Casino News Today

The British Columbia government is hiring nine so-called “responsible gambling information officers” to educate casino staff and patrons about problem gambling.

The jobs are part of a long-term plan to have the officers in every casino, according to the assistant deputy minister of gaming policy, Derek Sturko.

“We did a pilot program in 2005 at two Lower Mainland casinos and discovered that worked quite well. And this is part of our plan to grow that out to every casino gaming facility,” he said.

Early intervention of the gambling information officers may prevent people from becoming problem gamblers, said Sturko, who added a decade of research showed no evidence that problem gambling was increasing in British Columbia.

But NDP gaming policy critic Harry Lali said the creation of the jobs indicates the opposite is actually the case.

“It is a stark admission by this government that Liberal policies are directly creating gambling addicts in this province,” said Lali.

“It is the massive expansion of gambling by Gordon Campbell and the Liberals that is creating this problem,”

Since the B.C. Liberals came to power in 2001, revenue from casinos has doubled from $552 million to nearly $1.1 billion.

Private companies operate B.C.’s 20 casinos for the B.C. Lottery Corporation, which manages all legal gambling in B.C. for the provincial government.

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An 85-year-old elder of the Mashpee Wampanoag and her son filed a lawsuit yesterday in Suffolk Superior Court, contending that tribal leaders banned them from meetings and a sacred cultural event because they challenged the tribe’s push to build a casino.

Amelia and Steven Bingham are seeking unspecified damages and the right to attend meetings and powwows, said their Boston-based lawyer, Michael L. Altman. Altman asserted that the conduct of the tribe’s leadership violates the Massachusetts Constitution.

Scott Ferson, a spokesman for the tribe, declined to comment yesterday, saying he had not seen the lawsuit.

The Binghams have been members of the tribe’s governing body, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council, since its creation in 1981, and Amelia Bingham had been named a clan mother, a position of respect in the tribe, according to the lawsuit.

But the Binghams are ardent opponents of a tribal casino, and Amelia Bingham in particular “has spoken out against gambling interests and expressed concern about big money interests corrupting tribal values,” Altman said in an interview yesterday.

In January 2007, the Binghams received letters from the Tribal Council informing them that they were banned from council meetings for seven years. The “shunning order” came just days after the Binghams sued in Barnstable Superior Court to force the council to account for $14 million that the tribe had received from Herb Strather, a prominent developer of a Detroit casino.

The case was later dismissed because the county court had no jurisdiction over the federally recognized tribe.

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SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Monday that he has signed a deal to allow a Sierra Nevada Indian tribe to build a casino along a major highway near Fresno that could be worth about $25 million a year to the state.

But the tribe lacks federal permission to put a gambling operation on that land. And state legislators — many of whom are wary of urban, off-reservation casinos — must approve the compacts. Those are high hurdles that could take months, if not years, to clear.

The deal also may conflict with the governor’s own policy on tribal gambling accords.

Under the unusual arrangement, the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians would build the casino along California 99 in the heart of the Central Valley, about 40 miles from their foothills reservation. The tribe would share profits with the state and an impoverished tribe, the Wiyot, on the Humboldt County coast hundreds of miles away. The Wiyot would agree not to build a casino on their land near Humboldt Bay.

Schwarzenegger’s official policy, spelled out in a May 2005 proclamation, states that he will not negotiate with tribes that do not already own land that the federal government deems eligible for a casino.

It also states that Schwarzenegger will oppose casino construction in urban areas away from tribal reservations.

The proposed North Fork casino is less than a mile from Madera, population 46,000, and about 22 miles northwest of Fresno. It is owned by Station Casinos, a Las Vegas company pursuing projects with several California tribes.

“Placing a casino along Highway 99 right at the foot of the city of Fresno is certainly an urban casino — there is no other way to see it,” said state Sen. Dean Florez (D-Shafter), who heads the Senate committee that oversees gambling.

In a press release, Florez called the proposal “erratic” and “illogical.”

Schwarzenegger’s legal affairs secretary, Andrea Hoch, defended the agreement. It is consistent with the governor’s gambling policy because the North Fork tribe does own land that is federally eligible for casino construction, she said — it just isn’t the land where the tribe proposes a casino.

“These compacts are novel approaches to providing what is best for the state of California,” she said.

Under the compact, the North Fork tribe would build a hotel and casino with 2,000 slot machines and give the state 13.5% to 22% of net revenues, with the state’s share rising as revenues increase.

The tribe also would share a small percentage of revenues — estimated at $3 million to $5 million a year — with the 600-member Wiyot tribe. Wiyot tribal administrator Maura Eastman said the money would probably be used to invest in economic development.

North Fork tribal Chairwoman Elaine Bethel Fink said her tribe’s rancheria south of Yosemite National Park is too remote for a casino.

“Environmentally, it just makes sense for us to partner up,” she said.

Schwarzenegger failed the last time he sought federal and state approval for an off-reservation casino. In 2005, he struck a deal with the Los Coyotes band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians in San Diego County and the Big Lagoon Rancheria of Humboldt County to open casinos in the Mojave Desert town of Barstow, where city officials eagerly sought the jobs it would offer.

Legislators — who can ratify or reject tribal gambling compacts negotiated by the governor but cannot change them — refused to vote on the Barstow deals.

In any case, the U.S. Department of the Interior refused to allow the tribes to use the Barstow land for casinos because of the potential harm of tribal families leaving their reservations to work in casinos hundreds of miles away.

Schwarzenegger said he would not submit the North Fork and Wiyot compacts to the Legislature until the secretary of the Interior gives North Fork approval to use the land near California 99 for a casino.

There is no guarantee that will happen.

In January, the Bush administration toughened its stance on off-reservation casinos and promised greater scrutiny on casino proposals more than a “commutable distance” from a reservation.

Cheryl Schmit, director of the gambling watchdog group Stand Up for California, said the compacts, if they are ever implemented, could lead to more casinos near big California cities.

“I think the policy of negotiating before the tribe even owns the land . . . is an invitation to further off-reservation gaming expansion,” she said.

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The fliers sounded alarming: “Urgent Neighborhood Action Alert!”

They were sent to residents in North Las Vegas, urging them to attend a meeting last Thursday night to review plans by Boyd Gaming to move a proposed casino project from Lamb Boulevard and Centennial Parkway to north of the Las Vegas Beltway, just west of Losee Road.

“Join your neighbors at a community meeting to say no,” the mailings said.

But few, if any, people did.

Instead, they showed up at an elementary school in the north section of the city to ask a few questions. They were told the casino project would be on 56 acres and would eventually have 1,200 hotel rooms and a bunch of nice restaurants, like The District at Green Valley Ranch.

Residents liked that idea.

Nobody was too distressed, and the conversation turned toward who sent the anti-casino fliers, which had no return address or mention of a group in charge. Each flier was individually stamped.

Attorneys representing Boyd Gaming at the meeting refused to speculate. But there were whispers that a Las Vegas community activist could be behind the mailings.

The Boyd casino would be the second along the Beltway and part of the master-planned Park Highlands development. Station Casinos is expected to open a casino at Aliante Parkway this year.

There are five casinos planned for within two miles of the Las Vegas Beltway and Interstate 15 interchange. That area has been dubbed “Casino Alley,” a mini-Strip 10 miles north of the Strip.

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