Yuba County OKs casino,
miffed cities oppose plan
MARYSVILLE 12/18/02 (YSN) -- The Yuba County Board of Supervisors voted, 3-2, Tuesday to approve a memorandum of understanding which would allow the Estom Yumeka Maidu tribe to build a casino-hotel resort in exchange for $72.8 million in payments over 16 years.
By the same vote the supervisors also agreed to send a letter to federal authorities endorsing the sale of 40 acres of land in a sports-entertainment zone south of Marysville to accommodate the casino complex.
The cost of the project is currently estimated at $85 million, and, if other required federal and state approvals are obtained it could be completed in a year or two, said Lisa Angle, secretary-treasurer for the tribe, which is also known as the Enterprise Rancheria.
"I'm excited," she said immediately after the vote was cast.
The balloting came after four hours of divided testimony in which the number of people speaking for and against the project appeared evenly split.
Proponents hailed the project as a source of 900 new jobs and as a river of revenue for the chronically poor county. It would prove a boon to surrounding non-Indian businesses, some supporters said.
The MOU -- which is intended to protect the county in its dealings with the tribe -- was "well-crafted" and would "stimulate" the stalled raceway planned for the same area, claimed Larry Booth, whose Marysville engineering firm builds -- among other things -- casinos.
County and tribe officials have identified the principal investor in gaming project as Forsythe Racing, Inc., of Illinois. The firm had planned to build a multi-million dollar motorplex racetrack, but in recent months has back-pedaled from the plan.
A variety of problems with the racing economy and Yuba County's infrastructure are delaying that scheme, Alan Waskin, an attorney for Forsythe said.
Opponents objected to the way the board handled the matter. A subcommittee of the board negotiated the agreement for five months, and only released it last week, leaving the public only seven days to respond to it before the scheduled approval vote, critics said.
"The process has been very much warped and the public very much left out," Marysville attorney Sheldon Hadley complained.
The overflow crowd of more than 200 filled the board chambers and a courtroom on a lower floor of the Yuba County courthouse. The two rooms were linked by closed circuit television.
Judging by the applause levels, supporters of the casino dominated the upper chamber, while opponents controlled the courtroom. This separation of the two sides was coincidental "matter of timing," County Administrator Kent McClain said.
"The supporters got here first," he said.
Supervisors Mary Jane Griego and Bill Simmons supported the casino project, with Chairman Al Amaro providing the swing "yes" vote. Voting no on it were supervisors Hal Stocker and Donald Schrader. Schrader said he was following the wishes of constituents who wanted the controversial vote postponed.
Meanwhile, even as the supervisors listened to praise and complaints, the Marysville City Council was resolving its own position on the proposed casino.
The council members voted, 3-2, to oppose the casino-hotel. Mayor Dirk Helder, Paul McNamara and Jerry Crippen voted to oppose it, while Bill Harris and Christina Billeci supported it.
On Monday, the Wheatland City Council also voted 3-2 to oppose the casino project I part because the MOU did not specifically earmark funds for the city, which is suffering considerable congestion from developments in nearby Lincoln, Placer County.
The two contrary votes now puts the county at loggerheads with its two principal communities.
Supervisor-elect Dan Logue, who will succeed Amaro when he is sworn into office in January, said he would try to get the supervisors' action rescinded.
"They voted 3-2 for it this week. With me on he board in January we'll vote 3-2 against it," Logue said.
But scenario was disputed. Only a supervisor who voted on the issue could bring it back for reconsideration, according to Griego.
In that case, a voter-generated referendum to overturn the supervisors' MOU action would be likely, according to members of Citizens for a Better Way, a group of business leaders opposing the project.
"We'll seriously consider a referendum," said Logue, who is a CBW member.
To qualify such a ballot measure for an election, ballot opponents would have to collect the signatures of 1,186 registered voters, a spokeswoman for the Yuba County Clerk-Recorder said.
But not all opponents of the casino would necessarily favor a referendum, said Shirley Henrikson of Browns Valley, who opposes both -- the casino on economic grounds and the referendum for tactical reasons.
A typical referendum would ask voters, "yes" or "no," whether they approved the land transfer and wanted a casino.
If a majority of voters said "no," but federal authorities OK'd it anyway, it, then Yuba County would wind up with a casino, but no agreement to guarantee the all-important $73 million of in-lieu of taxes payments, Henrikson said.
And if a majority voted "yes," then a quirk in state elections law applying to referenda would remove any obligation for the tribe to enter into any agreement at all with the county, according to Henrikson.
"People who want a referendum don't realize what they're getting into." Henrikson said.
miffed cities oppose plan
MARYSVILLE 12/18/02 (YSN) -- The Yuba County Board of Supervisors voted, 3-2, Tuesday to approve a memorandum of understanding which would allow the Estom Yumeka Maidu tribe to build a casino-hotel resort in exchange for $72.8 million in payments over 16 years.
By the same vote the supervisors also agreed to send a letter to federal authorities endorsing the sale of 40 acres of land in a sports-entertainment zone south of Marysville to accommodate the casino complex.
The cost of the project is currently estimated at $85 million, and, if other required federal and state approvals are obtained it could be completed in a year or two, said Lisa Angle, secretary-treasurer for the tribe, which is also known as the Enterprise Rancheria.
"I'm excited," she said immediately after the vote was cast.
The balloting came after four hours of divided testimony in which the number of people speaking for and against the project appeared evenly split.
Proponents hailed the project as a source of 900 new jobs and as a river of revenue for the chronically poor county. It would prove a boon to surrounding non-Indian businesses, some supporters said.
The MOU -- which is intended to protect the county in its dealings with the tribe -- was "well-crafted" and would "stimulate" the stalled raceway planned for the same area, claimed Larry Booth, whose Marysville engineering firm builds -- among other things -- casinos.
County and tribe officials have identified the principal investor in gaming project as Forsythe Racing, Inc., of Illinois. The firm had planned to build a multi-million dollar motorplex racetrack, but in recent months has back-pedaled from the plan.
A variety of problems with the racing economy and Yuba County's infrastructure are delaying that scheme, Alan Waskin, an attorney for Forsythe said.
Opponents objected to the way the board handled the matter. A subcommittee of the board negotiated the agreement for five months, and only released it last week, leaving the public only seven days to respond to it before the scheduled approval vote, critics said.
"The process has been very much warped and the public very much left out," Marysville attorney Sheldon Hadley complained.
The overflow crowd of more than 200 filled the board chambers and a courtroom on a lower floor of the Yuba County courthouse. The two rooms were linked by closed circuit television.
Judging by the applause levels, supporters of the casino dominated the upper chamber, while opponents controlled the courtroom. This separation of the two sides was coincidental "matter of timing," County Administrator Kent McClain said.
"The supporters got here first," he said.
Supervisors Mary Jane Griego and Bill Simmons supported the casino project, with Chairman Al Amaro providing the swing "yes" vote. Voting no on it were supervisors Hal Stocker and Donald Schrader. Schrader said he was following the wishes of constituents who wanted the controversial vote postponed.
Meanwhile, even as the supervisors listened to praise and complaints, the Marysville City Council was resolving its own position on the proposed casino.
The council members voted, 3-2, to oppose the casino-hotel. Mayor Dirk Helder, Paul McNamara and Jerry Crippen voted to oppose it, while Bill Harris and Christina Billeci supported it.
On Monday, the Wheatland City Council also voted 3-2 to oppose the casino project I part because the MOU did not specifically earmark funds for the city, which is suffering considerable congestion from developments in nearby Lincoln, Placer County.
The two contrary votes now puts the county at loggerheads with its two principal communities.
Supervisor-elect Dan Logue, who will succeed Amaro when he is sworn into office in January, said he would try to get the supervisors' action rescinded.
"They voted 3-2 for it this week. With me on he board in January we'll vote 3-2 against it," Logue said.
But scenario was disputed. Only a supervisor who voted on the issue could bring it back for reconsideration, according to Griego.
In that case, a voter-generated referendum to overturn the supervisors' MOU action would be likely, according to members of Citizens for a Better Way, a group of business leaders opposing the project.
"We'll seriously consider a referendum," said Logue, who is a CBW member.
To qualify such a ballot measure for an election, ballot opponents would have to collect the signatures of 1,186 registered voters, a spokeswoman for the Yuba County Clerk-Recorder said.
But not all opponents of the casino would necessarily favor a referendum, said Shirley Henrikson of Browns Valley, who opposes both -- the casino on economic grounds and the referendum for tactical reasons.
A typical referendum would ask voters, "yes" or "no," whether they approved the land transfer and wanted a casino.
If a majority of voters said "no," but federal authorities OK'd it anyway, it, then Yuba County would wind up with a casino, but no agreement to guarantee the all-important $73 million of in-lieu of taxes payments, Henrikson said.
And if a majority voted "yes," then a quirk in state elections law applying to referenda would remove any obligation for the tribe to enter into any agreement at all with the county, according to Henrikson.
"People who want a referendum don't realize what they're getting into." Henrikson said.
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