After a heated public casino meeting Tuesday night, the San
Benito County Supervisors say they’re each standing firm on their
individual positions. Four of the five supervisors say they still
oppose the proposed Miwok casino off Highway 156, while Supervisor
Jaime De La Cruz remains on the fence.
The proposed project could be similar in size to Yolo County’s
74,000-plus square foot 2,200 slot machine Cache Creek casino.
Hollister – After a heated public casino meeting Tuesday night, the San Benito County Supervisors say they’re each standing firm on their individual positions. Four of the five supervisors say they still oppose the proposed Miwok casino off Highway 156, while Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz remains on the fence.
The proposed project could be similar in size to Yolo County’s 74,000-plus square foot 2,200 slot machine Cache Creek casino.
“I don’t think it’s any mystery that the board is not in support of this casino,” Board Chairman Reb Monaco said Wednesday.
But as the dust settles from Tuesday night’s meeting, local leaders are left to ponder several issues raised by emotional residents.
Is it possible the casino proposal would go to a vote?
Tuesday night, member after member of a standing-room only audience took the podium telling the board to ask the voters whether they want a casino. Casino supporters told the board they believed a vote would show hard numbers for how many people in the community want the jobs and economic stability the casino investors are promising. And casino opponents followed suit, saying they had nothing to hide and an election would only prove the majority of voters want to keep the casino out.
“I love the idea (of a vote),” De La Cruz said Wednesday. “It’s been such a heated debate, and (Tuesday) was the first time I’ve seen the entire community come together like that. I applaud the community for that.”
But it may not be as simple as putting the casino on a ballot and letting the chips fall where they may, according to Monaco.
“I don’t think that’s possible because first of all, I don’t think this is a thing you could put to a vote; I don’t think it’s legal. Also, I would assume the (casino) backers would have to fund the election,” Monaco said. “It’s not practical, and I don’t think that, given the relationship of sovereign Indian nations and Indian lands… I don’t think it’s a question of having an ability to do this. I think it’s kind of a moot point.”
Supervisor Don Marcus agreed.
“I would certainly want to know if the majority of constituents in San Benito County oppose this, but I’m not sure that an election falls within the legal guidelines of (showing local support for) reservation shopping,” Marcus said.
Head Elections Official John Hodges said Wednesday night he didn’t know the guidelines in such a situation, but would research them.
Gov. Schwarzenegger has said that he will not negotiate gaming compacts with tribes outside of their indigenous areas without overwhelming local support, and the five-member California Valley Miwok tribe has not yet proven its ancestral ties to the area. California Valley Miwok Project Manager Gary Ramos, though, insists they are not reservation shopping and will prove they are indigenous to the area.
California Valley Miwok Project Spokeswoman Nicole Ratcliff couldn’t be reached for comment.
The City of Hollister’s stance
Sheriff Curtis Hill was greeted with a standing ovation from casino opponents when he challenged the Hollister City Council to come out against the project as the Board of Supervisors has said it plans to do. But the casino’s investors and supporters say the board has already made too hasty a decision in opposing the casino, saying they have yet to review all of the information and project details.
Among council members reached Wednesday, the consensus was that the council was too short on information to take a stance.
“I can only speak for myself, but every issue that comes before us, I will be getting educated to the best of my ability on both sides of the issue,” said Councilman Brad Pike. “If I’m not educated to it, it looks wishy-washy. And I’ll be the first to admit I don’t understand casinos. I don’t go to Vegas. I don’t go to Reno or to Tahoe. But I want to understand the people’s needs first, and we are supposed to do that.”
Councilman Robert Scattini said the council has not yet discussed the casino question as it had not been approached by any groups asking it to do so. And, like Pike, Scattini also said he would be continuing to research the project proposal before he takes a stance himself.
“I think we should hear those people out and listen to them,” he said of the casino opponents.
Hollister Mayor Pauline Valdivia said Wednesday she hadn’t been able to attend Tuesday’s meeting, but would be discussing the casino at the next council meeting. While she declined to elaborate, she said “At Tuesday’s meeting I will be making a statement about the casino, but I’ll wait until Tuesday.”
A clear message on jobs
Many casino supporters Tuesday night held signs with slogans like “We Need Jobs” or “SLOTS: Support Local Opportunities To Succeed.” Casino opponents took the floor to tell the board the 2,000 jobs Ramos is promising would be dead-end, minimum-wage and part-time. And supporters countered that even if they were, the investors have promised union-wage jobs, and even low-paying jobs would be better than no jobs at all.
But many on both sides of the issue agreed on one thing during the meeting: San Benito County needs jobs.
“Their message is loud and clear. We need jobs in this community, and we shouldn’t minimize that,” said Supervisor Anthony Botelho Wednesday. “But opportunity comes all the time, and in the past we’ve turned down a lot of things that would have brought jobs into the community. I’m very cognizant of the fact that we need better employment opportunities, and I challenge those (labor representatives) that came down from San Jose to start promoting our community as a place that’s ready for business.”
The representatives from San Jose had previously written a letter to the tribe and its investors supporting the project for its promised creation of union jobs.
Supervisor Pat Loe agreed with Botelho.
“I think that any time we can bring jobs we need to take a serious look at that. But I also think that the community itself could make a difference in jobs, because if we start to buy local and shop local, we could create more jobs,” Loe said.
Marcus echoed the words of his colleagues, saying one of the board’s top priorities was finding employers to come into San Benito County.
“Jobs are paramount in the supervisors’ minds, but you have to realize that the jobs that are created (by a casino) are paid for by the loss of someone’s wagers, and that’s a different type of employment,” Marcus said.
De La Cruz, however, said one of the driving forces behind his indecision on the casino so far has been the county’s need for employment and the investors’ promises of 2,000 union jobs.
“I was not elected to voice my opinion, I was elected to be objective,” De La Cruz said. “I have to look at this like it was any other business. If this weren’t a casino, if it were a restaurant or a car dealership, we’d have to let them go through the process.”
De La Cruz also said he believed the county has previously turned down opportunities for large-scale employment, and that he would keep this in mind as the struggle continues.
“The people have given me a mandate: We need better jobs. If I’m going to vote no on the casino, I want to make sure that in the future we say yes to other opportunities,” he said.
The next step
At the supervisors’ Feb. 1 meeting, the board voted unanimously to draft a resolution opposing the casino, hold a final public meeting, and vote on the resolution on Feb. 22.
Loe, who was appointed to compose the resolution, said Wednesday she would still be putting the resolution together, it would still be written to oppose the casino and the board would still be voting on the resolution on Feb. 22. Before the supervisors vote, they will be allowing time for anyone who did not comment at Tuesday’s meeting to voice their opinion.
