Former Wilson aide to negotiate compacts

Don Thompson

Thursday, Jan. 8, 2004 | 9:28 a.m.

SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday named as his lead Indian casino negotiator a former aide to Gov. Pete Wilson who angered tribes with his handling of the state's first gambling compacts.

Simultaneously, the governor's chief legal counsel qualified Schwarzenegger's campaign pledge of persuading tribes to contribute 25 percent of their gambling profits.

Schwarzenegger had held out Connecticut's tribal agreements as an example of how he hoped to require California tribes to give up a quarter of their revenue to help fill the state's massive budget gap.

"I think it really was a point of comparison," Legal Affairs Secretary Peter Siggins told reporters in a conference call with Schwarzenegger's new negotiator, former state appeals court judge Daniel Kolkey. "California's compacts really don't allow for that level of revenue sharing at all."

Kolkey wouldn't say how much he hopes to persuade tribes to contribute, nor if he thinks he can meet Schwarzenegger's goal of getting $1 billion to $2 billion annually from tribes -- figures tribes have flatly rejected as unrealistic. He echoed Schwarzenegger's argument that it is time for tribes to "pay their fair share" because they have a monopoly on taking gambling proceeds from California citizens.

Kolkey said he hopes to start negotiations next week, working first with tribes that have expressed the most willingness to negotiate gambling agreements or renegotiate agreements approved by former Gov. Gray Davis, whom Schwarzenegger replaced after October's recall election.

"It's extremely disappointing that the governor chose Kolkey, because Mr. Kolkey had a shot once under Wilson and blew it," said Mark Macarro, chairman of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians, who appeared in television ads opposing Schwarzenegger's election. "Regardless, we'll talk to whomever the governor appoints as a negotiator."

Jacob Coin, executive director of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association, was more conciliatory: "It's a new day, it's a new environment, it's a new administration."