MIDDLETOWN — One of the six Pomo tribes in Lake County broke ground Saturday on a $36 million casino expansion in Middletown. Construction of the Middletown Rancheria Pomo Indian tribe”s Twin Pine Casino began yesterday.
Lake County casino expansions provide a microcosmic glimpse of a nationwide debate that pits tribal sovereignty against states” desires to attain guaranteed gaming revenues. Last year, California Indian gaming stole the gambling crown from the home of Las Vegas, generating more revenues than the iconic Nevada casinos, and triggering political discussions and new regulations in California.
The square footage of the tent-like structure will quadruple as the project unfolds over the next 14 months, transforming the casino into a 91,000-square-foot lodge-style facility with the addition of a hotel and expanded gaming floor.
The 438 slot machines and eight table games will expand to 700 slot machines and 12 table games. The increase in slot machines is permissible under a 1999 state compact, and needed licenses have already been approved, according to Jose Simon III, chairman of the Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians. “The compact as far as it pertains to Middletown was a deal between us and the state for our business to work with the bank community to expand,” Simon said.
At the ground breaking, Simon thanked District 1 Supervisor Ed Robey, who represents the Middletown area. Robey helped coordinate future road widening and turn lanes with Caltrans at the casino, and a hookup between the casino and the LACOSAN sewer system that serves Middletown.
Financing for the expansion came from East Coast Mohegan Tribe in Uncasville, Conn. Mohegan owns the successful and colossal Mohegan Sun, one of the nation”s largest casinos, with more than 6,000 slot machines and 300 gaming tables. In a nod to solidarity of tribes across the nation, Mohegan has helped numerous other casinos in the expansion process by backing tribes” loans with their guarantee, according to the tribe”s spokesman Joe Smith.
Simon said the Middletown tribe made contact with Mohegan at a Native American conference. “They”ll have no say in the future of our casino. They just get a flat fee for guaranteeing the loan,” he said.
Simon said that the casino will solidify the Middletown tribe”s economy and benefit the county with jobs and economic growth. “We have many programs: health, education and housing that will be helped by the expansion,” he said. He added that the money will go directly to tribal members to build housing on their 100-acre reservation and facilitate college expenses for its members.
The casino employs 210 people, according to Simon, and that number will jump to 300 once construction is completed in January 2009. The 60-room hotel will add 40,000-square-feet and the 12,000-square-foot casino floor will expand to 35,000 square-feet. It is one of the top employers in the growing south portion of the county, where the population growth?13.1 percent?is well above the state”s average of 7.6 percent between 2000 and 2006, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
County coffers will benefit from an agreement signed two weeks ago that the tribe will contribute funds to the county on an on-going basis, starting with a $50,000 contribution, according to Robey. He said a memorandum of understanding is the method the county uses to guarantee gaming tribes will contribute financially. While the amount is not known at this time, he said it would be on par with taxes the casino would pay if it were on county land.
Robey said two additional casino projects have been proposed for the county, and that he is supportive of the Middletown casino. “It”s a lot more than a casino. It”s economic development, it”s a hotel, its jobs?it”s a whole lot of things.”
In total, there are three casinos in the county: Twin Pine in Middletown, Konocti Vista in Kelseyville and Robinson Rancheria in Upper Lake. Two casinos are on the drawing board: one for the Habematolel Pomo tribe of Upper Lake, and one for the Elem Pomo tribe of Clearlake Oaks. In Mendocino County are the Hopland Sho Ka Wah Casino and Coyote Valley Shodakai Casino in Redwood Valley. Shodakai unveiled plans in July for a $50 million casino expansion. A four-story 118-room hotel, entertainment hall with seating for 1,500 and a five-story parking garage are in the works.
The Scotts Valley Pomo tribe based in Lakeport is planning a casino in an unincorporated part of Contra Costa County near North Richmond, where a portion of the tribal members live, according to the tribe”s chairman Donald Arnold.
Arnold said sovereignty for Native Americans never received much attention until it became synonymous with casinos, economic interests and divvying up the spoils.
“When NIGC (National Indian Gaming Commision) was formed, politicians out of Washington, D.C. said ?you know you got some bad guys here” and the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act came into effect in 1988. They knew this was going to occur; it was passed by Congress, why didn”t they initiate a program to make small loans available to help the Indian tribes get their businesses up and running? They could have been part of the solution, not part of the problem,” Arnold said.
Since Indian gaming began in California in 1998, over 200 tribes have opened casinos across the country. It”s a $25 billion industry in the U.S. and more than double what it was five years ago. Since then, a slew of laws have been ratified and debated to try to secure compensation for state and local governments. In an attempt to tighten loopholes, California”s Legislature ratified four new gaming compacts that may appear before voters in February.
Arnold said an interesting paradox is that while cities, counties and states are involved in receiving Indian tribe”s profits, at the same time politicians are beginning to find popularity by running on anti-casino platforms.
Sonoma County voters in November 2006 elected several city council members who were stout anti-casino candidates. A candidate for State Assembly, Jared Huffman, who represents the 6th district in Sonoma County, gained support from voters and “Stop the Casino 101 Coalition” members in the area who share his views against building new casinos.
With one Las Vegas-style casino already established in Geyserville by the Dry Creek Band of Pomo Indians, River Rock Casino, the band has three more casino applications in the works to be built along a 50-mile stretch of Highway 101 in Sonoma County. And the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria have proposed a $450 million luxury resort casino in Rohnert Park.
Measure H, the “Anti-Casino Measure” passed in Petaluma in the November 2006 election. The measure gives the city of Petaluma the ability to lobby at state and federal levels?where the power to authorize a casino lies?against the Dry Creek Band of Pomo Indians who want to build one of their casinos just south of the city.
“I don”t think the casino is the answer, but it”s sure better than the alternatives we have,” Arnold said. He said California history is rife with the mistreatment and misunderstanding of American Indians.
“The natives stood in the way of the Europeans” lust for gold, so they were enslaved, killed and driven away. California is the only state where they had a bounty on Native American people?$25 per head and $15 for women and children,” Arnold said.
Arnold said in the 1940s his mother and father, along with tens of thousands of American Indians, were sent to relocation programs in an assimilation attempt that virtually stripped them of their culture and language.
“They took them back with a one-way ticket and $35. We”ve been back here (Lakeport and the Bay Area) for a few generations now, but now have a lot of problems. The big issues are drugs and alcohol, low income families, poor housing and no jobs. It”s (the casino) going to help us tremendously,” Arnold said.
Melissa Fulton, Lakeport Regional Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer was reluctant, as was Supervisor Robey, to give her opinion on gaming. Fulton said “there are a lot of different opinions about casinos,” adding that all the casinos in the county are members of the chamber.
“Certainly what they have brought to the labor market has been an improvement in the number of employed people. The employment opportunities offered by businesses whether they are tribal gaming or not are certainly an asset to our communities of Lake County,” Fulton said.
Contact Elizabeth Wilson at ewilson@record-bee.com. To comment on this story or others go to www.record-bee.com.
