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Governor abdicates his responsibility over
casino
Op-Ed by
Arnold Buchman
November 23, 2003, Eugene Register-Guard Newspaper Section 4 C of the state's casino compact with the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians could not be clearer: In the event the Hatch Tract just east of Florence was found in the then-pending case of Oregon vs. Norton to be eligible for gambling, "the Compact provisions related to the gaming location (i.e., transportation, environment, land use, and matters of local concern) shall be negotiated after the final judicial decision." The decision in Oregon vs. Norton became final in July, when Gov. Ted Kulongoski determined there was no money in a busted budget to defend the state's say in the Department of Interior's casino site selection process. That appeared to trigger the governor's responsibility and obligation as party to the compact to protect the interests of the citizens of Florence, western Lane County and Oregon through negotiation with the other party to the compact, the tribes, of "transportation, environment, land use, and matters of local concern." Nevertheless, the governor failed to establish a process by which specific state, county and local concerns could be identified, considered and determined in preparation for the compact- required negotiations. The affected communities and their citizens, left without a governor who would champion their concerns, would have to fend for themselves. The city of Florence attempted to do just that by appointing a citizen task force, with broad public and city administration input, to give the governor a basis for setting a negotiation agenda. However, in response to the task force's six-page report, Kulongoski's spokeswoman could say only, "We just don't have the authority to do that. These are mainly local issues." But isn't that just the point? In including the "to be negotiated" language in the compact, Governor Kulongoski's predecessor provided for some measure of the local protection that would be denied affected communities were Oregon vs. Norton to be decided the way it ultimately was. The result is abdication by this governor of his clear responsibility - and authority - under the compact to deal on behalf of his non-Native American constituents with a sovereign nation that recognizes no accountability for matters of local concern. "We as a state don't have the authority to come in and make agreements between localities and tribes," the governor's spokeswoman said. That presumed lack of authority simply is irrelevant. The compact clearly contemplates negotiations to be between the state and the tribe, not the tribe and the locality that is to have the benefit of those negotiations. It's difficult to understand why the governor who claims authority to negotiate a casino compact despite a state constitutional provision expressly prohibiting casinos claims to have no authority when asked to negotiate the local concerns protections as expressly provided in the compact. Just whose governor is he? Arnold Buchman of Florence was a member of the City of Florence Task Force on Casino Impacts. (Editor's Note: Mr. Buchman is also spokesperson for PACT.) |
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