The California Valley Miwok tribe and its investors from Game
Won have given up plans to build a destination resort and casino in
San Benito County, saying it has become clear the county
supervisors will take any actions
”
ethical or not
”
to keep the project out.
Hollister – The California Valley Miwok tribe and its investors from Game Won have given up plans to build a destination resort and casino in San Benito County, saying it has become clear the county supervisors will take any actions “ethical or not” to keep the project out.
About nine months after the news leaked out in the press that the five-member tribe was looking to build a casino on about 200 acres near Hollister, California Valley Miwok Project Manager Gary Ramos says investors will now look for a community that is more receptive to their proposals.
“We felt from the very beginning that if we weren’t going to be welcome there then we were going to leave,” Ramos said Thursday. “Between the county and the Sheriff, we just figured that with a project of this magnitude and the number of dollars that we were trying to bring into the community, it would be better to go somewhere where we were welcome. There were other areas that are much more friendly and welcoming and cooperative.”
Since August of last year, the casino had become a particularly divisive issue among San Benito County residents and officials, sparking several heated community meetings, the formation of anti-casino organization Casinos Represent A Poor Solution (CRAPS), strong opposition from Sheriff Curtis Hill and a change in the casino’s proposed location. The growing debate caused a rift in the community that many feared could mirror the fight over the Measure G growth control initiative.
The casino would have sat on over 200 acres off Highway 156 near the Hollister Municipal Airport. Investors hoped to eventually add a hotel, restaurants and several entertainment venues to the casino, which could have been similar in size to Yolo County’s 66,000 square-foot, 2,000 slot machine Cache Creek casino.
In February, the San Benito County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to send a resolution opposing the casino to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The San Juan Bautista City Council and Hollister Downtown Association quickly followed the board’s decision and passed similar resolutions.
Concerns that a casino was the wrong kind of development for Hollister, and the belief the tribe was “reservation shopping” out of their indigenous area were some of the chief reasons for opposition cited in the resolutions, although Ramos and the tribe’s attorney had maintained they would prove the tribe’s ancestral ties to the area.
“I was not too surprised,” Hollister City Councilman Doug Emerson said of the news the investors and the tribe had folded their hand. “If this project ever came to fruition, the argument I was going to give was that the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was created to benefit tribes on their reservation areas. What we have here is five Indians that are really questionable as to their ties to the tribe, and certainly have no ties to San Benito County.”
But the reaction to the news of the investors pulling out Thursday was mixed among other Hollister and San Benito County officials, some saying they were thrilled to be rid of the divisive issue and others saying they were sorry to see the potential for up to 2,000 local jobs taken off the table.
“That’s wonderful,” said Supervisor Pat Loe, a staunch opponent of the casino. “I really think that this shows the power of the people. If they really have strong opinions, it’s extremely important that they let the elected officials know what they think and let them voice their opinions as we were elected to do.”
Loe was the head of the supervisors’ casino subcommittee, and was one of the leading advocates of sending a resolution to Sacramento opposing the project. Late last month, it became increasingly apparent the tribe would have trouble setting up shop in Hollister without board support after Loe announced the governor’s legal secretary had told her the will of local public officials would be considered above all else when Schwarzenegger negotiated gaming compacts.
But some members of the Hollister City Council, the only major local government that had not yet taken a stance on the casino, said they were sorry to see the project leave before they could finish negotiations with the investors. Ramos said Thursday preliminary estimates were showing the casino could have brought San Benito County $10 to 15 million a year, adding up to an estimated $200 million benefit for the community, plus improvements such as a Highway 25 expansion.
“We were having really good negotiations. It was going really smoothly and they were getting all the information we were requiring,” said Hollister Mayor Pauline Valdivia. “But I think they were expecting the support from the Board of Supervisors. On my part, for the community it was a little disappointing because I looked at this as a business venture that could have brought in some jobs. I am a little disappointed we didn’t follow through more.”
Valdivia said she and Councilman Brad Pike, who made up the council’s casino subcommittee, held three meetings with Ramos so far and had hoped to have several more in the coming weeks.
In a press release issued yesterday, Ramos praised the city council for its willingness to talk with the investors before making its decision, stating “The city leadership demonstrated a genuine interest in creating good paying jobs, expanding and making safety improvements to Highway 25, fixing the water treatment facility and creating a true partnership with the Tribe.”
The statement was not as complimentary towards the county board of supervisors. “Although negotiations were progressing with the City of Hollister, it became abundantly clear to the Tribe that the County Board of Supervisors would take any action, ethical or not, to scuttle our efforts to bring our project to fruition,” the press release stated. “Their rush to judgment and negative politics, evident in the numerous lawsuits, recall attempts, and even voting down an ethics panel contributed to a circus-like political atmosphere that was not conducive to an honest and open dialogue about the facts of our project.”
Board of Supervisors Chairman Reb Monaco brushed off the statements.
“I don’t even want to dignify that with a comment,” he said. “We met with them on several occasions and gave them the opportunity to come forward with a business plan. My feeling is that basically they couldn’t get everything together.”
Ramos said the decision to leave San Benito County had nothing to do with the investors’ business plan or the economic outlook of the project. Economist Alan Meister, whom the investors had commissioned to conduct an economic impact report on the project, said the same.
“The stuff that I was doing wouldn’t have been an outlook for them, it would have been an outlook for the community,” Meister said. “The decision (to back out) couldn’t have been based on the impact study because it wasn’t even done.”
While Ramos said Thursday the investors already have another location outside of San Benito County in mind, he wouldn’t disclose it.
“It’s fair to say we’re going to be in the area not very far,” Ramos said. He would not confirm or deny speculation that Los Banos is a potential site.
“We have been courted by several areas,” Ramos said. “This time we’ll look wider and harder to make sure we pick the best area.”
Wherever the tribe ends up looking next, though, many leaders said they were relieved the whole ordeal had come to an end.
CRAPS Chairman Steve Merrell said Thursday he was “thrilled” to hear the investors were leaving town.
“Obviously I’m elated,” Merrell said. “But I think there’s some important things we need to take away from this. We said casinos represent a poor solution, and the question is now what is the correct solution for the county? It needs to be the right kind of development, it needs to fit our county. It needs to be true to our heritage and our roots, and a casino wasn’t that. Now the question is, what is the right solution? And I think we need to be just as vigilant in our efforts seeking that as we were in opposing the casino.”
Staff Writer Serdar Tumgoren contributed to this report.
Jessica Quandt covers politics for the Free Lance. Reach her at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or at [email protected].
