Voters OK casino in Death Valley

By Liz Benston

Friday, March 5, 2004 | 11:36 a.m.

Voters in the Mojave Desert city of Hesperia, Calif., approved a ballot measure this week that upholds an agreement struck with the city last year allowing an Indian tribe in Death Valley to build a casino.

If built, the casino would be one of the closest to Las Vegas and one of the first to be located along I-15, the major artery feeding Las Vegas from California.

The proposed casino has split this high desert city of 63,000 people into two camps: those who think it will spur economic development in a depressed community and others who fear it would hurt their small-town way of life. Some also fear the casino would open the door to an explosion of "reservation shopping" by tribes across California.

The Timbisha Shosone tribe of Death Valley envisions a casino on 57 acres of purchased land that would feature up to 2,000 slot machines and up to 60 card tables. The tribe was federally recognized in 1983 but still needs approval from the Department of Interior to have land placed into trust for a casino. The tribe already has land in its ancestral home of Death Valley but can't build a casino in the region, which is now a national park. It also needs a gaming compact with the state of California.

The 332-member tribe is working with casino developer Gary Fears and developer Kevin Flynn, an investor in a Chicago-area casino that went into bankruptcy after regulators denied the casino a gaming license. That casino license is now up for auction in Illinois. Flynn is also a former owner of the Blue Chip casino in Northern Indiana, now owned by Boyd Gaming Corp. of Las Vegas, and has consulted for Boyd. Flynn has been accused of trying to block a tribal casino project in nearby Michigan to benefit Boyd.

Tribal spokesman Rod Wilson said the tribe will work with the two developers but is also expected to seek a management contract with a partner because the tribe has no casino management experience. The tribe hasn't determined who that might be, he said. The tribe also is working on an economic development study that would determine how much traffic it would be able to siphon from the highway, he said.

Federal and state approvals are expected to take about 18 months, while the casino is expected to be complete in 24 months, he said.

Opponents say the process is far from over and have vowed to block the project.

Two lawsuits were filed by citizens groups last year in San Bernadino County Superior Court against the city. One alleges that the Hesperia City Council violated California's Health and Safety Code when it signed a memorandum agreement with the tribe to allow the casino. Under California law, casinos can't be built in redevelopment zones, the suit says. A second suit says the casino would violate the California Environmental Quality Act because the project is bypassing a state environmental review. The tribe contends that the casino would be subject instead to federal rules governing environment and development standards.

"We can't tell them what to put on their land," said City Council member Dennis Nowicki, Hesperia's former mayor and a casino supporter. "That's between the tribe and the federal government."

Only a handful of tribes nationwide have been able to obtain land outside their reservations for casinos because of a complicated and stringent review process that requires tribes to prove they have been living continuously on the land in question, casino foes say. The tribe also will need to jump two hurdles -- a federal review of the land claim in addition to approval by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, they say.

Wilson disputes that interpretation.

"It's strictly a federal issue," he said. The casino wouldn't be located outside of its reservation because the tribe has claimed ancestral lands in the Hesperia region, he said. Nor would the tribe need prior approval from the state to obtain land for the casino, he said.

An agreement reached with the tribe last August would give the city $137 million to pay for community services over the course of 20 years, including funds for a new fire station as well as salaries for additional police and fire positions.

Vivian Houser, an organizer for Concerned Citizens Against the Casino, said residents have no way of knowing whether that money will be enough to support the city once a major casino is built. Also, the agreement doesn't provide any funds for the county, whose residents live around the casino site, she said. Nor does the deal spell out water rights, a paramount concern for desert residents, she said.

"Is this a good deal? We don't know yet. (City officials) are just salivating for the money," Houser said.

The deal is generous for the city but still oversteps the tribe's authority, said Cheryl Schmit, founder of the casino watchdog group Stand Up for California.

The tribe and its supporters misled Hesperia voters by characterizing the casino as an inevitable project, said Schmit, who has proposed a measure for the state's November ballot that would require tribes to enter into tradeoff agreements with local governments.

"They were afraid not to vote for the agreement because (supporters told residents) they would have a casino whether they liked it or not," she said. "What's occurred here is a tribe that's reservation shopping, which is beyond what Congress intended."

The proposed casino is one of about 27 proposed off reservation lands and in more lucrative areas in California, Schmit said. About 50 additional tribes are seeking federal recognition, a first step to developing a casino, she said.

"This sets a bad precedent," she said of the Hesperia project. "California is facing an explosive expansion of Indian casinos. I don't think folks understand how significant this is."

The opposition has begun a letter-writing campaign to the Department of the Interior that spells out potential problems with the casino site, Houser said.

Nowicki said he and other casino supporters will be responding by "lobbying very strongly" in Sacramento and Washington.

"We have what I believe to be a mandate of the people. It's out of our hands," he said.