Indian-run Casinos in California Face Potential Shutdown

by Minerva Canto

The Associated Press

August 24, 1999

VIEJAS INDIAN RESERVATION, Calif. — Undeterred by a ban on Nevada-style casino gaming, tribal leaders promised to pursue new tactics to ensure gambling revenues remain on California reservations.

"We'll do whatever it takes, we'll spend whatever we have to spend to keep the right to govern ourselves," said Anthony Pico, chairman of the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians.

The tribes were dealt a setback Monday when the state Supreme Court struck down a measure that voters approved in November legalizing video gambling machines and card games on reservations.

Proposition 5 would have allowed 40 tribes with casinos to keep using video slot machines, which tribal officials estimate generate 70 percent of the revenue at Indian casinos.

The measure was approved by 63 percent of the voters in November, after both sides injected nearly $100 million into the campaign, setting a national record for a ballot measure.

It also would have set the stage for more of California's 107 tribes to open casinos with video gambling terminals and card games.

In their 6-1 ruling, state justices said Proposition 5 violates a section of the state Constitution that forbids "casinos of the type currently operating in Nevada and New Jersey" -- a phrase that was undefined until Monday.

The initiative was put on hold while the court reviewed the case after two legal challenges by a labor union and a group of homeowners and businesses backed by Nevada casinos.

The court's decision now means tribes in three Southern California counties, which run some of the state's largest casinos, could lose their video slot machines.

Tribes in other parts of California previously reached agreements with federal prosecutors over the machines, said Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the Los Angeles U.S. attorney's office.

Both sides expect another formidable battle as they begin campaigning for a March 2000 ballot initiative on the same issue. This time, the tribes want voters to approve a constitutional amendment instead of a statute change.

"Today is a setback for them, but we should be realistic. They have shown time and time again that they're able to shower the political process with vast sums of money," Jim Mulhall of the Nevada Resort Association. "They are a very determined group."

Tribal leaders vowed to pump as much money as necessary into the campaign. Anticipating an unfavorable court decision, they already began collecting the 670,000 signatures needed for a constitutional amendment allowing video slot machines.

At the two-story adobe-styled Viejas casino about 30 miles east of San Diego, word of the court decision rippled through the crowd of hundreds of gamblers.

"It's not just a legal question. It's a human question," said Lew Jones, head of security at the Viejas Casino & Turf Club. "There's about 2,000 people working here. A lot of them would be on welfare if they weren't working here."

"What the people vote for that's the way it should be," said George Piszczek, a regular patron who is a retired bookstore employee.

Gambling supporters expressed hope that tribes could still negotiate a favorable compact with Gov. Gray Davis, who issued a statement Monday saying he would "work diligently to find a constitutionally acceptable means of implementing the people's expressed will."

"In addition to the benefits to the tribes themselves, I am mindful of the fact that some 16,000 Californians, currently employed by Indian gaming, may lose their source of employment if we cannot respond to this challenge," Davis said.

Employees, though apprehensive about the possibility of losing their jobs, were optimistic that tribes will eventually win the right to run the type of casinos they want.

"We'll continue the battle. We'll win it eventually," said Jones, a retired sheriff's deputy. "The people are on our side. Eventually, we'll win, if for no other reason."