County supervisors showed encouraging signs of leadership last
week when they called for a regional planning forum to explore what
an Indian casino on Highway 25 and the possible Indian development
of Sargent Ranch will mean for the area’s economy and
environment.
County supervisors showed encouraging signs of leadership last week when they called for a regional planning forum to explore what an Indian casino on Highway 25 and the possible Indian development of Sargent Ranch will mean for the area’s economy and environment.
The supervisors should be commended for making the bid for more local control on these projects – it’s not every day that San Benito County officials take a regional approach to issues. But Supervisor Pat Loe who asked for a resolution, recognized this is an issue that demands more clout at state and federal levels than San Benito County and its 26,477 registered voters can wield.
Pull with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the federal government will be important if we are to have meaningful input on a proposal to bring a $300 million casino to the area.
All the cities and county governments invited – Santa Cruz, Santa Clara and Monterey counties as well as Gilroy, San Juan Bautista, Hollister and Salinas – should join in the effort. Such a project would change the profile of the entire area for years to come. We all must have a say in what happens.
The resolution supervisors passed also asked the governor and the Bureau of Indian Affairs to hold off on making any decisions until local impact studies are complete. That’s good, but it’s not enough.
The county should ask the governor for assistance in getting casino investors to pay for the environmental and economic impact reports. Those reports should be handled as they would for any other project – funded by the applicant and contracted by the county. That would ensure objectivity in the findings.
To make sure that happens, members of the regional forum should pass resolutions asking the investors to pay for the reports and then send those resolutions to the governor. Schwarzenegger can encourage the investors to pay. If the investors want a gaming compact, they will need to play ball with the governor.
San Benito County has little political power in the state. We need to work within the region if we are going to be heard in the halls of Sacramento and Washington D.C. Last week’s resolution was an encouraging sign that local leaders realize that.
