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California Tribe Given Exclusive Casino Deal

SACRAMENTO, California – As reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune: " In a deal worth billions of dollars, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has agreed to give a small Indian tribe an exclusive gambling franchise for the entire San Francisco Bay Area.

"The agreement allows the 259-member Lytton Band of Pomo Indians to convert a former card club in the gritty, blue-collar suburb of San Pablo into a massive, multistory casino with up to 5,000 slot machines, sources said.

"For that, and a commitment that no other Indian or commercial casinos will be approved within a 35-mile radius, Lytton has agreed to pay more to the state and local government than any other tribe in the nation.

"The state would receive 25 percent of net winnings from slot machines and table games.

"…Lytton also has agreed to give the city of San Pablo up to $5 million a year.

"Lytton recently unveiled plans for a casino of up to 600,000 square feet on the 9½-acre site, a few blocks from one of the nation's busiest freeways, Interstate 80.

"…The Lytton casino is expected to generate upward of $200 million annually for the state when it opens in perhaps two years. The governor has been pushing tribes to help the state close a chronic budget deficit.

"…U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton, who has the final say on Indian gambling agreements, blanched at a similar exclusivity provision in a compact that New York state negotiated with the Seneca Nation two years ago…"

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