/24-7PressRelease/ - SACRAMENTO, CA, April 01, 2006 -- State Senators question the wisdom and motivation behind a decision by Govnernor Schwarzenegger' negotiators to use a telephone survey commissioned by casino developer Barwest rather than the ballot box to indicate true community support for Indian gaming proposals in the City of Barstow.
The California State Senate Committee on Governmental Organization held a special informational hearing on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 to investigate agreements negotiated last year between Governor Schwarzenegger's administration and the Big Lagoon Rancheria Indians from Humboldt County. The agreements, Compacts for gaming, would allow Big Lagoon to locate a tribal gaming casino 700 miles away from existing reservation lands on a 47-acre parcel in Barstow, Ca. The California Legislature must ratify the Compact and the Secretary of Interior must provide approvals before the Compact can be considered valid. A number of other approvals remain before the Tribe could break ground on a Barstow Casino.
Among the varied concerns raised by senators from both parties was a decision to use a privately funded telephone survey commissioned by Detroit casino developer Barwest LLC rather than allow voters to express support for Indian Gaming in Barstow at the ballot box. Senators questioned attorneys for the state and the tribe, tribal leader Virgil Moorhead and Barstow Mayor Lawrence Dale trying to understand the wisdom behind decisions to promote use of poll rather than encourage a public vote.
Senator Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles) questioned the integrity of the telephone survey and the decision making process to replace a vote of the people with a telephone poll. Romero was born and raised in Barstow. Romero holds a PhD in psychology and demonstrated a keen awareness of the fundamentals of opinion research. She questioned the methodology and nature of the privately funded survey. Romero indicated that there was a large Hispanic population in Barstow and was concerned the survey conducted only in English might not have captured the opinions of those residents who represent nearly 40% of Barstow's population.
Romero was also concerned with the very general nature of the survey questions in light of the public precedents that would be set by relocating an Indian casino 700 miles away in Barstow.
Local politicians and tribal attorneys explained they simply attempted to avoid the costs of conducting a local vote on Indian gaming. Senator Jim Battin (R-La Quinta) indicated something suspect about rationale suggesting a poll was chosen because it was less expensive. He asserted something absurd about the rationale of using costs to make the determination when the proposed casino project was estimated at around $200 million. Battin estimated the cost of the telephone survey to be roughly $20,000 and suggested the cost to put the item before voters couldn't have been much more. Battin suggested the developer could have covered the costs of printing the ballots in the same way they paid for the telephone poll.
Big Lagoon chairman Virgil Moorhead said later that for him the decision to go with a telephone survey and convince the Governor to accept the survey as proof of local support was simple because he was not willing to let the voters in Barstow determine the fate of his tribal casino.
Senator Dean Florez (D-Shafter, CA) called the informational hearing on the Compact which has made little progress since being signed by the Governor in September 2005. The Compact is among several highly controversial Compacts negotiated by the Governor's staff. The Big Lagoon Compact represents creative attempts by the Governor's negotiators and State Attorney General to bring an end to a long lawsuit between the State of California and Big Lagoon Rancheria over a proposed casino development on tribal lands along the Humboldt Coast. Environmental activists and state environmental agencies say no development should occur on what they describe as the pristine Big Lagoon Rancheria reservation lands.
Senators were aware of a June 6th ballot measure in Barstow, Measure H, which would, among various things, establish boundaries for a gaming zone in Barstow away from homes, schools, churches and parks; and set aside a percentage of new gaming revenues that flow to the city for additional public safety activities. Absent any action by the City Council or casino developer Barwest to place an Indian gaming measure on the ballot in Barstow, citizens circulated petitions to qualify their proposal for the June ballot. More than 2,300 locals signed the petitions and less than 900 were needed to qualify the measure. The citizens' group is spearheaded by former Barstow city councilman Manuel G. Gurule.
Senators indicated they would be watching the June 6th election in Barstow closely to see if Measure H is supported by local voters. A majority of Senators expressed a preference for a public vote to demonstrate support for such gaming Compacts.
At the conclusion of the five hour informational hearing, it was unclear what the next steps, if any, would be for the controversial proposal. It was obvious that a majority of Senators on the Governmental Organization Committee would not support the Compact if it were put to a vote at that time. Senator Romero, who is majority leader of the California Senate, made it clear she did not support ratification of the Big Lagoon Compact.
Barwest LLC is based in Detroit, Michigan. Barwest principals are Marian Ilitch, owner of Detroit's Motor City Casino and a founder of Little Caesars Pizza, and Michael J. Malik, Sr., a developer. Barwest funded eleventh hour legal attempts earlier this year seeking to have a Barstow District Superior Court Judge remove Measure H from the June 6. The Judge denied their claims and found no reason to stop the voters from casting ballots on Measure H.
An archived web cast of the hearing is available for viewing on the California Channel web site at
http://www.calchannel.com/webcast.htm---
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