City's lobbyist: Casino project probably dead

Editor's Note: This is an updated version of a story originally posted Thursday afternoon.

BARSTOW — Barstow appears unlikely to get state approval this year to build a casino, according to the city’s lobbyist.

Nick Medeiros, a lobbyist hired by the city of Barstow, said Thursday it is doubtful the state senate will approve the compacts for the Los Coyotes/Big Lagoon dual casino project before the legislative session closes on Sept. 11.

“We’re running out of time. It’s unlikely that the compacts could be moved out of committee and be approved by both houses of the legislature before the end of session. It’s probably not going to happen,” he said.

In a Aug. 22 letter to Patricia Morris, assistant to the city manager, Medeiros delivered the bad news to the city.

“The Barstow gaming compacts appear dead for this year. The incredible power of the gaming tribes and their unlimited financial resources coupled with a lack of interest on the part of the governor have doomed this most worthy project,” he wrote.

‘There’s always hope’

However, Barstow Mayor Lawrence Dale said that Medeiros’ statement was an “independent observation” and did not reflect the city’s opinion. Dale said that there is still time this year for the compacts to pass.

“We have not closed the door on it, and I don’t feel the governor has closed the door on it,” he said. City Council members will lobby state legislators on the issue next week, when council members will attend the League of Cities Convention in Sacramento, he said.

He blamed other tribes that already have casinos for the lack of progress.

“It’s no secret that the big tribes are fighting us and fighting us hard,” he said.

Tom Shields, spokesman for the casino’s developer, BarWest LLC, said that the fight would continue to pass the compact.

“It’s not dead. The legislature just passed the budget, we have three more weeks in session, and we will focus all our attention on convincing the legislature to pass the Barstow compacts,” Shields said.

Sabrina Lockhart, spokeswoman for the governor’s office, agreed it’s too soon to dismiss the compacts as dead.

“For months, the governors has urged the legislators to pass the compact. We hope that the compact will soon be considered and approved so that the project can move forward,” she said.

The compacts, agreements made between the tribes and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office, would have to be approved by majority vote in both houses of the state legislature in order for the casino to be built. The compacts, signed by the governor on Sept. 9, 2005, will expire if not passed by Sept. 17. The agreements also require that lands for the casino site would have to be placed by the into federal trust by that date, which also appears unlikely.

Nedra Darling, spokeswoman with the Bureau of Indian Affairs said that the Big Lagoon/Los Coyotes' application to put the land into trust was still in the environmental-review stage. She had no estimate as to when it might be complete but said even if the state compacts expire, the trust process will continue.

Jason Barnett, spokesman for the Big Lagoon tribe, said that that his group expected a tough fight to pass the compacts.

“We knew it would be a challenge, ... but we’ve been working hard to educate legislators,” he said.

The fight is not yet over, he said, and three weeks remain in the legislative session.

“The biggest deals in Sacramento wait until the end. Where there’s a will in Sacramento, there’s a way,” he said.

Barnett declined to confirm that Big Lagoon would withdraw its plans for Barstow if the compacts expire. However, Virgil Moorehead, chairman of the Big Lagoon Rancheria tribe, previously said the Sept. 17 deadline would be the final deadline. If a deal isn’t made by then, the tribe will shift attention away from Barstow and back to the Big Lagoon’s reservation in Humboldt County, he said.

Despite the unlikelihood of passage in the legislature this year, on Monday, Barstow’s Senator Roy Ashburn, R-Bakersfield, and Senator Patricia Wiggins, D-Santa Rosa, sent a letter to the president of the state senate, Don Perata, asking for a hearing to be held on the compacts.

City lobbyist Medeiros said that even if the compacts expire, they could always be renegotiated. He said that even if hearing is held, it is unlikely that the compacts can be approved in time. Nonetheless, he said he would keep fighting for the project.

“There’s always hope,” he said.

The Chemehuevi

Former City Council member Manuel “Gil” Gurule said that he foresees the expiration of the compacts.

“It was obvious from the very beginning that these compacts would be dead from the start,” he said.

Gurule has supported the Chemehuevi tribe and sponsored Measure H on the 2006 ballot. The measure would have created a zoning district for casinos that included the property on which the Chemehuevi want to build a casino, but not the land for the Los Coyotes/Big Lagoon project. The measure failed.

He said if the compacts expire, the Chemehuevi will have a chance to negotiate a compact with the governor.

“If we are going to get a casino in Barstow, we have to get the mayor and this council to support the Chemehuevis,” he said.

Charles Wood, chairman of the Chemehuevi, said the Big Lagoon/Los Coyotes compacts have stalled in the legislature because the tribes cannot prove ancestral ties to Barstow.

“It’s exactly what we’ve know would happen all along. ... I’ve never even read the compacts themselves; we’ve always opposed it on ancestral ties.”

Woods said that his tribe is still interested in developing a casino in Barstow and expects the Chemehuevi would have an easier time proving local ancestral ties.

“Hopefully, now this will open the governor’s door to us,” he said.

Mayor Dale has said that although the Chemehuevi have a Municipal Services Agreement with the city, development will not proceed until the tribe has a signed compact with the governor.

“We have done all we can do for the Chemehuevi, and now it’s up to them.”

Council member Joe Gomez has long supported the Chemehuevi’s plans to develop a casino in Barstow, though he also supports the Los Coyotes/Big Lagoon project.

Gomez was a supporter of Measure H.

“I believe the best plan would have been to get the support of the local tribes.”

Gomez thinks the City Council should sit down and figure out a next move that will bring a casino to Barstow. He said this may include talking with the 14 members of the southern California Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations tribes to find out how to get their support in bringing Indian gaming to Barstow.

Contact the writer:

(760) 256-4126 or jason_smith@link.freedom.com

This story was updated Thursday evening to correct attribution of a quote.

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