 Monday to cancel its contract with HDR Inc. and to turn to MicroMedia to develop an upgrade based on technology that is less proven but allegedly cheaper. The company has been in business for four years, and Barstow will be the firm’s first major wastewater contract.

The decision has already cost us $1.7 million, the amount the city has already spent on the process. That’s not a small amount of money for a community Barstow’s size. Part of Mayor Lawrence Dale’s justification for switching firms is his belief the cost estimates by HDR have already doubled since the city contracted with them, though city staff have said that the cost was subject to change based on what technology the city chose for the upgrade.

If Dale and council members Tim Silva and Julie Hackbarth-McIntyre’s votes to change firms turn out to be right, residents will ultimately save money. MicroMedia claims they can complete the upgrade for $15 million as opposed to $24 million from HDR. If true, even with the money we’ve already lost, that would be about $7 million in savings.

But given MicroMedia’s lack of history, that is one great big “if.” We stand to lose much, much more if MicroMedia’s technology isn’t as effective as they claim. The city is obligated by the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Board to upgrade the wastewater facility by 2009, due to a significant amount of nitrate pollution in our water. Nitrates present a health risk to infants.

If the city does not meet Lahontan’s 2009 deadline for a facility upgrade, it could face fines up to $10,000 per day. These council members are risking a lot on MicroMedia’s ability to provide what they claim, without an established reputation to back it up.

We’re not going to say that the decision is wrong, because MicroMedia may well provide what they say they can provide. We are going to say that this decision is a huge gamble, and when you gamble with millions of taxpayer dollars, you tend to get only one chance at the table. If this project goes bust, Dale’s, Silva’s, and Hackbarth-McIntyre’s political careers may not recover.

California audit faults use of gaming revenues

as posted 7.13.07 at Indianz.com:

"California audit faults use of gaming revenues

The California Bureau of State Audits issued a report on the use of gaming revenues by local communities.

Tribes share a portion of their revenues with local communities to address the impacts of gaming. A committee of local and tribal officials determines which projects receive money.

The report said the money wasn't always used for project that mitigate gaming. Of the 30 grants reviewed, 10 were only partially related to the effects of gaming and five weren't related at all, the bureau said [Summary | Full Report]

Local officials disagreed with the assessment of some of the grants. They said they can tie projects such as an anti-gang program to gaming.

Get the Story:
State audit says casino-impact funds misspent (The Riverside Press-Enterprise 7/13)
Username: indianz@indianz.com, Password: indianz"

Gaming Tribe seeks to diversify while developer still pushing off-reservation casino

Michigan’s Emerging Tribal Economies:
A Presentation to the Michigan House of Representatives

Prepared By
Michigan State University College of Law
INDIGENOUS LAW & POLICY CENTER
April 13, 2007

A report prepared by the Michigan State University College of Law, Indigenous Law & Policy Center and presented to the Michigan House of Representatives in April suggests the Bay Mills Indian Community, which was the first tribe to operate a gaming facility in Michigan; and now has two moderately-sized gaming facilities, a first-class golf course, and an assortment of small businesses on its reservation; is in the process of diversifying its economy beyond gaming and hospitality.

The reports suggests that among other ventures, the tribal leaders have focused on the development of significant plastics manufacturing venture that also includes research & development, and education & job training components in partnership with the Bay Mills Community College and something called the Great Lakes Composite Institute [not registered with the Michigan Dept. Labor & Economic Growth].

The tribe and its partners have already applied for and received federal grants for the effort and plan to use their Native American owned-status as an advantage to pursue lucrative federal and other public contracts.

The report includes a specific case study on Bay Mills Indian Community which concludes:

"The Bay Mills Indian Community projects that this business venture will net tens of millions of dollars in revenue for the tribe, mitigating reliance on casino gaming. Additionally, as a licensor of the technology, the Bay Mills Indian Community will be able to assist other tribes throughout the United States in using this technology to diversify their own local economies. "

Full Report: Michigan's Emerging Tribal Economies

you may want to review these posts or click on the links below for additional information:

• Concerns raised about Malik & Bay Mills Tribe's Plastics Business long before $900k federal grant awarded
• Bay Mills plastics venture awarded $906k U.S. Commerce Dept. grant
• Bay Mills Indians have received more than $35 million in federal grants since 2000
• Bay Mills GTC ignored tribe members request for investigation into structure of plastics venture
• Bay Mills & Malik get into Plastics; Senator Stabenow announces they'll get $900,000 federal jumpstart

Detroit Sports Columnist says ticket tax won't hurt fans but budget cuts will

6.24.07

DREW SHARP: Sports fans face harsh reality of troubled times

There's ample justification for outrage over tax increases. The federal, state and local governments constantly have a hand in our wallets, asking us to subsidize their unwillingness to spend within their means.

It's the public's money, so let the public determine where it does or doesn't go.
The so-called ticket tax that's under debate in the state legislature offers the public that choice.

Each person must decide which privileges they deem important to their everyday lives amid a dying economy that's gradually choking the life out of this state. If you don't want to pay extra for a sports ticket, if it no longer agrees with the tight demands on your household budget, then don't buy it.

It's simple. Stay home! Watch it on television! Then the hemorrhaging state coffers don't get an extra dime from you.

But Lansing is banking on the fan's inability to walk away from his beloved teams, whatever the price, and officials are probably right. I doubt it would have a dramatic effect on ticket sales. If chronically bad football hasn't cost the Lions consistent sellouts, then an added 6% to the cost of a ticket won't do it, either.

Mike Ilitch has expressed his displeasure with the proposal, citing that the 6% increase could cost a family of four as much as $1,200 for Tigers season tickets and as much as $1,900 for Wings season tickets.

Such a stance makes him a hero to the common man who thinks he has been frozen out of the traditional family experience of taking the kids to a ballgame. But that freezing out started long before this idea germinated in the minds of state officials.

Ilitch saw Joe Louis Arena sold out only once during the Wings' playoff run. As a response, he may have to maintain the same price or release a couple thousand tickets the day of the game at a reduced cost next spring.

The state is a fiscal mess because politicians from every party at every level ignored the necessity of diversifying Michigan from its manufacturing base 10 years ago. They were more interested in keeping their own jobs by catering to their respective special-interest groups.

Shared sacrifice is the only answer. That means drastic spending cuts that hurt everybody equally.

That's the reality. That's where the real fight lies. Battling over a potential luxury tax on sports events represents a distorted priority.

Contact DREW SHARP at 313-223-4055 or dsharp@freepress.com.

Barstow Mayor Lawrence Dale shotdown in first attempt at scheme to switch wastewater consultants mid-stream

6.20.07

Wastewater facility upgrade in flux

By JASON SMITH Staff Writer

BARSTOW — A project to upgrade the wastewater-treatment facility is in flux after a heated City Council meeting.

At Monday’s meeting, the council voted 3-2 against paying $65,000 in “special engineering costs” to subcontractor Zenon Membrane Solutions, Inc. Council members Joe Gomez and Steve Curran dissented.

Mayor Lawrence Dale, who made the motion to deny the funding, criticized "accelerating costs" from HDR Consulting, Inc., the main contractor, and urged council members to be "responsible stewards" of the city’s money. The mayor attempted to bring up a motion to cancel the entire contract with the main project contractor, HDR Consulting, Inc., but Yvette Abich, the city attorney, said that would be a possible violation of the Brown Act because the issue was not on the agenda.

"The final design costs are in excess of three times the original bid," Dale said. “My question is, where does it stop?"

This week, the mayor will meet with city officials to discuss the issue and could bring a motion to cancel the HDR contract — a move that would result in the city being unable to recoup more than $1 million invested in the project, according to City Manager Hector Rodriguez.

Dale suggested that the city could save money by contracting with Micromedia Filtration, Inc., a company that uses an alternative method that Dale called "a new technology with lots of promise." Gomez said on Tuesday he opposed to switching to Micromedia because more than $1 million dollars has already been spent with HDR.

"The Micromedia process sounds good but the company is relatively new, and I’d hate to risk the city’s money on untested technology," he said. Gomez disagreed with the mayor’s position and apologized to Garcia for the mayor’s lack of "respect." Gomez expressed his support for HDR, criticized the mayor for "stalling" the already two-year-long process and accused him of favoring Micromedia for the entire HDR contract.

During the 70-minute discussion at the council meeting, city wastewater contract coordinator Pat Lendway expressed concern that the delay resulting from the rejection of the contract could jeopardize a state loan for the project. However, City Manager Hector Rodriguez said via e-mail that funding has not been jeopardized.

Dale said that there are available alternatives for funding if the loan falls through and that only the subcontract was rejected. "The project will go through," he said.

Upgrades to the wastewater-treatment facility were mandated by the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Board because of elevated nitrate levels in the water. The city could face fines of anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000 per day if it does not meet the July 2009 set by Lahontan.

State's role in approving casino being challenged once again

6.06.07

The final say on casino is a matter of debate

By Sean P. Murphy
Globe Staff

With interest intensifying in the possibility of casino gambling in Massachusetts, Indians, legislators, and various state officials are in disagreement over who will have the final say on the high-stakes proposal.

Some lawmakers say that only a vote by the Legislature can approve a casino. But representatives of the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian tribe say the governor can negotiate a binding deal with the tribe, even without an affirmative vote by the Legislature.

"The issue of Indian gaming is uncharted territory in Massachusetts," Attorney General Martha Coakley said yesterday. "With regard to the approval process for a tribal gaming compact, the attorney general's office is currently reviewing the matter and has not yet reached an opinion."

The Mashpee Wampanoags are circulating among state officials a 13-page legal brief the tribe commissioned from a University of Michigan law professor that concludes Governor Deval Patrick has broad authority to negotiate a binding agreement with the tribe, known as a compact. In that scenario, a Patrick-negotiated agreement would become effective even without a vote by the Legislature.

The brief says the Legislature, in the face of a negotiated deal with the tribe, can vote to reject it within a specified period.

Not so, said state Representative Daniel E. Bosley, chairman of the House Committee on Economic Development and a longtime opponent of casino gambling in Massachusetts. He said his legal research shows that a casino cannot open without the unequivocal blessing of the Legislature.

"They are saying we can reject it, but I am saying we have to approve it," he said. "There's a big difference."

Both sides are trying to get the advantage, Bosley said. "It's all pieces [on] a chess board," he said.

House Speaker Salvatore F . DiMasi, a longtime casino gambling skeptic, has questioned the tribe's legal clearance.

"Everybody talks about the Wampanoags having an absolute right to open some kind of casino here," he told State House News Service last week. "I'm not sure about that. That has to be researched, as well."

Scott Ferson, a spokesman for the Mashpee Wampanoags, said: "Obviously, there's a lot of legal research being done. But it would be premature to speculate over the exact roles of the governor and Legislature in negotiations over a compact, until the Legislature and the governor have spoken on this matter."

In a statement yesterday, a spokesman for Patrick said the administration was awaiting a report on casino gambling from Daniel O'Connell, secretary of housing and economic development. "The governor expects to make a final decision later in the summer," the statement said.

Bosley said that the last time the Legislature grappled with the issue was in 1997, when the Aquinnah Wampanoag Indian tribe proposed a casino in Southeastern Massachusetts. He said Governor William Weld asserted he had the authority to negotiate an agreement with the tribe on his own, while Bosley and others insisted that the Legislature's approval was required.

The issue was not resolved. The Aquinnah Wampanoags needed a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to take state land for a casino, and the Legislature rejected the land deal, Bosley said.

A casino became a possibility this year when the Mashpee Wampanoags won federal recognition as a tribe after a 30-year effort. Their bid to open a casino on the scale of Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, both in Connecticut, intensified in recent weeks when the tribe took control of 350 acres in Middleborough.

The process for a tribe to open a casino is governed by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, passed by Congress in 1988. While it empowers the Department of the Interior to make most decisions on Indian casinos, the law requires tribes to get the approval of the states in which the tribal casino is to be located.

In Connecticut, the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes negotiated deals that guaranteed that the state receive 25 percent of total slot machine revenue in lieu of taxes, which last year amounted to $435 million.

Casino proponents argue that Massachusetts residents spend as much as $880 million a year at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, worth about $133 million a year in taxes to Connecticut. It is assumed that a compact with the Mashpee Wampanoags would include a sizable share of revenues for the state, in effect recapturing some of the money now going to Connecticut.

The Mashpee Wampanoags' opinion, by professor Richard Primus, is based on the urgency of the state government in concluding a compact. If no compact is reached within 180 days of the tribe formally asking for one, the Department of the Interior may step in and impose terms of a compact, Primus wrote.

"The Department of Interior may be able to issue gaming procedures on terms less favorable to the state than those the state could have secured by negotiations," the brief says.

Sean P. Murphy can be reached at smurphy@globe.com

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/06/06/the_final_say_on_casino_is_a_matter_of_debate/

Compacts for non-gaming tribes being considered in California present inequities

Several compacts for currently non-gaming tribes are under consideration by the California legislature. This chart compares the membership and authorized slot machines for three of those new proposals (Yurok, Big Lagoon Rancheria, Los Coyotes Band of Indians).

Anti-gaming activist reports Tribe pulled $20 million ad & advocacy campaign

posted 5.21.07 at the California Progress Report:

Fred Jones a Sacramento attorney -- and the legal counsel and legislative advocate for the California Coalition Against Gambling Expansion -- is reporting that the Morongo Band of Indians has pulled its $20 million dollar advertising and grassroots advocacy campaign this past weekend because it is backfiring in Sacramento.

The effort was meant to build public support for lobbying efforts urging approval of amended gaming compacts for five of California's most successful gaming tribes. It is estimated the agreements would bring $500 million a year in new money to the California budget. (Full Opinion Post)

Anti-casino activist joins the bandwagon calling for greater oversight and renegotiation of pending Indian gaming compacts

posted 5.21.07 at the California Progress Report:

Fred Jones a Sacramento attorney -- and the legal counsel and legislative advocate for the California Coalition Against Gambling Expansion -- is calling for complete renegotiations of tribal gaming compacts currently pending ratification in the state legislature for five of California's most successful gaming tribes. Given recent court action striking down federal oversight of tribal gaming operations, there is a growing call by Jones and others for the state to resist approving the pending agreements; and to step in now to claim a greater role in monitoring and oversight of Indian casino operations. (Full Opinion Post)

Gaming chairman expresses concern over rules

5.15.07

Lack of standards could cost millions

By James P. Sweeney
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE

SACRAMENTO – The chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission yesterday warned that the absence of federal standards in Indian casinos could attract crime and cost tribes untold millions of dollars.

The future without the internal operating rules, which were invalidated by federal courts, “will be a time of some uncertainty and doubt,” Chairman Philip Hogen said in remarks prepared for the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee.

“Operations without effective internal controls and oversight will, once again, become obvious targets for the unscrupulous,” Hogen predicted. “Those tribes . . . will lose millions of dollars and often not realize that it has happened until years later.”

Federal courts invalidated what are known as “minimum internal control standards.” The guidelines set standards for the security at casinos, including cash handling, cage and credit operations, internal audits, surveillance and the games – from technical requirements to how often decks of cards should be changed.

Since the ruling became final last year, Hogen has been on a crusade to persuade Congress to restore the commission's authority to impose and enforce the rules for all Indian casinos.

In California, the loss of the federal standards has become a sticking point blocking ratification of five new tribal agreements, or compacts, that promise 22,500 more slots and another major gambling expansion in Southern California.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger negotiated the pending deals last year with Sycuan of El Cajon, Pechanga of Temecula and three other big gaming tribes. The agreements would run for 23 years and pay the state a larger cut of gaming revenues, up to 25 percent from some machines.

But Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, a Fremont Democrat who chairs the Governmental Organization Committee, has questioned the state's ability to regulate the casinos and assure the state's share of revenues without the federal standards in place.

Torrico sparred repeatedly with an attorney for the governor and the chairman of the California Gambling Control Commission.

Sylvia Cates, deputy legal affairs secretary for the governor, and Dean Shelton, the state commission chairman, both said California's compacts require operating rules similar and, in some cases, identical to the federal standards.

Moreover, most tribes have adopted rules at least equal to the federal rules, Cates said.

The state has requested $1.7 million and 14 added positions in the new budget to expand its field presence and begin the transition from federal to state enforcement of the rules.

But, if the state has ample oversight authority, Torrico asked, why is it pushing tribes to accept a new administrative regulation that would require all gaming tribes to comply with standards at least as stringent as the federal rules? Why also, he asked, has the governor implored Congress to restore the federal rules?

“My goal is to ratify these compacts,” Torrico said at the end of the hearing. “But none of the compacts will be ratified until this issue and the others I have mentioned before are addressed fully.”

Find this article at: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20070515-9999-1n15casinos.html

Editorial: Strict prohibitions on reservation-shopping and off-reservation gaming

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Editorial
Our view: Gambling limits

Strict conditions proper for off-reservation casinos reaction?

Two decades ago, the U.S. Supreme Court opened the doors for Indian tribes to operate casinos, and the benefits have been impressive. Many tribes have converted the public's appetite for betting into a reliable revenue stream to address the socioeconomic needs of disadvantaged people.

Tribal gambling income differs from that in the profit-driven private sector. It is the equivalent of a tax base to pay for services a sovereign entity provides to its constituency. For that reason, the 1988 Indian Regulatory Gaming Act has been a success that must be preserved. Still, there needs to be limits.

The federal law allowed tribes and states to enter compacts so the tribes could operate casinos on lands held in trust for them in 1988. Only under a narrow set of conditions could they open casinos on lands they obtained after that date.

After 19 years, Northern Quest Casino, operated at Airway Heights by the Kalispel Tribe, is one of only three off-reservation casinos in the nation. That was due largely to the hostile topography on the Kalispel Reservation and a shortage of suitable water.

At present, however, about 30 tribes have proposals in the pipeline to build casinos on land off their reservations – and not because their land suffers the kind of challenges that hampered the Kalispels. Such an expansion of gambling would pose social problems serious enough to offset the benefits tribes have gained.

The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs recently warned in a letter to the Warm Springs Tribe in Oregon that approval for off-reservation casinos is going to become harder to get. If that prediction holds up, it's welcome news, but it appears to be based on political circumstances that are in flux.

The letter cites congressional efforts to clamp down on tribal casinos, but that came primarily from Congressman Richard Pombo, R-Calif., who was defeated and whose party lost control of Congress. Moreover, the Bureau of Indian Affairs' cautionary letter to the Warm Springs is said to reflect the feelings of Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, whose tenure will probably end when President Bush's does.

Meanwhile, considerable wealth and momentum are working in favor of a radical expansion of tribal gambling. The Mohegans of Connecticut – whose mammoth Mohegan Sun is set for a $750 million expansion – are bankrolling several other casino proposals around the country.

One would give the Cowlitz Tribe in southwest Washington one of the largest casinos in the country. The Mohegans even have their eyes on properties in the Caribbean.

The Kalispels were able to open Northern Quest because the law contained an exception to compensate them for an unavoidable disadvantage. Congress and others who share in the oversight role for tribal casinos, should keep it from being stretched into a loophole.

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/tools/story_pf.asp?ID=188441

Delay on casino security rules may spell trouble for compacts

As posted at indianz.com:A large number of California tribes have expressed opposition to a proposal to implement minimum internal control standards at the state level, Copley News Service reports. Dozens of tribes met Wed to consider a proposal by the CA Gambling Control Commission and some of the more successful tribes to implement the MICS. But no agreement came came out of the meeting, except to schedule another meeting in two months. That could hinder efforts by some of the successful tribes to have their new gaming compacts approved. Democrats in the state Assembly say regulation is a big issue for them. The proposal came in response to a federal appeals court decision that struck down the National Indian Gaming Commission's MICS...



read more digg story

Alternative views of the Big Lagoon area

Proponents of the Big Lagoon gaming Compact for Barstow use glamor photography taken from perspectives that hide any blemishes to sugget that the Big Lagoon is "pristine" and an "untouched natural resource."

These pictures begin to provide a more balanced picture of the world that surrounds the Big Lagoon. While the Lagoon is certainly worthy of conservation and preservation of some form or another; it's not what proponents of the Big Lagoon Compacts would have legislators and reporters believe.

click for larger view

The Big Lagoon Rancheria is 8.3 miles by car from the Cher-ae Heights Casino also in Trinidad sitting on cliffs overlooking Northern California's coastline. Residences, trailer parks and camping areas straddle Highway 1o1 in between the two Reservations.

The Rancheria is adjacent to the Big Lagoon Subdivision on the southern edge of the Big Lagoon. The Subdivision is made up of 76 homes within the Big Lagoon Park Company (Big Lagoon Colony) and another 33 homes in the Big Lagoon Estates.

click for larger view

The majority of land not in public stewardship that surrounds the Big Lagoon/Big Lagoon Rancheria and most of Humboldt County's North Coast planning area is covered in active commercial timberlands. The Big Lagoon Sawmill, a commercial operation, was active upstream of the Big Lagoon for the better part of the 20th Century. The Hammond Log Pond is buffered from the Big Lagoon by marshlands and is still owned by Green Diamond/Simpson Timber Company. Evidence of active logging surrounds the pond.

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The 20-acre Big Lagoon Rancheria (reservation trust land) is comprised of two parcels: the original 9-acre site where the tribe's members have erected homes (top of this photo) and the 11-acre site (the foreground of this photo) where the tribe had begun construction of a casino in the 1990s. Commercial development would be prohibited on these two parcels under terms of the current compact under consideration but not on another 20 acres or more that the tribe owns but which is not yet held in trust and lies between these current trust lands and the Big Lagoon Subdivision.

All this talk in California about large tribes, small tribes, rich tribes and poor tribes...

There is much dialogue in the debate over the future of Indian gaming in California and frequent references to large tribes, small tribes, rich tribes, poor tribes and so on ...

In an attempt to bring some clarity and truth to the debate we've discovered the California Gambling Control Commission has published a list of the 55 tribal casinos in California with a count of each tribe's gaming devices as of March 2006.

We've expanded that chart and added data to indicate approximate number of residents living on reservation/tribal enrollment numbers. The source of that data was primarily gathered from the California State University's Infodome library resource; and as an alternative source the U.S. Census data.

There is no clear correlation between the size of a tribe and the size of its casino. To say the "large tribes" control things is not necessarily true. Nor is it true to suggest the "large" tribes stand in the way of the "smaller" tribes.

The larger non-gaming tribes (500+ members) are generally the tribes with the greatest economic and quality of life challenges.

California's RSTF makes it less likely that the "smaller" tribes are faced with poverty level living circumstances and so to refer to those tribe's as "poor" may no longer be accurate.

We don't refer to 99% of the U.S. population as "poor" just because relative to the other 1% who control 24% of the wealth that might be true.

Tribes with 50 members or less which benefit from California's RSTF would receive $22,000 per member tax free each year. On average, that's at least $44,000 tax free per household -- more if the tribe has less than 50 members. The median household income for families in California is $48,000 before taxes.