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November 8, 2002
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Indian gambling
interests play growing role in
off-reservation politics
by Clara NiiSka
Indian-owned casinos
are an important source of income for Indian tribes, and they are also
a path
to political power, according to Bill Eadington, an economics professor
at the
Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming at the
University of
Nevada.
“Economic power buys access, which means your issue is at
the front,” Eadington said at a national aboriginal problem gambling
conference
in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, according
to a November 6th article in
the Calgary Herald.
Eadington told conference
participants that Indian gambling enterprises have helped some U.S.
Indian
tribes become important political contributors. “I’m
more familiar with the U.S. than Canada, but I think the
same holds true for both -- when tribes have no money, no one heard
what they
said.” There have been several recent
articles in Press/ON about the political contributions made by
Indian
political leaders and PACs.
Eadington also acknowledged that more research is still
needed into strategies to deal with problem gambling.
“Research is still fairly sparse,” he said. “We
don’t know if we
have a good sense or not. There is too much noise in the picture. There
isn’t a
good base of knowledge.”
Indian PACs, Indian lobbyists, and Indian gambling interests
clearly had a vested interest in the outcome of a number of gambling
proposals
before the voters in the U.S. general elections on November 5th.
The full impact of gambling-fueled Indian ‘access’ to U.S.
politics will probably not be apparent for months.
As Press/ON goes to press, there election results
still coming in, as well as reports from across the country about
‘Indian
gaming issues’ before the voters:
Arizona:
2 Indian gambling measures defeated;
third clings to lead
Arizona
Republic
Voters
soundly defeated
two of three ballot initiatives intended to continue and expand on
tribal
gambling operations in Arizona. The other, backed by 17 American Indian
tribes,
clung to a narrow lead.
Falling Tuesday were Proposition 200, which
would have
allowed Las Vegas-style table games at Indian casinos, and Proposition
201,
which would have cleared the way for slot machines at dog and horse
tracks.
With all precincts reporting results of
ballots cast
Tuesday, Proposition 202 had 509,319 “yes” votes, or 52 percent, and
476,276
“no” votes, or 48 percent.
Counties still had to count tens of
thousands of early
ballots that were cast days or weeks in advance and other ballots
needing to be
hand-checked. Many of those were in Maricopa County, where “no” votes
on
Proposition 202 outnumbered “yes” votes.
“But win or lose, we’ll come out of it with
17 tribes
united,” said David LaSarte, spokesman for the backers of Proposition
202.
Backers of the three rival measures poured
at least $37
million into their collective campaigns, making them the three most
expensive
campaigns in Arizona history.
Propositions 200, 201 and 202 all proposed
expanding
gambling in Arizona, increasing the number of slot machines and
allowing tribal
casinos to offer additional games. They all also would have offered
some money
to state programs, but the sponsors bitterly disagreed on other issues
ranging
from regulation to the location of casinos.
Proposition 200, sponsored by the Colorado
River Indian
Tribes, would have offered the largest expansion of tribal gambling and
the
smallest amount of money to the state.
Proposition 201, sponsored by dog and horse
track owners,
would have given the most money to the state but also would have
allowed
racetracks to offer slot machines.
The other initiative, 202, was the result of
a deal
negotiated with the governor - but never signed - to expand gambling
and offer
a percentage of the revenue to state programs. Currently, the state
receives no
money from tribal gambling operations.
The compact laid out in Proposition 202 was
never signed
because of a legal challenge by racetrack owners and the inability of
state
lawmakers to agree on a compact.
Doug Cole, a spokesman for the track owners,
said Tuesday
night that even if 202 passed, backers of 201 will go to court to stop
it from
taking effect.
Racetrack owners have argued that an
expansion of Indian
casinos that doesn’t allow tracks to offer slot machines could put
tracks out
of business.
Under federal law, tribes must negotiate
compacts with the
state to offer conventional slot machines and most other types of
gambling. The
first of the compacts signed during the 1990s by 15 Arizona tribes
begin to
expire in August.
Gov. Jane Hull had negotiated new compacts
with 17 tribes,
which backed Proposition 202, but horse and dog track owners sued in
late 2000,
arguing the governor didn’t have the power to sign such deals. The case
remains
on appeal.
Arizona currently has 22 tribal casinos run
by 15 tribes.
Idaho:
Ballot measures pass, but losing sides
won’t give up
By Chuck Oxley, Associated Press Writer
Boise, Idaho (AP) -- Voters
overwhelmingly approved electronic
gambling machines on Indian
reservations and then
narrowly ratified the Legislature’s repeal of the 1994 term limits
initiative.
But both issues appeared to be headed for the courts.
With all precincts reporting, unofficial returns showed
voters ratifying term limits repeal by a mere 1,825 votes out of
402,000 cast.
It made Idaho the first state to repeal statewide term limits since the
national campaign to restrict elective service began more than a decade
ago.
On the gambling proposition, the Coeur d’Alene, Nez Perce
and Kootenai tribes put up nearly $4 million to claim victory in what
became
the most expensive issue race in Idaho history.
But opponents, mostly social conservatives and business
groups, promised to press their cause in the state’s legal system. They
contend
that despite the vote, the slot-type lottery machines that have made
reservations casinos
so lucrative for a decade are specifically excluded by the state
constitution.
Tribal forces, led by Coeur d’Alene Tribe casino chief executive
David
Matheson, said the vote gives Indians
solid legal grounding in the courtroom.
“This changes the parameters of the litigation,” Matheson
said. “Now we’re going to litigate what the people of Idaho said is the
law of
the land. We think we’re going to win that test.”
New York:
Senecas
elect proponents of casino gambling
Allegany Indian
Reservation, N.Y. (AP) -- The
Seneca Nation of Indians
elected a new president and eight fellow party members who endorsed a
14-year
pact signed with the state to bring Las Vegas-style casino gambling to
western New York.
Led by presidential candidate Rickey Armstrong, pro-casino forces surged to
victory
Tuesday in tribal council elections held every two years. Armstrong, a
councilor, defeated Seneca Nation Treasurer Arnold Cooper II by 1,304
votes to
865. “The people have clearly indicated what direction they want to go
in,”
said Armstrong, who will take office next week. “There are no losers
tonight.
We need to get over this divisiveness and come together as one.”
Seneca Party members negotiated a compact with the state
this year authorizing the Senecas to open three casinos in Buffalo,
Niagara Falls and on reservation
land. The deal calls for the state to receive up to 25 percent of the
profits
from slot machines.
Cooper headed a slate of candidates pushing for a reduction
in revenues allocated to the state. He had promised, if elected, to
halt
construction of the first casino,
which could open as early as New Year’s Eve in Niagara Falls.
Armstrong’s predecessor, Cyrus Schindler, signed the casino pact with Gov.
George Pataki
on Aug. 18 and the deal was approved last month by the federal Bureau
of Indian
Affairs.
The president’s office switches every two years between the
tribe’s Cattaraugus and Allegany reservations. Schindler lives on the
Cattaraugus reservation.
The casinos
could funnel as much as $3 billion to the Senecas, who have 6,700
enrolled
members in western New York, their leaders say. The state expects to
draw about
$1 billion a year from newly approved gambling operations, including casinos to be built in
the Catskills
and its entry into a big-jackpot, multistate lottery game, legislators
say.
Last May, the tribe narrowly voted 1,077-976 to approve an
800-page compact that would serve as a blueprint for operation of the casinos.
The Senecas still face uncertainty in the courts with a
pending lawsuit by gambling opponents. Critics maintain the pact is
illegal
because slot machines are barred under the state Constitution.
Arizona:
Renzi holds lead in 1st District
awaiting Navajo tally
By Arthur H. Rotstein, Associated Press Writer
Phoenix -- Republican
Rick Renzi hoped a nearly double-digit lead early Wednesday would let
him
withstand a late and likely large Indian
vote for Democrat George Cordova in the vast, new 1st
District.
Renzi’s edge grew several hours after polls closed, paced by
his nearly 2-to-1 margin in Yavapai County. But he declined to declare
victory.
His late-night surge mirrored developments in recent weeks.
After starting out as a tossup, Renzi had pulled away during the race’s
final
weeks. But Cordova hoped to poll strongly in Navajo County -
particularly among
Navajo Indians.
In
initial returns that trickled in from the southern portion of that
county
shortly before midnight, however, Renzi surprisingly had more than
doubled his
opponent’s votes.
He still remained cautious. “His (Cordova’s) strength hasn’t
come in yet,” Renzi said.
He said whether his lead would be enough to hold off the
numbers Cordova expected to see from the Navajo Nation remained to be
seen.
Renzi described the contest as “one of the top five races in
the country. Both parties came in heavy with a lot of money, and I’m
thankful
for the people in Flagstaff, the people around the district who had to
endure a
lot of the mail-outs, a lot of phone conversations. I appreciate their
support.”
Cordova said that despite negative ads hurled at him, he was
grateful for the show of support he received.
Renzi was aided by strong financial support from the
Republican National Committee, significant TV advertising and a stream
of
high-profile visitors, including President Bush.
Cordova found himself unable to match Renzi’s airtime buying
power and was on the defensive late in the campaign.
Libertarian Edwin Porr was a distant third.
The 1st District, one of two new districts in
Arizona, was identified as a key seat soon after it was drawn up last
year.
Although the district has slightly more registered Democrats than
Republicans,
it was the one Arizona district that was truly considered a tossup this
year.
The racially and ethnically diverse district encompasses
more than half the state’s area. The size of Illinois, it takes in most
of the
Grand Canyon, includes the cities of Flagstaff and Prescott but skirts
Phoenix,
extending nearly to Tucson on the south, to New Mexico on the east and
Utah on
the north.
Its half-dozen Indian
tribes include the Arizona portion of the Navajo Nation, one of the
nation’s
largest Indian
tribes.
In all, Indians
represent nearly 23 percent of the district’s population; Hispanics
make up another
16 percent.
Renzi, the owner of insurance and real estate investment
companies, focused his first political campaign on themes that included
homeland defense, tax cuts to stimulate job creation, streamlining
government,
and promises to improve education and ensure affordable health care.
Cordova, a venture capital fund manager from Payson, lost a
bid for the state House of Representatives in 1994.
Both men called for a guaranteed prescription drug benefit
in Medicare and endorsed Second Amendment gun rights.
Maine:
Sanford voters open door to hosting
tribal casino; other York
County communities oppose a gambling
facility
by
Grace Murphy, Maine Today
Residents in Sanford
narrowly voted Tuesday in favor of having a casino in their
community, marking the first time a
southern Maine municipality has signaled support for such a
development.
Residents of neighboring Biddeford voted overwhelmingly
Tuesday against having one in their city, even though they were also
considered
supportive of a casino.
Seven other York County communities also voted Tuesday on a
variety of casino
questions. Residents in Alfred, Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Saco and
South
Berwick said no to a casino
in their towns. Wells voters adopted an ordinance banning casinos. Kennebunkport
and Kennebunk
voted to spend up to $5,000 to fight any legislation that would permit casino gambling. North
Berwick
voters rejected a similar question, 780-710.
Tuesday’s votes were considered significant because leaders
of the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot Indian
tribes, who want to build a $650 million casino
in southern Maine, have said they won’t locate in a community where
they aren’t
wanted.
That’s how Kittery removed itself as the tribes’ top choice
when it voted earlier this year against hosting a casino.
Other York County communities that previously voted against
hosting a casino
are
Berwick, Eliot, Kennebunk, North Berwick, Ogunquit and York and Wells.
Casino
supporters now may pin their hopes on Sanford, and are likely to argue
to state
officials that an endorsement by residents should be heeded by the
Legislature.
All four candidates for governor, including Gov.-elect John
Baldacci, had said they would veto such a bill, but the tribes are
working to
put the question to a statewide vote.
Passamaquoddy state Rep. Fred Moore said the tribes are
pleased with the outcome in Sanford, and are looking forward to
gathering
enough signatures to put the issue of legalizing casino gambling on the
November 2003
referendum ballot.
Moore said the 540-vote margin of victory is enough to
consider the town supportive of the tribes’ proposal for a casino.
“It’s no less valid than any other election issue on the
ballot in Sanford. A mayor is not any less a mayor by winning by a
slimmer
margin,” he said.
Mark Robinson, a spokesman for the anti-casino political action
committee Casinos
No!, said his group was
pleased by the Biddeford results and the closeness of the vote in
Sanford.
He said casino
proponents spent three times the amount on their campaign as opponents.
“This is an incredible victory for Casinos No!,” Robinson
said. “We
would’ve liked to have paid more attention to Sanford, but given the
scarce
resources we had, a 6-point loss is thrilling to us.” …
Tuesday’s votes followed months of fierce campaigning and
lobbying by casino
advocates and opponents. In Biddeford, officials including Mayor Donna
Dion and
City Councilor James Grattelo were criticized for joining the pro-casino PAC called Think
About It.
Dion said Tuesday night that she is helping the tribes with
their statewide petition drive, which she believes will succeed.
Although
disappointed by the outcome of Biddeford’s vote, Dion said she would
respect
it.
“We vowed if they said no, we wouldn’t have the power to
negotiate. We’d leave the table,” she said.
Members of Casinos
No!, such as former City Councilor Kyle Noble, said they would continue
working
against the statewide referendum question.
“Those signatures will be gathered, there will be a
statewide referendum, so we need to defeat that referendum,” he said.
Sebastian Sinclair, president of the gambling consulting
company Christiansen Capital Advisors, said the tribes need success on
both the
state and local levels if they want to meet their revenue goals.
If the change to state law goes through, the tribes will
need a welcoming community as close to Boston as possible, he said.
New
Mexico:
Madrid wins attorney general race
By Deborah Baker, Associated Press Writer
Albuquerque (AP) -- In the bout for attorney general
Republican Rob Perry came out of his corner swinging, but his punches
never
connected.
Democratic Attorney General Patricia Madrid easily won
re-election to a second term.
With 99 percent of precincts reporting early Wednesday,
Madrid had 59 percent of the vote to Perry’s 35 percent. Green Party
nominee
Ann Gleason trailed with 6 percent. “It was a hard race. I’m very
gratified,”
said Madrid, New Mexico’s first female attorney general.
She said voters - including Republicans - appreciated her
activism over the past four years, and she promised to focus even more
attention on water, consumer protection and prosecuting violent crimes
against
women.
Perry, the state’s former corrections chief, waged an
aggressive campaign, accusing the incumbent of “selling” her office for
hefty
contributions.
He said Madrid’s acceptance of money from law firms that
contract with the attorney general’s office, and from gambling
interests,
raised ethical questions.
“We ran a good campaign,” Perry said. “We were outspent
three-to-one, and most of that money was dirty political money.”
As of Oct. 29 he had raised $236,000 to Madrid’s $840,000 -
and he never managed to overcome the clout of the politically powerful
incumbent in a state where most registered voters are Democrats.
Madrid said during the campaign that Perry concentrated on
her contributions because her record was too good to criticize.
Among her other accomplishments, Madrid touted her lawsuit
against Indian
tribes
for non-payment of gambling revenue that resulted in $91 million in
back
payments to the state.
Madrid, 56, was elected attorney general in 1998, becoming
the nation’s first Hispanic woman in the job. She had been Gov. Bruce
King’s
running mate for lieutenant governor in 1994 - King lost to Republican
Gary
Johnson - and had run unsuccessfully for Congress in 1988.
She has taken tens of thousands of dollars in contributions
from law firms she hired to handle high-profile litigation. The firms
could
earn millions if they win the cases. Madrid defended the donations,
saying
she’s committed to the lawsuits and the firms want her to remain in
office.
Madrid also has taken big contributions from the gambling
industry, including Ruidoso Downs owner R.D. Hubbard, who was forced to
give up
his gambling license in Indiana and now wants a track and casino in Hobbs.
Wisconsin:
Wasau voters
reject continuing negotiations for Ho-Chunk casino
Wausau, Wis. (AP) - Wausau voters overwhelmingly rejected an
advisory referendum on whether their government leaders should continue
talks
aimed at bringing a Ho-Chunk Indian
casino, hotel and convention center to the city.
The vote Tuesday was 8,116 against and 4,349 in favor.
Although the vote was not binding, City Council president
Jim Rosenberg said, “when we put this up for a referendum, it was our
intention
to follow the advice of the voters.”
Iowa:
Iowans vote to keep casino
gambling
By Chuck Schoffner, Associated Press Writer
Des Moines, Iowa (AP) --Iowans
found they enjoy their casinos
and racetracks too much to give them up.
By wide margins, voters in 11 counties agreed Tuesday to
extend legalized gambling for eight more years. Support was so strong
that in
some counties, the gambling extension won by a 4-to-1 margin. “It is a
strong
reaffirmation and reapproval by the citizens of each county where the casinos are located,”
said Wes
Ehrecke, executive director of the Iowa Gaming Association, a casino trade group.
Keeping the slot machines whirring and roulette wheels
spinning means state government will continue to collect its yearly
windfall in
gambling taxes, which in these lean economic times have helped prop up
the
state treasury.
Local governments depend on the gambling money for
everything from building arenas to repairing schools to implementing
clean
water programs.
Opponents pointed out the social costs of gambling, from
treating addicts to the breakup of families, and voiced frustration
that they
could not compete with highly organized “Vote yes” campaigns backed by
the
gambling industry.
“For every one dollar in benefit, whether its taxes or
charity giving, the costs are easily two or three to one,” said Tom
Coates,
vice president of Truth About Gambling.
“Those costs are not so visible when you count the
bankruptcies, the embezzlements, the cost of family breakdowns and even
suicides. It is a predatory industry,” he said.
Coates said it was still too early for Iowans to see the
darker side of gambling.
“Given the history of gambling in this country, it takes a
number of years to raise the level of human pain and suffering and
public
corruption high enough to where the public throws it off,” Coates said.
“I think history will show when this thing has a chance to
metastasize and sink its talons into the native population, we’ll see
the
recriminalization of this activity.”
Idaho:
Idaho voters pass Indian gaming measure
By Chuck Oxley, Associated Press Writer
Boise, Idaho --The more than $3
million northern
Idaho Indian
tribes
plunked down to win voter approval for electronic gambling machines on
reservation casinos
paid off Tuesday, but the argument still is far from settled.
Proposition 1 was leading by 14 points early Wednesday
morning, with 89 percent of the vote counted. Opponents of the
referendum, who
included an out-financed alliance of social conservatives and business
groups,
have said they still intend to take the measure to court because they
believe
the machines are specifically excluded by the state constitution.
But tribal forces, led by Coeur d’Alene Tribe casino chief executive
David
Matheson, appealed to voters’ sympathies for poverty-stricken Indians, who have found
new hope and
economic power through gaming.
“This changes the parameters of the litigation,” Matheson
said. “Now we’re going to litigate what the people of Idaho said is the
law of
the land. We think we’re going to win that test.”
Matheson thanked Idaho voters for a strong showing.
“We called on their goodwill and their good hearts and they
came through,” he said.
W.
Virginia:
Cabell County voters reject casino proposal
Huntington, W.Va. (AP) -- Cabell County
voters don’t
want a casino
in West
Virginia’s second largest city.
With 100 percent of the county’s 68 precincts reporting in
Tuesday’s election the unofficial vote was 62 percent against and 38
percent
for.
Huntington businessman John Hankins had proposed converting
several downtown buildings into a 650-room resort hotel with a
50,000-square-foot casino.
“I think we’ve accomplished our mission in getting the facts out and
getting
people to vote,” said DeLane Ball, chairman of the Cabell County
Coalition
Against Gambling Expansion. “Citizens have spoken definitively that
they don’t
want casino
gambling.”
The casino
was seen as a potential moneymaker for cash-starved Huntington. The
city has
been forced to lay off police officers and cut other services to trim a
$726,000 budget deficit.
A feasibility study conducted by a national casino company projected
that a casino
and hotel would attract about
400,000 guests a year, create 200 jobs and generate about $31 million a
year.
Another $18.8 million would be allocated to municipal, county and state
governments via taxes.
Mayor David Felinton said he was disappointed by the vote.
“A casino
would have been a nice complement to some of the projects in the
downtown area
that are beginning to take shape, but these projects are going to have
a
positive effect whether we have a casino
or not,” he said.
The proposal cannot be placed on the ballot in Cabell County
again for at least two years.
Although Canadian national elections were not held the
first week in November, Indian casinos are becoming a “hot” issue on
the north
side of the border as well:
West-end
neighbors fear casino will bring
crime: Traffic congestion also
a concern
by
Bill Mah, Civic Affairs Writer, The
Edmonton Journal
Edmonton -- Worried a casino
is about to be approved for the nearby Enoch Reserve, some neighbors
are
considering selling their homes.
“We want to be neighbors with them, but we don’t want to be
neighbors with a casino,”
says Phil Doroshuk, who lives in Lewis Estates.
The Enoch Cree Nation is separated from Edmonton by 215th
Street.
The band plans to build the Enoch Cree Entertainment
Complex, a multi-use entertainment facility on 20 hectares hugging the
southwest corner of 215th Street and 79th Avenue. The project is
ambitious: a
10-storey hotel and a smaller one, conference center, two ice arenas,
two
soccer fields, golf course, spa, fitness center and retail outlets. If
construction starts in 2003, the facility could open in 2004.
The casino
proposal is making its way through the early stages of the process held
by the
Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission to evaluate licensing applications
for
native casinos.
But some residents of Lewis Estates and The Grange are
already bracing themselves.
City politicians and officials are adding up the expenses
associated with the project, such as improving roads in the area and
extra
policing. Edmonton will be forced to pay these costs, they say, without
seeing
any tax revenues or benefit for city charities in return.
Residents say no other casino
in the Edmonton area will sit so close to
people’s homes, and they had no warning when they bought their houses
years ago
that a casino
might
locate nearby.
Curtis Treen has lived in Lewis Estates for five years. Now
he’s talking to his family about moving. He’ll live about half a
kilometer from
the proposed complex and says 12,000 more people are projected to use
the
area’s existing roads if the casino
goes ahead, doubling the current number using the two-lane 79th Avenue,
for
instance.
But more than congested roads, some residents worry openly
the casino
will
attract crime to their peaceful streets.
“You get people coming off the site all throughout the day
and night, losing their way and going off into the neighborhood,
finding their
way to the corner 7-Eleven and going off into the neighborhood,” Treen
said.
“That’s how crime has a potential of spreading.”
Residents say they don’t mind a casino development at
Enoch, but
want it to be at one of two alternative sites near Highway 60, farther
from the
city.
There are two casinos
already in the city’s west end, opponents say. At The Palace casino, at West Edmonton
Mall,
spokesman Howard Worrell said market demand won’t support another casino in the Edmonton
area.
There are four in the city and one in St. Albert. Another
one will siphon money away from the 180 charities that use his casino, Worrell said.
Coun. Karen Leibovici, who represents the west-end area,
said the city expects to get stuck with the costs of increased policing
and
emergency services, and improving city roads to handle increased
traffic.
“The reality is that we get no revenue back and we will have
to provide extra services because of the huge development that’s being
proposed,” she says.
Unlike developments in the city, council can do little to
alleviate the anxieties of west Edmontonians through zoning controls
and
development limits, she says.
The onus is on the federal government and the Alberta Gaming
and Liquor Commission to seriously consider the pressures a casino development will
have on the
environment, the city and its residents, Leibovici says.
The provincial and federal governments need to do a better
job of listening to Edmontonians’ concerns, she says.
Ottawa has waffled on providing an environmental assessment
of the project, she says, and the provincial gaming commission won’t
even
formally listen to the City of Edmonton’s concerns since Enoch is
considered
the casino’s
host
community.
Today at council’s executive committee, councilors are
expected to debate sending letters detailing the city’s concerns about
the
development to the provincial minister of gaming, the gaming commission
and the
Department of Indian
and Northern Affairs Canada.
Treen and Doroshuk say the city should use its bargaining
chip: the ongoing discussions between Enoch and the city on developing
an
agreement for providing services such as water.
The Enoch project “has a lot of negative inputs to the city
of Edmonton to taxes and crime, but they’re expected to enter into an
agreement
to provide services,” Treen said.
“We feel there should be some leverage the city has to enter
into an agreement but under some of their terms.”
bmah@thejournal.southam.ca
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