California tribes try to ease Nevada casino concerns

Scott Sonner

Monday, Jan. 11, 1999 | 3:46 a.m.

RENO, Nev. -- Nevada has nothing to fear about the expansion of Indian casinos in California and may actually benefit from the increased exposure of the games of chance, leaders of a tribal gambling conference said Monday.

"It seems everything going wrong in Nevada is being blamed on Indian gaming in California," said Lynn LeRoy chairwoman of the Western Indian Gaming Conference.

Approval of Proposition 5 legalizing video gambling and card games at Indian casinos in California in November has given tribes nationwide new momentum in their efforts to reap their fair share of the gambling market, leaders said.

But it is not without concern among competitors across the border in Nevada, who fear Californians will gamble at home rather than travel to Las Vegas or Reno.

Four downtown casinos have closed over the past two years in Reno and several store fronts are empty on the main drag where business once boomed.

"Living here, I can tell you that Proposition 5 is being discussed in proportions of El Nino," said Brian Wallace, tribal chairman of the Washoe Tribe at Lake Tahoe.

"It's being blamed for the weather, for the snow."

Daniel J. Tucker, chairman of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association and vice chairman of the Sycuan Band of Mission Indians, said Nevada-based casinos are getting all worked up over nothing.

"What we make in California is a drop in the bucket compared to over here," Tucker said. "Indian gaming should whet the appetites for people coming to Las Vegas and Reno."

"This is a destination point here," he said during an interview at the conference at the Silver Legacy Hotel-Casino in Reno.

Hundreds of tribal leaders, gaming vendors and suppliers from California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico are attending the conference and trade show through Tuesday.

"The past decade has seen dramatic growth in Indian gaming in the United States with more than 150 tribes ... that utilize gaming as a form of economic development," said LeRoy, of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians in San Bernadino.

"With their success has come new employment for both tribes and surrounding communities and the elimination of welfare."

LeRoy said Proposition 5 passed in California because tribal members across the state and the nation pitched in to help "as a matter of fairness and sovereignty.

"As we all know in Indian country, it is not always easy to be united with all our different interests," LeRoy said.

"But most Native Americans are stepping off the reservation and getting involved," she said.

Proposition 5, approved by 63 percent of California voters in November, was put on hold by the California Supreme Court last month while it reviews lawsuits by two sets of opponents.

One of the lawsuits is supported financially by Nevada casinos, the chief bankrollers of the No-on-5 campaign, which was outspent 2-1 by the tribes. The campaign cost nearly $100 million, a national record for a ballot measure.

Conference leaders on Monday praised new California Gov. Gray Davis, who is taking a neutral position on the proposition.

Last week, the California Supreme Court granted new Attorney General Bill Lockyer's request to withdraw arguments submitted by his predecessor, Dan Lungren, expressing Gov. Pete Wilson's view that the initiative violated the state Constitution.

Davis has said he will uphold the measure and wants to negotiate agreements with Indian tribes on the scope of reservation gambling.

"It's about time we have a governor who listens to people who care about fairness," LeRoy said Monday. "We're very optimistic."