Congressman seeks reconsideration of Indian casino

Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2002 | 10:52 a.m.

A California congressman has asked the U.S. Interior Department to re-examine a decision to set aside a 58-acre site for an Indian casino that would be managed by a Las Vegas company.

A U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs official announced earlier this month that the Interior Department planned to place land near Sacramento in trust for a $100 million casino for the United Auburn Indian Community (UAIC), which has a management agreement with Station Casinos Inc.

The casino would cater to gamblers who otherwise might head to Reno.

Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif., who philosophically opposes all forms of gaming, has asked that the decision be reconsidered by Interior Secretary Gale Norton.

Norton's office could not be reached for comment today on the status of Doolittle's request.

The UAIC has development and management agreements with Station Casinos, which operates eight neighborhood casinos in the Las Vegas area and has partnerships for the operation of two others. The company had no comment on Doolittle's action or the proposed reconsideration of the decision, which was announced Jan. 4.

The casino site would be located off Interstate 80 between the cities of Roseville, Rocklin and Lincoln, Calif., northeast of Sacramento.

"No tribe in the nation has gone to the extent that this tribe has in working with local government and community groups to mitigate off-reservation impacts," UAIC spokesman Douglas Elmets said. "We believe the Department of Interior, much like Placer County, will realize that this is a model for how Indian gaming should be dealt with when considering taking land into trust."

A spokesman for Doolittle said today that the congressman has been opposed to a casino in the area since it was first proposed.

David Lopez, Doolittle's chief of staff, said the tribe promised in 1994 that it would not build a casino in its efforts to improve its economic status.

An act of Congress re-created the tribe in 1994 after it officially ceased to exist since 1967. It negotiated for a gaming compact with Gov. Gray Davis' administration in 1999.

"When the tribe came to him for assistance in self-determination, he asked them for a commitment that they would not develop gaming," Lopez said.

But that stance changed and the tribe eventually signed its management deal with Station in October 1999.

The tribe was notified Jan. 4 that the BIA, an agency within the Interior Department, had approved the casino land deal. The tribe won approval after promising to design the casino to visually fit the surrounding Sierra foothills communities and by promising to pay for increased police, fire and emergency services and a compulsive gambling program.

The 24-hour casino, being built near two retirement communities and a shopping mall, expects to draw about 8,000 gamblers a day, most of them from the Sacramento area. Northern Nevada critics are worried that the casino will steal customers that would have driven 2 1/2 hours across the Sierra Nevada mountains to Reno to gamble.

Leslie Pittman, a spokeswoman for Station, said the company was surprised with the recent turn of events, but referred all other questions to tribal representatives.

Following the Jan. 4 approval, Station praised the decision, calling it "an important step forward in the development of a state-of-the-art gaming and entertainment facility in the Sacramento area."

Despite the news of a possible delay in the project, Station stock increased 17 percent to $13.52 this morning. It was raised to a "strong buy" from "market perform" by Robertson Stephens Inc. analyst Harry Curtis. He raised his 12-month target price to $19.50 from $14.

Bloomberg News contributed to this report.