Fresno Tribe Signs Gaming Compact With State

17 July 1998

FRIANT, Calif. -- Tribal government leaders of the Table Mountain Rancheria signed the Tribe's first-ever Tribal-State compact with the State of California during a private signing ceremony in Governor Wilson's office on July 13.

"Our Tribal Council believes this compact will serve to secure the economic development and self-sufficiency we have fought so hard to build over the last seven years," said Vern Castro, Tribal Chairman of Table Mountain Rancheria located in Fresno County, California.

The signing ceremony held at the State Capitol in Governor Wilson's office was restricted to government representatives and legal counsel. Members of the Table Mountain Rancheria Tribal Council were joined by the Tribe's legal counsel, Governor Wilson and key members of the governor's legal staff.

The Table Mountain Tribal-State Compact was successfully negotiated over the past several months, with an agreement culminating after a key negotiation session late last week. The signing of the compact Monday complies with the compact negotiation deadline set by U.S. attorneys in March of this year. In negotiating and signing its compact, Table Mountain Rancheria fulfills an agreement made with the U.S. Attorney more than one year ago. As a result, the Tribe will be able to continue its gaming operations without interruption.

Table Mountain Rancheria's compact is a modified version of the historic compact negotiated and signed by the Pala Band of Mission Indians and the governor earlier this year. It's based on the Pala Compact, but contains various provisions specific to the Table Mountain Tribe and Fresno County.

"Table Mountain's compact contains some 30 changes from the Pala Compact," explained Howard Dickstein, the Tribe's legal counsel. "Many of the modifications were necessary to recognize the fact that Table Mountain has an existing gaming operation."

The most significant modifications in the Table Mountain Compact include that it defers for one year the requirement that the Tribe enter into an off- reservation environmental impact agreement with Fresno County; grandfathers the Tribe's existing slot machines at current levels for an open-ended transition period so long as new electronic lottery devices are unavailable or competing tribes continue to operate slot machines without a compact; defers for one year the requirement that the Tribe provide a physical separation between its Class III electronic gaming devices and Class II cardrooms; establishes a fail-safe mechanism for the Tribe to obtain up to 975 lottery devices if non-gaming tribes do not agree to license their unused allocations to the Tribe; provides an option to terminate the compact and enter into the alternative compact set out in an initiative on the November, 1998, ballot if that initiative passes and is not held to be unconstitutional; and strengthens the waiver of the State's sovereign immunity for tribal enforcement of the State's compact obligations.

The compact calls for an off-reservation impact agreement with Fresno County.

"Table Mountain Rancheria has worked hard for years to establish a good working relationship with the Fresno County Board of Supervisors to protect our sovereignty," said Castro. "Entering into a compact based on the Pala model is just one more step to enable Table Mountain to expand its positive and beneficial relationship with the local government."

The Table Mountain Tribal-State Compact will be sent to the Secretary of the Interior for review and approval in the coming weeks.