Two tribes mistakenly receive approval for gambling compacts

Wednesday, Sept. 22, 1999 | 1:45 a.m.

In one of its last acts of the session, the Legislature earlier this month hurriedly passed a bill approving gambling compacts with 57 tribes.

But two of those tribes had not signed a gambling compact with Davis.

Mesa Grande had no intention of putting a casino on its north San Diego County reservation, and Jamul hasn't decided whether to pursue gambling or collect a share of the revenues from other tribes' slot machines.

"We were in the midst of a midnight session and getting compacts cranked out that night," said Davis spokeswoman Hilary McLean.

A representative sent by Mesa Grande to the negotiations inadvertently put the name of the tribe on a list of tribes seeking compacts after mistaking the document for a statement of support for other gambling tribes, said tribal chairman Howard Maxcy.

"We had no intention of signing a compact," Maxcy said.

Jamul did sign a one-page "letter of intent" to consider an agreement, but won't decide until next month whether to embark on gambling or collect up to $1.1 million a year under a revenue-sharing plan for non-gambling tribes, tribal chairman Kenneth Meza.

An amended list released by the governor's office Monday replaces Mesa Grande and Jamul with two tribes not named in the compact-ratification bill, the Chukchansi Indians near Fresno and the Elem Indian Colony near Ukiah.

The new compacts must be ratified by voters in a constitutional amendment the Legislature placed on the March ballot.