Initiative foes hit airwaves with new ad in conflicting blitz

Monday, July 27, 1998 | 4:37 a.m.

Ironically, opponents of the Indian casino initiative - including Las Vegas gambling interests fearing competition - demonize Las Vegas casinos in the ad. A gaudy neon sign slowly erupts from the ground in a quiet neighborhood until it towers over a stunned thirty-something couple, proclaiming "Casino California."

The ad says Proposition 5 could bring casinos closer to neighborhoods by allowing more than a hundred casinos on tribal lands. It also says the initiative could open the way under existing federal law for tribes to buy land elsewhere and - with the approval of two officials - build casinos.

"A dramatic expansion of casino gambling is likely under this initiative," Bill Campbell of the Coalition Against Unregulated Gambling said in a prepared statement at the unveiling of the anti-Proposition 5 ad.

Measure supporters, however, discounted the ad as misleading.

"They are using the scare tactics that have been used in the past to strip Native Americans from their lands and deny them their rights. Big Nevada interests are stooping to these shameful tactics," said Jose Moreno of Californians for Indian Self-Reliance.

Proposition 5 seeks voter permission for California's Indian tribes to operate the kind of casinos that the state deems illegal and allow additional casinos without the approval of the governor or the Legislature.

Under the measure, there are 112 tribes with lands on which casinos could be opened in California, foes said. Another 42 tribes have petitioned the federal government for recognition, they said.

Initiative supporters said that of the tribes with lands in California, only 40 operate casinos because the rest are in remote locations and are unlikely to ever open gambling operations.

Of the additional 42 tribes petitioning for recognition, not all would build casinos even if recognized, according to proponents.

But according to initiative foes, the threat of casino proliferation doesn't stop there.

"The law allows tribes to purchase land anywhere and, with the approval of just two politicians - the secretary of interior and the governor - open a casino. Proposition 5 provides for no local vote and no local voice," Campbell said.

Measure supporters conceded that although it's possible that the two officials could agree, it would be unlikely if the proposals were controversial. Proponents also acknowledged the lack of local influence, but said there has been little local opposition to casinos so far.

The two sides together are spending more than $1 million a week on television commercials in California's major media markets. The blitz comes earlier than any for initiatives, except perhaps 1988's Proposition 103, the auto insurance measure.

With their sizable war chest - Proposition 5 supporters tapping an industry with 1997 net profits of $632 million and foes, Nevada gambling interests - the campaigns are expected to spend a combined total of more than $75 million by election day.

The spending may approach the record-setting $84 million spent by the insurance industry, trial lawyers and insurance reform activists over Proposition 103, which sought to roll back insurance rates.