SEARCH NEWS:

 

Another California City Considers Casino Proposal

"This roll of the dice comes from the Lake County-based Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians, a tribe with about 160 members who have laid claim to aboriginal homelands at the foot of San Francisco Bay.

"The tribe is eyeing a vacant waterfront terminal that sits between the old Ford Assembly plant and the Port of Richmond. Two other privately held properties in Richmond have also been identified as potential sites.

"The proposal is not new, but the prospect, however preliminary, of building an urban casino dredges up a familiar dilemma.

"…So far, Gov. Gray Davis has stood firm in his belief that Proposition 1A, a March 2000 measure approving tribal casinos on reservation land, was not intended for the creation of casinos in the state's urban areas.

"…In Richmond, casino backers have offered a 16-year deal worth $74 million. Under the proposal before the City Council, casino operators would pay the city $3 million in each of the first three years and $5 million annually through the duration of the state compact that allows them to do business. The tribe would also pay an additional $1 million a year for the first 10 years to operate from the city-owned site, said Kean, a co-founder of Grand Casinos Inc. , which operates Indian casinos in Minnesota and Louisiana…"

< Gaming News