Michigan groups rally against gambling expansion

Kathy Barks Hoffman

Thursday, April 13, 2000 | 10 a.m.

LANSING, Mich. - A dozen years ago, Jim Shephard hesitated when his father called from a pay phone to ask for $2,000 to cover a gambling debt.

He hasn't heard from him since.

Standing on the Capitol steps with the two young sons his father has never met, Shephard said he opposes more Michigan casinos.

"I lost my father," Shephard, 42, on Wednesday told an anti-gambling rally of about 100 people. Indicating his sons Brandon, 9, and Devon, 6, he added, "They don't have a real grandpa like they should have."

Shephard is especially unhappy that the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Indians wants to build a casino next year about a mile from his home in Emmett Township just east of Battle Creek.

"We don't need a casino," he said. "The effects of gambling are very real, and my family is the proof."

Gambling opponents at the rally blamed Gov. John Engler and lawmakers for not doing more to stop the spread of Indian casinos. But an Engler spokesman said the federal government, not state officials, control which tribes can open casinos.

"Governor Engler and other state officials don't support casinos and are doing what they can," said Lance Boldrey, the governor's deputy legal counsel. "In the end, the only way the state has any say into what the casinos do is through the compacts."

Lawmakers two years ago approved compacts with four tribes: the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians in New Buffalo; the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians in Petoskey; the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Indians in Battle Creek; and the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians in Manistee.

The Little River Band and the Little Traverse Bay Bands opened casinos last year. The Pokagon and Huron tribes plan to do so. Seven tribes already have casinos under compacts signed with Engler in 1993.

An Ingham County Circuit Court judge recently ruled the four newest compacts were invalid because lawmakers approved them with a joint resolution instead of a full vote. The ruling is being appealed by the state.

Boldrey's comments didn't satisfy most in the crowd, who waved signs and a large banner saying "CASI-NO."

When Boldrey told protesters they should try to negotiate with the tribes to get money for community needs such as gambling addiction programs, one man called out, "We don't want their stinking money!"

Detroit attorney Trisha Arndt said state officials could do a better job negotiating tougher compacts.

"The reality is, this state has one of the poorest compacts in the nation," she said. If gambling continues to proliferate, she added, "we stand the chance of losing who and what we are."

Dave Waymire, spokesman for the Nottawaseppi Huron Band, says the tribe is following the proper steps to open a casino.

"The tribe respects the right of this small group of people to raise their issues and concern," he said of the protesters. "We hope they also recognize the right of the tribe under state and federal law to move ahead with its economic development project."

Michigan now has 18 tribal casinos. They provide nearly 500,000 square feet of gaming area and offer more than 11,000 games of chance, Michigan Gaming Control Board head Nelson Westrin recently told a tourism conference. The tribes' net winnings exceed $625 million, he said.