Indian gaming is creeping into the urban Bay Area. Gov. Jerry Brown signed a compact last month with the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, which plans to build a 3,000-slot machine casino in Rohnert Park.
The project is yet another misuse of voter-approved Nevada-style gambling on tribal lands.
Voters said yes to Proposition 1A in 2000 with the expectation the gaming would stay on reservations in rural areas to provide an economic uplift to impoverished tribes.
Over the years, however, tribes, often with loose historical connections to an area, have sought to establish claims to off-reservation lands in order to site casinos. Recent attempts have targeted Richmond, San Pablo and Oakland.
In Rohnert Park, the attempt was successful, bringing a second Indian casino to Sonoma County.
The Legislature and the U.S. Department of Interior still must sign off on the governor's compact, but approval is considered largely a formality. Tribes have become some of the biggest political contributors.
The tribe, with about 1,300 members of Pomo and Coastal Miwok descent, proposes a $433 million project on 254 acres in Sonoma County. The compact allows for roulette wheels and table games. Besides the casino, the tribe plans to build a hotel, a nightclub, three bars, restaurants and a spa. Stations Casino of Las Vegas will manage the operation.
The project is expected to create 2,250 jobs, according to tribal documents.
Tribes, as sovereign nations, do not pay taxes on these operations. Under the compact, however, the Graton tribe will pay $100 million to cash-starved local government during its first seven years of operation, with the expectation of more funding in future years.
Antigambling advocates have protested this and other casinos that have tried to encroach on the urban fringe, arguing that a casino is a magnet for crime and an unwelcome temptation for gamblers that drains savings and harms families.
Indian gaming was a bad bet for California and, as the casinos creep into the cities, for more Californians.
Indian gaming California-style
Voters approved Nevada-style gambling on tribal lands in California in 2000.
Today, California has:
107 federally recognized tribes
69 tribes with gambling compacts (59 have casinos)
14 tribes contributing to the state general fund
69 tribes with gambling compacts (59 have casinos)
14 tribes contributing to the state general fund
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