I am one of the local businessmen who are working with the California Valley Miwok Tribe to explore the opportunities for developing a tribal gaming facility in San Benito or southern Santa Clara Counties.
The editorial board of the Hollister Free Lance recently advised their readers:
“We need to keep open minds, ask difficult questions and demand detailed answers before our communities decide to welcome a tribal casino in our midst.”
All of us on the project agree about the importance of asking questions. We are at the beginning of a process in which the public will have lots of opportunities to be heard and to get their questions answered.
Your editorial went on to ask four of the most important questions that we will have to answer as the project moves forward. Our responses appear below. But it is so early in our planning that we do not have complete answers for all of them yet. We are working on it, and with the public’s help, we believe we can come up with the answers that will serve everyone’s best interest.
Question No. 1 “How much are out-of-town casino management firms paid? We need to know how much of the money that is spent in a proposed area casino will stay in our local economy, and how much will end up in out-of-state firms’ bank accounts.”
Response: The current development and management group is made up of local investors who live in or near the area. No decisions have been made yet about the management of the facility. Some tribes have retained outside management firms, but our preference would be to follow the example of many of the most successful gaming tribes in California who have developed their own management staffs. We are preparing a detailed economic analysis of the project that will examine this question as well as the other important financial considerations for the community. As soon as it is ready, we will provide this document to the public.
Question No. 2. “What’s the average salary and benefits earned by various casino worker positions? From janitor to card dealer, from cashier to pit boss, and every other position, we need to know what kinds of jobs the casino is creating. Will the jobs the casino offers will pay wages that will allow its workers to live in decent conditions in South Valley.”
Response: This project will create several thousand new jobs and we expect to hire locally for all of them. Comparative figures on the salaries being paid at similar facilities in California will be an important feature of the economic impact analysis that we are preparing. It is just as important to match the jobs with the skills of the local work force, and in this respect, we think the California Valley Miwok Project and the San Benito-Santa Clara area will make a very good fit. The Tribe intends to allow union activity on-site, so therefore, workers will have union organization protection rights if they choose.
Question No. 3. “How does a dollar spent at a tribal casino impact the local economy? Does a casino dollar turn over several times in the local economy or does it immediately flow to out-of-state casino operators. This data will help elected officials and residents evaluate whether a casino is worth the tradeoff in noise, lighting, pollution and traffic impacts.”
Response: Rather than partnering with out of state investors, we have chosen to work with local business leaders who know the community and have a deep understanding of the economic and social needs of the area. Local contractors, vendors and suppliers stand to benefit from the opening of a casino. Experience in other parts of California demonstrates that every new job at a casino generates several more in the area economy. Moreover, the revenues from tribal gaming are providing millions of dollars to local agencies all over California through in lieu of tax payments, mitigation payments and from taxes generated by off-reservation purchases and taxes on employee incomes. In other communities, those revenues are helping to take people off welfare, providing job training, and underwriting medical services and other social programs. All of that information will be documented in the economic impact analysis, so that residents will have a clear understanding of how much funding this project can bring to the area.
Question No. 4. How will those impacts be mitigated?
Response: For this project to succeed, we first have to negotiate a compact with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.The governor has taken a consistent and firm line in requiring the tribes to ensure that off-site impacts will be fully mitigated.
The Tribe is also adamant about complying with State and local environmental, health and safety standards through the adoption of those standards as they apply to the development of this project. That’s the right policy for San Benito and Santa Clara, and it’s the right policy for California’s Indian nations as well.
As the project progresses, we will have additional information to share with the community. We are currently setting up a toll-free number so that members of the community can tell us what you think and what you would like to know.
Kirk Rossman is a partner in Game Won and one of the participants in the California Valley Miwok casino project.
