By David Whitney
Bee Washington Bureau
(Published July 29, 2001)
WASHINGTON -- A small band of American Indians in Santa Rosa is
locked in a colossal battle to protect its opportunity to convert an East
Bay
card room into a gambling casino, the first in a California urban area.
The battle is pitting Democrat against Democrat, has drawn in big-money
players and is quickly escalating into the major obstacle between the House
of
Representatives and the Senate over passage of an $18 billion funding bill
for
the Interior Department.
Hanging in the balance is the future of the landless Lytton band of Pomo
Indians, who are counting on proceeds from the San Pablo casino along
Interstate 80 to eventually pay for a new start for its 220 members.
"They have been without a land base for over 40 years," said tribal
chairwoman Margie Mejia. "They've been without proper health care for over
40 years. They want their reservation back. This whole project is the vehicle
to provide the revenue for that."
The Lytton band lost its traditional Sonoma County homeland four decades
ago under a discredited federal policy to break up reservations and assimilate
Indians into society. A lawsuit settled in 1991 restored the band's tribal
status
and promised it new economic opportunity as long as it didn't involve a
casino
in Sonoma County.
The Lytton band cut a deal three years ago to buy the card room in San
Pablo, an hour's drive from their aboriginal lands. In a stealth amendment
that
Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, added to an omnibus Indian affairs bill
last
fall, the San Pablo casino deal was sanctified under the Indian Gaming
Regulatory Act.
Now Nevada's two senators, who are the largest recipients of campaign
contributions from the gambling industry, are fighting Miller's legislative
coup.
Led by Sen. Harry Reid, the Democratic whip, a rider attached to the
Senate's Interior Department spending bill would rescind the congressional
approval.
The Lytton band is not going unarmed into battle with the Nevada senators,
however, and it has concentrated strength with Republicans who control
the
House.
One of the band's partners in the casino enterprise is Pennsylvania sports
stadium developer Sam Katz, a huge player in state Republican circles and
a
former candidate for governor and Philadelphia mayor.
Katz has enlisted the lobbying muscle of Bob Livingston, the former Louisiana
congressman and chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
While the casino battle is being waged over loftier policy issues and concerns
about public process, it has huge economic ramifications. An Indian-operated
casino in San Pablo could provide the slot machines and gaming tables,
but
maybe not all the glitz, that now draw San Francisco Bay Area gamblers
three
hours over the mountains to the sprawling Lake Tahoe and Reno gambling
resorts.
Reid didn't respond to a request for an interview. But according to his
spokesman, Nathan Naylor, the senator believes Miller undermined the Indian
Gaming Regulatory Act.
"There wasn't full debate on it," Naylor said. "No hearings were held on this."
Danny Weiss, Miller's chief of staff, said the fight over the Lytton provision
amounts to nothing more than last-minute self-preservation by the Nevada
gaming industry.
"This is one economic entity in Nevada trying to stop another in California,"
Weiss said. "It's just sheer economic competition."
Naylor also said that a San Pablo casino is bad for California, a more
potent
issue.
"I don't think there are many members of the community who would like to
have a class-three style casino in their backyards," he said, a reference
to the
highest category of gaming that includes rows of slot machines and many
tables for blackjack and other high-stakes games of chance.
On that point, Reid has the endorsement of other California Democrats.
Sen.
Dianne Feinstein, a fellow member of the Appropriations Committee, shares
Reid's concern, said her press aide, Howard Gantman.
"We're seeing an explosion of casinos throughout the state," Gantman said.
"The senator is concerned that this would be the first casino in an urban
area
that was not traditional tribal land."
Gov. Gray Davis also has raised concerns about entering into a compact
with
the Lytton band, the final step before the casino can open.
But according to Doug Elmets, spokesman for the tribe, the San Pablo casino
has wide community support largely because the Indian band has agreed to
waive its sovereign immunity in order to involve the city and its police
department in the business operations.
The anti-gambling group Stand Up for California! has endorsed the Lytton
casino largely because of its model operations agreement with San Pablo,
and
it has urged the Davis administration to approve the casino pact.
Because the House has no similar provision on its spending bill, the Reid
provision would have to be resolved in the House's favor by a House-Senate
conference committee.
For the Lytton band, Reid's provision is adding to their distrust of federal
promises.
"I understand that Senator Reid has the weight of his constituency, the
Nevada gaming interests, on him," Mejia said. "But there is more to this
than
money for my tribe. I have the plight of my people in my heart. We have
to
keep moving forward and praying that we come out of this OK."
The Bee's David Whitney can be reached at (202) 383-0004 or
dwhitney@mcclatchydc.com.