Michigan tribe urges governor to negotiate deal

Sarah Karush

Tuesday, May 17, 2005 | 9:43 a.m.

Leaders of a western Michigan Indian tribe on Monday urged Gov. Jennifer Granholm to negotiate a compact for a new casino now that the federal government has officially approved the tribe's land-trust proposal.

The Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, known as the Gun Lake tribe, said a state compact would allow it to operate a Class 3 casino in Allegan County -- the same type as the other casinos currently operating in Michigan. Such a facility would employ 2,000 people and provide more than $25 million a year in business for local vendors, said Tom Shields, a spokesman for the tribe.

If the state refuses to negotiate, the tribe said it intends to move ahead with the casino, but it would be limited to a Class 2 venue. Such casinos don't have table games or traditional slot machines, though they can have bingo and electronic games that look like slots.

Shields said a Class 2 casino would bring only half the jobs and would provide no revenue to the state and to local communities.

In the case of a Class 3 operation, the tribe would have to pay 8 percent of its electronic gaming revenue to the state and 2 percent to local government. The tribe expects to bring in $160 million in annual revenue from electronic games, Shields said.

Granholm spokeswoman Heidi Hansen said Monday that the governor is in favor of negotiating a compact with the tribe, but added that such an agreement would need approval from the Legislature.

But John Helmholdt, a spokesman for the anti-casino group 23 Is Enough, said Michigan residents oppose casino expansion and that Granholm would yield to public opinion.

"It's a chance for Granholm to show some real strong leadership," he said.

Tribal chairman D.K. Sprague was optimistic that there would be a compact.

"I've had conversations with the governor's staff, and we're talking, and I believe that's a positive," he said.

On Friday the U.S. Department of the Interior announced that it has agreed to take into trust about 147 acres of land for the casino. The land bought by the tribe must be taken into trust by the federal government in order to become sovereign reservation land.

The announcement marks the start of a 30-day waiting period during which opponents of the casino can sue.

Helmholdt said a lawsuit would likely be filed, either by another anti-casino group or by individuals.

Helmholdt said that if no compact is approved and the tribe is left with a Class 2 casino -- which he called "a glorified bingo hall" -- the investors might pull out.

The Gun Lake tribe has contracted with Las Vegas-based Station Casinos to operate the casino in an old manufacturing building in Wayland Township. The tribe plans to have 2,500 slot machines and 75 table games, Shields said.