Four of the five county supervisors announced their opposition
to the proposed Miwok casino Tuesday, and the board will likely
take an official stance against Indian gaming in San Benito County
at its Feb. 22 meeting.
Hollister – Four of the five county supervisors announced their opposition to the proposed Miwok casino Tuesday, and the board will likely take an official stance against Indian gaming in San Benito County at its Feb. 22 meeting.
The five supervisors each discussed their own views on the proposed California Valley Miwok casino near the Hollister airport during a public comment session of the regular board meeting Tuesday morning. All said they opposed the casino except Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz, who said he was still “right in the middle.”
Board Chairman Reb Monaco came out strong against the casino, saying it would create new problems for the county’s already insufficient infrastructure.
“I don’t care if we were putting in a Marine World park that would bring thousands of people to San Benito County. We don’t have the infrastructure to support that,” Monaco said.
The five-member California Valley Miwok tribe has teamed up with investors from Game Won to put a casino on about 200 acres off San Felipe Road across from the airport. The casino could be similar in size to Yolo County’s Cache Creek casino, which is 66,000 square feet with 1,762 slot machines.
In an e-mail written Tuesday afternoon, Miwok Project Manager Gary Ramos said the tribe and its investors were disappointed with the board’s opposition.
“We cannot understand what the Board of Supervisors is thinking. Just a few weeks ago, the board specified the process that they wanted us to follow and we have been following the process the board designated. The board’s
resolution called for a careful study of the issues and sought to avoid anyone taking action until all the facts were in … Today the board suddenly decides they want to throw out that whole process they just created and oppose the project with no new information and without conducting any of the due diligence they themselves proposed to gather just a month ago,” he wrote.
Before they take a vote on an official resolution opposing the casino, supervisors decided to hold a public meeting on Feb. 15 to gather more local input on the proposal.
A county resolution against the casino may hurt the tribe’s chances of gaining a gaming compact with the state. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has said that without overwhelming local support, he will not grant Indian gaming compacts in areas where a tribe can’t prove its ancestral ties. In an area in which a tribe can prove its has ancestral ties, the governor is required to negotiate gaming compacts, according to Vince Sollitto, a deputy press secretary for Schwarzenegger.
But in a case like this one, where the tribe has yet to prove its San Benito County roots to the Governor and the community, the governor will rely on local sentiment, Sollitto said. If the board of supervisors does pass an anti-casino resolution on Feb. 22, Sollitto said, “The governor would certainly look at it as indicative of local opposition.” However, the governor’s office won’t comment further until the actual resolution is approved, he said.
Ramos and his team have said they would like to gain community support for the project. But Ramos was the sole voice of support for the casino in the packed supervisors’ chambers Tuesday morning.
“There are always going to be people who have moral issues with gambling. But the Marshal’s office needs money; the Sheriff’s Department just got $500,000 taken away. You look at the quality of life of unemployed people here, and it’s not good. We are in a very stressful time, and we can make this a win-win situation for everyone,” said Ramos, who has estimated the casino could create 1,000-2,000 local jobs.
Steve Merrell, the spokesman for Casinos Represent A Poor Solution’s, a local casino opposition group, was ill and could not be reached for comment. But five residents at yesterday’s meeting urged the supervisors to pass a resolution opposing the casino. David Nicolaysen of Hollister told the board he agreed with Ramos’ comments about the county’s need for additional revenue, but said a casino was the wrong way to get it.
“There’s a tax issue here, and it seems to me that we need some money,” Nicolaysen said. “But it seems to me it would be more logical to have complete control over all the revenue coming in. Why sell the store to an Indian nation?”
Nicolaysen continued by saying he’d like to see developers come in and create shops that would benefit the local tax base.
Valentin Lopez, head of the Amah-Mutsun tribe of Native Americans, also strongly opposed the Miwok casino, reminding the board the Miwoks had not yet proven any ancestral ties to San Benito County.
“It bothers me when they say they’re going to produce evidence that they have ties here and they haven’t,” Lopez said.
Though not currently federally recognized, the Amah-Mutsuns claim San Benito County as their ancestral land and say the Miwoks are “reservation shopping.”
Following the public comment session, each supervisor discussed his or her own opinion of the casino.
Dist. 1 Supervisor Don Marcus, who before yesterday had cautiously straddled the line, told his fellow board members he is strongly opposed to the idea of a casino in San Benito County.
“I certainly understand the potential benefits (of the casino), but I don’t believe they outweigh the potential negative impacts,” Marcus said. “I feel it’s my obligation to put a negative view on this. I can’t move forward on this with confidence, and I strongly support a resolution against Indian gaming at this time.”
De La Cruz, on the other hand, said he understood both the pros and cons but couldn’t value one over the other yet.
“I have moral concerns about the family that gambles its mortgage away, but at the same time, I have to consider that I ran my campaign saying we needed more jobs,” De La Cruz said. “I think it’s our fault the casino came to us. Every time a development comes in, we shoot it down. My question is, next time something comes along, are we going to shoot it down because it’s bad for the environment or because we don’t want change? We have to progress; we have to grow. So right now I’m right in the middle.”
Dist. 2 Supervisor Anthony Botelho, who has said for months he is categorically opposed to the proposed casino, told the board yesterday he was holding firm.
“My position hasn’t changed. Right now there’s been a lot of promises made and it seems very attractive, but formally there’s nothing on paper and that concerns me,” Botelho said. He then turned to the full-house audience and added, “As long as you’re opposed to it, I’m going to be opposed to it.”
In announcing his own opposition to a casino, Monaco mentioned CRAPS’ recent petition signed by nearly 5,000 people opposing the casino. He also cited last month’s Farm Bureau poll indicating 66 percent of voters were opposed to the casino at its previously proposed site off Highway 25 near the Santa Clara County line.
“I look at the Farm Bureau’s survey, I look at the 5,000 signatures CRAPS has been able to collect, and I look at my personal e-mails – and believe me, there’s a whole stack of them. And at this time I don’t think we have the infrastructure to support this,” Monaco said.
Monaco saved the last word for Vice-Chair Pat Loe, who created and headed a regional planning forum to investigate possible impacts of a casino in San Benito County. Loe said she had learned enough from the forum to make her personal decision. Listing locals’ opposition to reservation shopping, “overwhelming” local opposition to the casino in general, the premature loss of agricultural land, the creation of new traffic problems and the financial losses to local businesses as reasons, Loe announced her opposition and recommended the board approve a resolution stating the other supervisors feel the same way.
Hollister Mayor Pauline Valdivia said Tuesday evening she had heard about the board’s decision, but the city council has no plans yet to discuss a resolution of its own.
Jessica Quandt covers politics for the Free Lance. Reach her at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or at [email protected].
