Kaukauna approves Indian casino contract

Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2000 | 9:29 a.m.

The council voted 6-1 in favor of a pact with the tribe and a resolution authorizing casino gaming within the city.

In a referendum vote last week, residents rejected a proposal to outlaw casino gambling in Kaukauna.

The tribe has proposed a $20 million casino, $30 million hotel and convention center and $5 million water park for the former Fox Valley Greyhound Park. A $92.5 million bonus would be split between the city and Outagamie County over 20 years.

The County Board now will consider the deal.

It also would have to be approved by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs and Gov. Tommy Thompson.

"I'm assuming we'll get the approval for the same reason we got it in Kaukauna," Mayor John Lambie said after Tuesday night's vote. "It's a good deal, a great financial opportunity for the city. It's tax relief for the residents."

Elsewhere, more than 100 people turned out at La Crosse to hear representatives of the Ho-Chunk Nation and anti-casino forces discuss what casino gambling brings to a community.

A Nov. 7 advisory referendum is scheduled on whether they support development of a Ho-Chunk casino in La Crosse County.

The Rev. Wesley White, representing United for a Greater Coulee Region, said it is wonderful the tribe spends the majority of its casino profits on programs that help educate and care for tribal members.

But he said voters need to remember this about casinos: "You can't win. The house has the advantage."

"I would ask you to listen carefully to distinguish between the appealing promises by casino supporters and the appalling track record of casinos taking revenue out of community, cannibalizing jobs, destroying lives, changing our community direction away from technical growth, and increasing taxes for road maintenance and construction, education, a jail, the police and courts," he said.

Tribal attorney William Boulware said it is unfair of casino opponents to use studies that look at crime or other social ills caused by commercial, Las Vegas-style casinos and even other Indian casinos.

Unlike commercial casinos, all Ho-Chunk casino profits go into tribal programs, including elder feeding sites, health clinics and Head Start programs, he said.

The tribe pays local governments for services like police patrols and ambulance calls to its casinos, he said. The nation has offered to pay $4 million a year to the city and county in lieu of property taxes. Boulware said Indian gaming is much more heavily regulated than commercial gambling