FACTS

A new Oregon law, signed by the governor on June 28, requires that any casino wanting to locate inside city limits must be first approved by a vote of the city residents. There is specific language which excludes Indian casinos, which are the only casinos in Oregon so far, from the voting requirement. (New Oregon law requires vote before casino siting 6/28/07)

"Land use laundering" is the ploy used by local Oregon governments to facilitate casino expansion without accounting for the impacts on land planning as usually is required by zoning and other land use processes. (Oregon Land Use Laundering 1/31/07)

In 2005 a Florence, Oregon resident asked the Oregon State Police, Lane County Sheriff, and City of Florence Police, some questions about people dressed, and acting, like police both on and off casino property in Florence. Here are the answers. Oregon casino police - Answers

The issue of a tribe's ability to expand sovereign land holdings must be considered and clearly understood, and thus the impact this "uncontrolled" growth may have should be contemplated. The sovereign issues coming forth require expert counsel, considering the complexity of "tribal sovereignty" and the federal jurisdiction. (Florence, Oregon) ( City Council warned to obtain expert counsel when negotiating with casino tribe 9/17/05)

The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde (Spirit Mountain Casino) ... will not contribute in property taxes toward a $12 million school bond. The entire burden, therefore, falls on property tax payers who do not live on tribal lands. ... In looking at the loss of revenue from tribal lands, the district estimated that if the land owned by the casino tribe were taxable, those property taxes would contribute approximately $3 million toward repayment of the bond. (Oregon School district loses $3 million in tribal land property taxes, 10/12/05)

Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians (Oregon) in a lawsuit in Washington D.C. The tribe's former attorneys, Jackson Kelly PLLC, are suing the tribe for $163,000 in unpaid legal fees. The paperwork filed by the tribe indicates the tribe enacted a 'resolution' after they had incurred the debt. The resolution "withdraws and nullifies all waivers of immunity that might have been made, or might have been attempted to have been made ... prior to the adoption of the resolution" - and claim that any previous waiver they may have given to the attorneys "has now been legislatively nullified." (Jackson Kelly PLLC v. Confederated Tribes, Washington D.C. Civil Court Case No. 03-0001414)

Large casino developments affect traffic, air quality, water, sewage, property and sales taxes and more. Since localities don't have the authority to grant or deny casinos, hotels or other businesses on tribal land, they can only try to get the state or federal government to write rules that compel tribes to lessen the negative impact of their enterprises or pay for costs associated with them. (Feature: Tribes, Governing Magazine, August 2007)

"A casino project on Indian Land is different from (and more risky than) other types of public and private projects because, all other things being equal, a contractor generally has fewer remedies to collect payment on an Indian casino project. There are two primary reasons for this lack of meaningful remedies. First, federally recognized Indian Tribes are generally immune from lawsuits in both federal and state courts for civil matters. Second, the land upon which the project is built may be owned in such a manner that a contractor may not be able to successfully enforce a lien upon it." (Newsbrief re: Construction Law, 3/5/04)

It is a five-story casino-hotel served by a tiny fire district that doesn't have enough firefighters, or a ladder truck that can reach above two floors. Gov. Ted Kulongoski and his staff missed an opportunity earlier this year to address fire safety concerns when they renegotiated the state's casino compact with the Grand Ronde tribes. The only fire safety language in the compact, which sets terms under which the casino can operate, is a single sentence requiring the tribes to install effective fire sprinkler systems, Zaitz reported. Local and state fire officials weren't even asked to comment on the compact. (12/28/06 - Oregon casino not safe)

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A recent report which recommended expansion of gambling in Kansas stated: "Any expansion of gaming should be contingent on the approval of the site’s home community." "The Committee unanimously agrees that, when determining the best location or locations for expanded gaming, the state must take into careful consideration the will of the affected community." (Kansas Governor's Gaming Report, 12/18/03)

While some Indian tribes have benefited from the passage of IGRA, local communities in which casinos have been built have been profoundly impacted. The quality of life in many local communities forced to host casino operations has seriously eroded, despite in many cases massive tribal contributions to the state coffers. ... The strain Indian casinos place on the surrounding communities is tremendous. For non-Indian casinos, it is estimated that for every dollar a community collects from gambling taxes, it must spend three dollars to cover new expenses, including police, infrastructure repairs, social welfare and counseling services. Because local communities cannot tax Indian operations, the strain is even more acute. A recent report issued by the Connecticut Office of Legislative Research noted that since Foxwoods Casino and Mohegan Sun opened, "index (serious) crimes have increased overall in Ledyard, Montville, Norwich, North Stonington, and Preston combined. Index crimes are murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft with the increases primarily on casino premises." The General Accounting Office has noted that with primarily cash businesses like casinos, the opportunities for theft, embezzlement, and criminal infiltration dramatically increase." (The Impact of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act on Gambling in the United States and the Role for State and Local Governments, 68th Annual Conference, International Municipal Lawyers' Association, 10/13/03)

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The bitterness felt in Oneida County (NY) will probably only grow sharper now that towns have started raising taxes to make up for revenues lost on properties and businesses bought by the Oneidas, town managers say. (City of) Sherrill traces the increase in the local tax rate, from $5 per $1,000 valuation in 1998 to $6.25 today, to the loss of some $110,000 in property and sales taxes from businesses bought by the Oneidas. (NY cities learn the hard way, 8/9/03)

Critics charge that tribes are using their political clout to circumvent state and local laws, leaving communities with little say over what happens on or near neighboring reservations. "I don't think we'll ever live to see anything more corrupting than gambling as far as governance is concerned," said Robert Coffin, a lawyer advising the city of San Diego in a dispute with the Barona tribe over a water pipeline. "Who can stop it?" ... The tribes' approach is legal and mirrors lobbying by corporations. Tribal sovereignty also shields them from most state and local laws and taxes. (Native American Press / Ojibwe News, March 19, 2004)

"... in a position paper on Indian Gaming adopted by the National Governors' Association on February 2, 1993, the Governors stated their view that: "It must be made clear that tribes can operate gaming of the same types and subject to the same restrictions that apply to all other gaming in the state. In particular, it should be clarified that a state is not obligated to negotiate a compact to allow a tribe to operate any and all forms of Class III gaming simply because a state allows one form of Class III gaming. Only those games expressly authorized by state law should be permitted." ("Speaking the Truth About Indian Gaming, National Indian Gaming Association, 1993)

The legislation that changed West Virginia 'gray' machines to legalized video gambling machines includes language that prohibits a gambling establishment on property where gas or petroleum products are sold.

Lottery Director John C. Musgrave addressed a March letter to John R. Hodges, chief executive officer of the chain of gambling parlors that includes Mimi's. In the letter, Musgrave asked Hodges to explain why two deeds were prepared.

"It appears," the letter states, "that the only reason for the straw deeds was so your company could show the Lottery that the gas station and the location of your proposed restaurant were on two different parcels. The second deed conveys the subdivided parcel back to the general mall parcel. The two deeds were made Feb. 13, 2003. The first was stamped in at 2:03 p.m. in the Kanawha County Clerk's office, and the second at 2:04 p.m. (West Virginia Gazette, 3/20/04)

Pojoaque Pueblo (Cities of Gold Casino) has offered to pay the state $6 million to end a gaming lawsuit that has been pending since 2000. But New Mexico's attorney general 's office said Pojoaque Pueblo owes about $20 million in casino revenue-sharing payments. The offer made by the pueblo last month marked the first time Pojoaque has mentioned paying to get out of the federal lawsuit filed by Attorney General Patricia Madrid, her office said Tuesday. Pojoaque Pueblo Lt.Gov. George Rivera said his tribe 's negotiations with the state are not over. Sam Thompson, Madrid 's spokeswoman, said the attorney general is open to talking settlement terms. (2/27/04 New Mexico, Albuquerque Journal)

Meanwhile,the Mescalero Apache Tribe (Casino Apache), which also is accused in the same lawsuit of refusing to pay revenue-sharing to the state - also might reconsider the matter. Mescalero President Mark Chino,who took office in January,said the current Tribal Council has not yet had a chance to discuss revenue-sharing. But he said he doesn 't believe the council would take the "hard-line stance '' of the previous administration. (2/27/04 New Mexico, Albuquerque Journal)

Last summer tensions between the Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians and its neighbors in the rural Northern California Capay Valley erupted into a bitter war of words when the tribe announced plans to double the size of its hillside gaming business. Highway 16, the narrow, serpentine road that winds past the Cache Creek Indian Bingo and Casino on its way into the tiny hamlet of Brooks, is already congested from round the clock traffic to the casino. In 2001, traffic to Cache Creek, with its estimated $150 million annual revenue, was up 87% from the year before, according to a California department of transportation study.

Indian casinos are overloading other communities across the country. One exacerbating factor: because of tribal sovereignty, if a casino overwhelms local emergency services, draws down the local water supply or pollutes the environment, local authorities have no recourse. Tom Frederick, who owns a small vineyard north of the casino, found that out the hard way. For years, as sewage from the casino seeped onto his property, he tried to get the Rumsey Indians to deal with the problem. Recently the waste water drainage slowed when the tribe relined a sewage holding pond, but tribal officials will not talk to him about any damage to his property. "They use sovereignty as a shield," he says.

After protracted negotiations, the Rumsey Band and Yolo County officials reached a tentative accord on the casino expansion. The tribe, which views the deal as a concession, since it is a partial surrender of its sovereignty, agreed to slightly reduce the size of the expansion and pay the county more than $5 million a year for 18 years to deal with traffic, environmental and other problems. But relations remain strained. Bulldozers moved onto the Rumsey reservation and began clearing land even before the county board had approved the agreement. (Time Magazine, Special Investigation by Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, 12/16/02)

School district cuts sports, programs, after tribe closes purse. A small, rural upstate New York school district is eliminating spring sports, cutting after-school music programs and firing a business teacher to help make up for a $120,000 grant revoked by the Oneida Indian Nation as part of a dispute. The Stockbridge Valley Central School District received the money under the Oneida's Silver Covenant Chain of Friendship program but was stripped of the grant last month when district officials refused to fire an employee that the Oneida's say has brought tribal politics into school. (Stockbridge, NY, 1/29/01)

In Ledyard, at one point, the tribes agreed to pay for a "loop patrol" around Foxwoods, Lynch said. Because of that patrol, the following was discovered: In 1994, 3,500 tickets were written, 55 drunk driving arrests made. In 1995 4,200 tickets were written, with 50 drunk driving arrests. In 1997, 2,000 tickets written, 57 drunk driving arrests. The tribe then cut funding for the program. In 1999, 332 tickets were issues with 20 drunk driving arrests. In 2001, 477 tickets with 40 drunk driving arrests. Lynch said the same amount of offenders are out there now that were there in the mid 1990s. There's not as much money for enforcement, so the number of tickets and arrests decreased. (Oct. 2003, York County Coast Star)

In 1997 this Coos-Bay BLM forest was changed to the Coquille Forest to be managed by the BIA for the (Coquille) Tribe's benefit. Lone Rock Timber company illegally clearcut many acres in unit 5 after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals' order on December 14 reinstated Coastal Coho Salmon protections. This order stopped all work on 170 sales covered by Judge Rothstein's ruling in December of 2000, including the Coquille Forest timber sale.

Lone Rock Timber Company blatantly ignored the United States court and continued logging after 12/14/01 until they were caught on December 20. In the worst case of logging terrorism ever seen, Lone Rock Timber made a conscious and deliberate choice to thumb its nose at our judicial system and our environmental laws.

After we discovered the illegal logging on 12/20/01, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Superintendent gave Lone Rock Timber a written order to stop cutting. But they simply continued to cut trees, and were caught again on December 31. Because of the holidays, U.S. District court could not issue a restraining order until 11:45 a.m. January 3, ordering that logging stop immediately. Even then, Lone Rock Timber continued logging for the rest of the day, defying the court order.

7/18/02 - Umpqua Watersheds announced today that the federal government has committed $40,000 for forest restoration work as sanctions for illegal logging that occurred during the final days of 2001. (Umpqua Watersheds)

Public officials of rural Connecticut and New York lament their helplessness, police lament the crime and citizens lament the loss of their homes and ways of life. The mayor of Sherrill, N.Y., said the Oneida tribe started with 32 acres, but revenue from the casino allowed them to start buying up adjacent land, even though their land claim remains unsettled. As they did, they refused to pay taxes on the newly acquired land. Now the local governments are trying to foreclose on those properties, and the Oneida are claiming sovereignty even though the land wasn't subject to the settlement.

Earlier this year, the Miami tribe of Oklahoma filed a federal lawsuit against property owners in 15 East Central Illinois counties to recover about 2.6 million acres of land it says rightfully belongs to the tribe, including 378,000 acres in Champaign County and 495,000 in Vermilion County. (11/28/00, Champaign, Illinois, The News-Gazette)

Stop-work Order Ignored. Seneca-Cayugas to continue building bingo hall. "We're going to ignore it. It's issued from the town of Aurelius. We, of course, are not subject to the town's ordinances and rules because of our sovereign immunity," said Jay WhiteCrow, one of two nation representatives living in Aurelius. Besides violating town building regulations, the Oklahoma tribe is also running afoul of the town's zoning law, he said. In June, the town rescinded the "planned development district" zoning designation for the site, and reinstated an "agriculture/residential" zoning designation to block the tribe from building the bingo hall.

Rep. Sherwood L. Boehlert, R-New Hartford, has led efforts in Congress challenging the Seneca-Cayugas' attempt to establish a sovereign-like nation in Aurelius. He said Indian gaming rights are not transferable from state to state and that the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs does not recognize the tribe as having any political authority in New York. Boehlert applauded the town's decision to issue the stop-work order but said the confrontation is headed for a lengthy court battle. "It's another one of those endless legal standoffs," said Boehlert. (7/31/03, The Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY)

When the doors opened at 9 a.m., about 50 players squeezed into the cramped mobile building structure at Ann Avenue and 7th Street Trafficway to have a go at 152 slot machines of questionable legality. Notably absent from the brief opening ceremony was Unified Government Mayor Carol Marinovich. "I will not stand on a podium with the chief," Marinovich said later in a telephone interview from her City Hall office across the street from the new casino.

"Their lawsuit is hurting people in this community," she said, referring to a tribal claim on nearly 2,000 acres, which has stymied land transactions in the city's Fairfax Industrial District for nearly two years. The 7th Street Casino was made possible by a U.S. Interior Department decision earlier this year that granted de facto reservation status to a couple of acres of downtown real estate owned by the tribe. On reservation land, federally licensed Class II gambling activities do not require approval of state or local government bodies. Class II games include bingo and "pull tabs" but not traditional slot machines, blackjack and other Class III table games that most people associate with casino gambling. (8/29/03, Kansas City Star)

Card Room mutates into Casino - over night . "Judge David F. Levi of U.S. District Court in Sacramento, Calif., ruled that the government had the discretion to designate a card room, owned by Katz and other investors, as a reservation for the Lytton Band of Pomo Indians, a landless tribe." "The Lytton tribe, Katz's partner in the venture, wants to convert the San Pablo, Calif., club into a full-scale Las Vegas-style casino with slot machines. No tribal members would live on the 9.5-acre tract, which sits next to Interstate 80, a mere 20 minutes from downtown San Francisco." (Philadelphia)

Courts, including the Supreme Court, have ruled that states can collect taxes on tribal cigarette sales to non-Indians and to members of other tribes, experts on Indian law say. But the courts have also failed to give states the power to enforce such tax laws, ruling that because tribes are sovereign entities, states cannot sue them if they fail to pay taxes, said Robert N. Clinton, a law professor at Arizona Staten (12/30/03, New York Times)

Michigan Indian tribe claims it owns part of Notre Dame campus . An American Indian tribe from Michigan's Upper Peninsula is suing the University of Notre Dame for a tract of land on campus and rent dating back to 1842. The tribe has about 600 members living on or close to a reservation in Wilson, Mich., according to the tribe's Web site. Wilson is in Menominee County in the Upper Peninsula. The tribal community has prospered greatly since gambling was introduced in the 1980s,the Web site said. (South Bend, Indiana, 1/9/04)

Indians Vowing Tax Vengance. Upstate Indians, fighting a state bid to collect tobacco and other taxes on reservations, threatened yesterday to retaliate by charging tolls on Interstate 81. Onondaga Indian Chief Virgil Thomas said the tribe could build a toll booth where the interstate crosses its reservation just south of Syracuse. A recent study showed New York lost as much as $895 million last year by failing to collect taxes on tobacco products sold by Native American businesses. (9/22/03, New York Post)

The Delaware Nation of Anadarko, Oklahoma, filed a lawsuit in federal court today to reclaim 315 acres of ancestral tribal land in Forks Township, Northampton County from which the Delawares were wrongfully dispossessed more than 200 years ago. The move marks a first step toward having the land - or a suitable alternative - taken into federal trust status for the purpose of authorizing the Delaware Nation to pursue gaming in Pennsylvania, unregulated and untaxed by state government. (1/15/04, Press Release, Bellevue Communications Group)

Broward detention deputy fired; pawned gun for gambling cash. A Broward County detention deputy was fired after an investigation showed she pawned her service revolver to help cover gambling debts, officials said. (1/22/04, Miami Herald)

On their land, tribes' law is the last word. "Two dozen of Bowling's fellow homeowners in the Old Barona Road Association have watched their wells -- and their property values -- dry up while their Indian neighbors (Barona Valley Ranch Resort and Casino) consume nearly a million gallons a day. The association has pleaded with the tribe and complained to elected officials, only to run into a wall of sovereignty that protects Indian tribes from state and local laws."

"Then, last summer, the Baronas' wells began running out, too. The tribe urged the city of San Diego to declare a water emergency, saying it didn't have enough water to fight fires. The city advised the tribe to just turn off its golf course sprinklers, so the Baronas took matters into their own hands and began laying a pipeline from the reservation to the city's San Vicente Reservoir. They were illegally grading a road through off-reservation creek beds until the county found out about it, issued a "stop work" notice and charged the tribe with illegal discharge, grading without a permit, inadequate erosion controls and causing a public nuisance." (Sacramento Bee, 4/6/03)

Survey: Indian casinos don't pay up. Counties claim they have lost $175 million in unreimbursed expenses. Indian gaming has cost California counties more than $175 million in unreimbursed road, sewer, water, law enforcement and other expenses, according to a survey released Friday. (Sacramento Bee, 6/28/03)

A lawsuit alleging the cover-up of prostitution, organized crime and sexual assault at Foxwoods Resort Casino -- with implications of a conspiracy stretching as far as the governor's office -- has been rejected by a tribal judge. During proceedings in Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Court, Drumm testified he was continuously pressured by the tribal gaming commission, the agency that supervises gambling at Foxwoods, to cover up crimes ranging from illegal drug use to counterfeiting, out of fear the casino would be subjected to bad publicity. On one night Drumm said state police were attempting to investigate an alleged sexual assault committed in one of Foxwoods' hotel rooms by a casino entertainer. Drumm testified that by the time police arrived at the scene, Foxwoods officials had "sanitized" the room, cleaning the room and changing the sheets on the bed where the alleged crime took place. "Police Duo say casino probes led to ouster" (7/26/02, Norwich Bulletin, Mashantucket, CT)

The National Indian Gaming Commission has assessed almost $21 million in fines and settlements against Oklahoma's gaming tribes since 1993, according to a published report. Many violations identified by the commission were for operating illegal gaming machines, and more than half of the fines and settlements are still due. (1/30/04, Oklahoma City)

As the first selectman of this hamlet of 4,996 people, Mullane has already studied another of what his townspeople have called a "monster," the Foxwoods (Indian) Resort and Casino in nearby Ledyard. "I have closed two houses of prostitution; we have a smoke shop, we have a thoroughbred porn shop," said Mullane, complaining that these problems grew along with the Foxwoods casino. "We went from one resident trooper to three." "Town Frets Over Implications Of Tribal Recognition" (6/3/02) New Haven Register, North Stonington, CT

Tribe leader pleads guilty in federal fraud case. Ronald Roberts admits faking genealogy in filing applications to gain official recognition for tribe. The self-proclaimed leader of the Western Mohegan Tribe and Nation pleaded guilty Friday to filing a false federal application for tribal recognition by faking his own genealogy, a grandfather's death certificate and the 1845 state census. Sachem Golden Eagle surprised prosecutors with the admission that came six days into his federal district court fraud trial.

The defendant, also known as former Granville slate salesman Ronald Roberts, 56, has been trying to establish the tribe's Native American dominion since 1997. Prosecutors said he thought it would be his way to break into the gaming industry. (2/7/04, Times Union, Albany, NY)

Subcontractors Protest at Chukchansi Casino (Photo with little girl holding sign, "My Dad Lost His Job!") More than 100 protesters stood on either side of Lucky Lane on Saturday, at the Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino in Coarsegold to prove to the Chukchansi tribe and Cascade Entertainment that they will not give up their fight to be paid. Subcontractors are owed close to $16 million dollars for building the casino's $150 million-dollar hotel and gaming facility.

"We built this project on time and under budget," said John Hutson, secretary of building trade for Northern California. "Cascade is broke and the tribe refuses to talk with us. This is no different than Enron on a different scale. Russ Pratt, president of Cascade Entertainment, is no longer with Cascade, and the tribe just sends lawyers to deal with us," said Hutson. The tribe had no comment. (2/11/04 Sierra Star)

Tribe says it's immune to suits. The Chukchansi Indians say they are a sovereign nation and exempt from the legal action brought against them by one of several unpaid subcontractors who built the tribe's $150 million gaming complex near Coarsegold. (1/15/04 - Fresno Bee)

• CasinoWatch
• Tribal Casino Impact Information
• NCALG - National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling
• Co-Conspirators in Tragedy Oregonian Editorial about Video Gambling
  
• USPACT