Key deadline passes in California’s battle over tribal gambling

Cynthia L. Webb

Thursday, May 14, 1998 | 9:46 a.m.

BANNING, Calif. -- Casino gambling profits allow the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians to provide members with retirement plans, full-coverage health care and day care for children.

If the video slot machines at the tribe's casino in nearby Palm Springs are shut down, tribal leader Richard Milanovich said, "all these programs would be in jeopardy." Jobs would be at stake.

"What's going to happen to them? They are scared right now," he said.

This week has seen an escalating battle over Indian gambling in the nation's most populous state. Tribal leaders, including Milanovich, gathered Wednesday at the Morongo Indian Reservation, 30 miles west of Palm Springs, to denounce government efforts to shut down their electronic slot machines.

Gov. Pete Wilson says the machines are illegal. A state and federal deadline for tribes to join a model agreement between Wilson and a San Diego County tribe or make deals on their own passed Wednesday with no new deals and no action from authorities.

But all four U.S. attorneys in California were expected to file civil forfeiture suits today to seize or shut down tribal slot machines.

Hoping to stall that action, 16 tribes on Wednesday asked a federal magistrate in San Francisco to intervene and issue a temporary restraining order that would block federal action against the slot machines. They argued that such a federal move would discourage public use of the casinos.

U.S. Magistrate Bernard Zimmerman promised to rule soon.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles O'Connor told Zimmerman that the government wasn't trying to confiscate gambling revenue, at least for now, and would not be able to shut down any machines until at least 35 days after suing, following a full hearing.

Zimmerman asked why the government couldn't hold off on any enforcement action for another month or two, making the tribes' restraining order unnecessary.

"We've postponed this for years," O'Connor replied. "These operations are illegal."

The Wilson agreement with the Pala Band of Mission Indians in San Diego County authorizes a new type of machine, not yet in use, that would allow players to compete with one another rather than against the house.

Other tribes have argued that they are sovereign and should be allowed to make their own decisions. The deal has been condemned by most of the 30-plus tribes that operate 12,000 video slots.

Wilson's office claimed that about a dozen California tribes have agreed to negotiate compacts, but would not identify them.

Late Wednesday, Viejas Band leaders, who operate a casino in northeast San Diego County, announced that they would reluctantly pursue an agreement modeled after the Pala compact.

"There were no good choices," Viejas chairman Anthony Pico said. "This very sobering and difficult decision was made with a gun to our heads."

In Palm Springs, Milanovich said the 10 Southern California tribes belonging to the Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations will use "every legal, legislative and political action to protect what is most important to us -- our sovereignty."

"Our sovereignty is not for sale," he said.

Members of TASIN, which employ nearly 5,000 people in their casinos, voted Tuesday to reject the Pala deal, leaders said.

At the Morongo Casino, about a mile up a dirt road from where tribal leaders met, Three Feathers Toro said casino profits have changed his reservation and life for the better. Toro was injured in a car crash, and tribal leaders used casino profits to help him and his family.

"This casino has allowed me to build a house for my family. I used to live in a wooden shack," Toro said, sitting at a card table at the Casino Morongo as clinking coins echoed in the background.

Toro pointed to some of the benefits, including a Shell gas station near the casino that the tribe owns. He also said a Denny's restaurant and Chevron gas station were planned.

"Twenty-five years ago we had nothing," he said. "Now we have something. The government should not take that away from us."