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California Cities Bet on Casinos

"Richmond is deciding whether to roll the dice.

"The rest of Contra Costa County is waiting to see if it's worth a bet, but isn't likely to take a piece of the action.

"…San Pablo is backing a proposal from Sonoma County's Lytton Band of Pomo Indians to turn the 9.5-acre Casino San Pablo into an Indian reservation where blackjack and slot machines would be allowed in California's first truly urban casino.

"…The city gets $1.8 million of its $8.5 million annual budget from the cardroom. The casino also must hire at least 30 percent of its employees from San Pablo.

"Richmond is considering a proposal from Lake County's Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians band to convert Terminal No. 3 in its port into a Las Vegas-style casino. The City Council is debating how much to spend on a feasibility study.

"The potential lure of Indian casinos for cities is a new, lucrative source of revenue, no small matter at a time when local government is reeling from a one-two punch:

"-The lingering recession that continues to cut into sales tax revenues, a major source of municipal revenue.

"-A $35 billion state deficit that will result in deep local funding cuts and the shift of program responsibility to local government, adding even more fiscal problems, for years to come.

"…Even as local government looks for new revenue sources in coming years, Indians across the Bay Area and California, many of them landless for decades, are flexing their newfound economic and political muscle. They're forming alliances with Nevada gaming companies to propose new casinos on "reservation" land bought for that purpose.

"…But Davis also is attempting to renegotiate gambling compacts with the 61 tribes that currently have casinos in an attempt to win $1.5 billion in new payments to help ease the deficit. In return for those concessions, the tribes could demand that Davis drop his opposition to urban casinos…"

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