HEALDSBURG Casino Battle Lines Drawn Nevada senators fight Lytton plan to run gambling hall By David Whitney SACRAMENTO BEE A small band of American Indians in Healdsburg 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 and 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 who could have been the speaker of· the House but for a love affair whose revelation three years ago during the Clinton impeachment prompted him to resign his seat.   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 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."    While there were no hearings, House staffers said that the Indian legislation sat for a month before Congress finally took it up. There was plenty of time for critics to attack the provision last year as part of the normal congressional process, they said.    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 gambling 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 row after row of slot machines and table after table 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 Senate Appropriations Committee that rubber stamped the Reid rider, did not try to stop it because she 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 band, 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 urged the Davis administration to approve the casino pact,   "Lytton, who has struggled many years to create the economic self-sufficiency they have long desired, has done a remarkable job of mitigating the effect Indian gaming would have on" San Pablo, Stand Up director Cheryl Schmidt said in a prepared statement.   Because the House has no similar provision on its spending bill, the Reid provision would have to be resolved by a House-Senate conference committee.   According to Democratic staffers in the House, it is now the most troublesome item before the House-Senate conference committee. The panel put off work on the bill last week, and will try again to work out a compromise in September after Congress returns from its August recess.   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."

NOTES The colored words to the left are explained below with a different slant - correctly. “New start?” The ‘Band’ did not exist prior to 1991; has not yet had its first start. “land base” The ‘Band’ has never had a land base, did not exist 40 years ago. “health care” Sonoma County has excellent health care for Indians. Those members of the ‘band’ living in other counties, from San Diego to Mariposa to Del Norte, may have lesser quality of care.   See web site http://www.crihb.org/Sonoma.htm “band…lost…Sonoma County homeland” Again the ‘band’ Never had a homeland. “lawsuit…restored tribal status” The settlement promised the ‘community’ of Pomos the opportunity to obtain tribal status, and made no mention of a promise of new economic opportunity. “as long as it didn’t involve a casino in Sonoma County” Unfortunately, the Settlement only prohibits a Lytton casino in Alexander Valley. The rest of Sonoma County is vulnerable.     Lytton Band Officers: Chair -  Margie Mejia Vice-Chair -  Cathy Lopez Secretary -  Danny Ocampo Treasurer -  Burt Steele Members -  Carol Steele   Daniel Steele, Jr   Mary Figueroa Last Election -  5/14/95       Margie lives in Mariposa County