Rohnert Park: A community destroyed

The Rohnert Park Indian Slot Barn has a long and complex history filled with community opposition, discussed here at Stop the Casino 101 Coalition. The community lost its voice and lost local control.

This is what happens with Indian Casinos.


City Council on the Casino: "At This Point, We Have to Deal With It"
Elected officials said it's too early to speculate on what kind of impact the casino will have on the local economy, on the environment, public safety, noise or traffic.

In its final environmental impact statement, the Federated Inidans of the Graton Rancheria said it's lofty project — a hotel, resort and casino on a 254-acre parcel west of Rohnert Park — will create 2,500 jobs and have an annual payroll of $67 million jobs. Building the project will create 750 jobs, the tribe said.

Local residents, business owners and elected officials are split — some say the local and state government need the revenue the project will bring in, while others fret the impact on the environment, public safety and the character of Rohnert Park.

According to environmental reports, the compact and figures from today's Press Democrat, the $433 million project includes up to 3,000 slot machines, card and table games such as roulette and blackjack. A hotel is planned, with 200 rooms, more than 300,000 square feet of entertainment and casino space, including a nightclub. There's also a spa and eating facilities, including a steakhouse. Three bars are planned, with more than 1,600 seats, as well as indoor and outdoor parking to accommodate nearly 6,000 vehicles.

"If built to completion, it would become Sonoma County's largest private employer and one if its most costly developments," the Press Democrat article stated.

The compact states that the 1,300-member tribe aims to "foster a good neighbor relationship," with Sonoma County, Rohnert Park and the state.

Part of that means money. In addition to paying the city of Rohnert Park an estimated $200 million over 20 years, the tribe is required to pay the state for winnings on machines and into a state mitigation fund.

For example, if the casino has a net winnings in the first year of $370 million, the tribe would pay the state gaming agency $5 million, according to figures in the compact.

The casino west of U.S. Highway 101 between Wilfred Avenue and Stony Point Road led to a failed effort in August 2004 to recall two of the four Rohnert Park City Council members who voted to approve a $200 million memorandum of understanding with the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria.

Mayor Jake Mackenzie, who is the only member of the current City Council, who was also on the council during the recall elections, said the casino negotiations took place initially in "closed sessions" — one reason for the heated vocal opposition here.

Mackenzie was the sole dissenting vote against the casino, mainly becasue of the way the memorandum of understanding was negotiated, he said — quickly and in the backroom.

"The city was divided," Mackenzie said. "The temperature was at boiling point. There was police presence at meetings, we were warned to be ready to leave at a moment's notice if real violence broke out."

The City Council today says it's still too early to speculate on what will happen when the casino is built. Will it breathe economic vitality — money and more people — to a city that's lost more than 2,000 people over a 10-year period? Will there be an obscene uptick in traffic and crime? Will the city's natural resources be in peril?

All are questions the community will continue to mull over the coming years.

"I don't have a moral distaste for gambling," Mackenzie said. Whatever happens, he said, "we have an agreement, and the agreement stands."

Councilwoman Gina Belforte said with any large entertainment industry, there is likely going to be pluses and minuses.

"The benefit is that it's going to bring money and people into the city," Belforte said. "I’m not sure if those people will drive much economic development here, but I’m not sure of that that what everybody worries about — traffic, impact on the envronment and gambling issues — will come."

She said it's important to vet the community's concerns and monitor the evolution of the casino.

Joe Callinan and Amy Ahanotu, both on the City Coucnil, agreed with Belforte, that the deal is now out of the city's hands.

"At this point, we have to deal with it and accept it," Callinan said. "And we have to get everything out of it that we can for the citizens of Rohnert Park."

-Bay City News contributed to this report. Read the full story from the Press Democrat here.


Watch: Film Documents Rohnert Park's Historic Struggle Against Vegas-Style Casino
People who've lived and worked in the city for decades say that the casino divided Rohnert Park. While the tribe continues to clear federal hurdles, sources say they're upset with the way contracts were signed — in the back room.

The story of the Rohnert Park Slot Barn has a long and complex history available on Stop the Casino 101 Coalition.






Editor's note: While researching the long-contested Vegas-style casino proposed for the city's northwest side, I ran across this documentary produced by two former graduate students from U.C. Berkeley's journalism program. We're in the middle of a story that looks at the economics of the proposed casino, at widely stated probelms such as traffic and crime and what elected officials have to say.

Several elected officials and local business people have told me that casino divided Rohenrt Park — this film illustrates the mood in the city at the time. Reporters document Tribal Chaiman Greg Sarris' comments to the city at the historic City Council vote in 2004 — which ended 4-1 in favor. Jake Mackenzie, who is mayor today, was the sole dissenting vote. We're bringing you an update next week, but meanwhile, check out this film and tell me what you think. Got questions about the casino, or concerns? Tell me in the comments below — I'll do my best to answer you in my reporting.

The producers of the documentary are still living and working in the Bay Area. The segment attached is a shortened version of the original documentary. View the whole 30-minute thing here.

Here's a message from teh National Film Institute on the movie:
"The Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria in California are about to realize a long-held dream. After centuries of being labeled simply “homeless Indians,” a group of Coast Miwok and Pomo Indians win federal recognition as a tribe in 2000. With this comes the right to establish a reservation within their former homelands – land that today is covered by strip malls, schools and houses. When the tribe finds a few hundred acres of land in Rohnert Park for sale, they hope to establish a new reservation and build a casino on it.
They promise the city a share of casino profits and offer to donate money to local charities. For the tribal chairman, the casino is the only sure way to provide his 1,000 tribal members with health insurance and college educations after generations of deprivation. And as some tribal members see it, it’s high time Native Americans participate in the American dream of capitalism.But the residents of Rohnert Park are horrified that their new neighbor is bringing a Las Vegas style casino to their town.
Angry citizens start flooding city council meetings, giving impassioned speeches and staging protests. Some even write threatening letters to the tribe. There are other players in this game, too: a [former] mayor who hopes the casino will attract new business to town, and a Las Vegas-based corporation that’s lending the tribe millions of dollars to put up 2,000 slot machines, a hotel complex and a super-sized parking lot.
The Rules of the Game follows the controversy of Rohnert Park, where small town values clash with Native American rights. Like many states around the country, California law gives Indian tribes the exclusive right to build casinos within reservation boundaries. As more and more tribes find that casino development is indeed very lucrative, local communities wonder if there is a higher price to pay.
Will casinos pave the way to a better future for Native Americans? Can cities and towns make room for neighbors they once pushed out? This film explores the dilemmas that unfold as communities try to address historic injustice."
By Angela Hart