The Rose Colored Glasses are OFF in Orange County

Too often we hear plaintive murmers about 'job creation' and 'economic boosting' by communities contemplating an indian casino in their midst. Not so in Orange County though, at least in Congressman John Campbell's office. From the California Republic.

Of Casinos and Indian Tribes
by John Campbell [congressman]
By now you may have heard that there are several groups trying to get federal recognition as the federally sanctioned Juaneno Indian Tribe in Orange County. It is very clear that the groups seeking recognition as this tribe are doing so because they intend to establish a casino in urban Orange County. I have a copy of a lobbying contract under which the lobbyists are paid only by a contingent fee of the "take" of the eventual casino. If there is no casino, they are working for free. Furthermore, the Orange County Register recently featured a story in which one of the tribe organizers, Joyce Stanfield Perry, says, “it is our inherent right to build any kind of economic development once we have a government-to-government relationship.” There has been talk of putting this casino in San Juan Capistrano or near Irvine's Great Park. The Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs is scheduled to decide whether to recognize this tribe in about 60 days. If they do achieve recognition technically they could establish a casino on any land they buy in Orange County, although they would have to get a gambling "compact" with the state.

I oppose the recognition of this tribe and I oppose a gambling casino in Orange County, or frankly any other urban area. Lest you think I am not consistent on this issue, while in the California State Legislature I aggressively opposed the establishment of what would have been the largest casino on earth for a roughly 20 member tribe that had been recognized in Berkley, California. We have been successful so far in stopping that one. Here is why I oppose these things:

1) Indian casino gambling was originally conceived in order to provide economic opportunity for big groups of largely full-blooded Indians who were poor and whose ancestral reservations were in remote areas with little economic opportunity. That has worked in many areas. Fine. But now you see a handful of professional people tracing small fractions of Indian ancestry, in urban areas where economic opportunity abounds wanting to become tribes so they can make tons of money on gambling. If they would agree to never have a casino, as a tribe in North Carolina recently agreed to do, then we would know that they were merely trying to preserve their cultural heritage. But the Juanenos are not doing that.

2) The federal tribal recognition process has existed for 30 years. Why has this tribal application only surfaced in the last 20 years or so? Perhaps because the availability of and profitability of casino gambling only came to California recently.

3) These are not tribes of thousands of people here. The people trying to establish these tribes usually number less than a dozen. I remember meeting once with a group of 6 trying to establish a tribe and a casino in downtown San Diego. So, we're supposed to grant gigantic casino rights so that 6 people can have economic opportunity?

4) Indian casinos are federally granted monopolies. You and I cannot open one to compete with the Juanenos if we wanted to. In an urban area, why not? They are also basically self-regulated in California so their profit margins are very high because of that lack of competition.

5) Casinos in urban areas are usually accompanied by increases in crime and spousal abuse and gambling addiction.

6) These things are hard to stop because they are very profitable that there is plenty of money to go around for lobbyists and cities and consultants and the only losers are the public.

For all these reasons I have introduced a bill to place a 25 year moratorium on Indian casinos for newly recognized tribes. This will preserve the tribal recognition process for those who truly desire to preserve their heritage, but it will stop the practice of setting up these monopoly casinos in urban areas for at least a while.

If you agree with this bill or that we should not have casinos in urban areas like Orange County, please e-mail me back so that I can show the Bureau of Indian Affairs the breadth of the opposition to this tribe's plans.

If we knew then what we know now...

If the Chumash Tribe had waited until 2007 to start their bid for casino expansion, perhaps Santa Ynez would have had a different landscape along 246 in the future. Maybe if the SY Valley had seen the effect of new indian casinos around the country for the last seven years, actions similar to those of Woodland in Washington State would have been taken. From The Columbian:


Woodland to consider anti-casino resolution
BY JEFFREY MIZE, Columbian staff writer

Woodland could become the third city to pass a resolution opposing the proposed Cowlitz casino and threatening litigation if the federal government approves the project.

The Woodland City Council will consider a three-page draft resolution Monday night that says the casino would have a negative effect on the city's schools, roads, affordable housing stock and social services.

"The city of Woodland has identified gambling addiction - which results in crime, bankruptcy and domestic violence and which strains law enforcement and social services - as a significant negative effect the mega-casino will have on city residents and businesses," the resolution says. "The casino proponents propose no mitigation for the strain on law enforcement and social services the casino will cause."

The resolution goes on to argue that federal approval would be "an abuse of discretion, not supported by the evidence and made without following the required procedures."

In May, both the Vancouver and La Center city councils unanimously adopted resolutions opposing plans for a $510 million casino complex on a 152-acre site a couple miles west of La Center.

The tribe was dealt a stiffer setback in June when the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board struck down the agreement the tribe brokered with Clark County in 2004.

Under federal law, the Bureau of Indian Affairs must evaluate the casino's impacts.

Who needs drugs? We've got slots!

Incisive study and analysis on the effects of gambling on the human mind. In PDF format from NCALG (National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling).

Machines: The 'Crack Cocaine' of gambling
Rapid Onset of Pathological Gambling in Machine Gamblers
Dr. Robert Breen and Mark Zimmerman studied the length of time it takes the average compulsive gambler to become addicted and found machines are truly the "crack cocaine" of gambling. They are also the biggest moneymakers in the gambling industry today. They addict victims about three times faster than traditional table and track gambling. (Also see Breen's slides and listen to his talk in our 2004 Conference section)

Click here to read