If there ever was any doubt about the existence of the Graton Rancheria, there are none now, for the tribe has stirred up a hornet's nest in the northern San Francisco Bay by proposing a "world-class" casino on a large swath of vacant land 14 miles south of Sonoma.

The controversy has swelled to the point where anger is venting at not only the tribe, which once offered repeated assurances it was uninterested in gaming, but also U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., whose political career began in nearby Marin County and whose son is an adviser to the tribe.

"It just stinks," said Michael DiGiorgio, the mayor of Novato, the closest incorporated city to the casino site. "A lot of people here feel betrayed."

Boxer, saying she consulted ethics advisers, has recused herself from taking any action on the casino issue because of her son's involvement with the tribe.  "Anything I would do would be perceived as a conflict," she said in an interview. "So I've taken the highest road there can be on this."  While the Graton Rancheria's plan is just one of a handful of proposed Indian casinos in the northern Bay Area, it is considered to be the most viable because of how Congress re-established the tribe's status in 2000. 

Tribal leaders refused to be interviewed. But they have previously said they hope to construct a gaming room with as many as 1,900 slot machines, several dwellings for tribal members and perhaps a hotel. 

During a three-stop "listening tour" in the area earlier this month, tribal Chairman Greg Sarris also offered to share revenues with local governments in lieu of sales, hotel and other taxes that could not otherwise be levied against the tribe, which is considered a sovereign entity.

The tribe's Las Vegas-based partner is Station Casinos, Inc., which also is managing the United Auburn Indian Community's Thunder Valley Casino that opened in Placer County two weeks ago.  The 580-member Graton tribe is made up of members of the Coastal Miwoks and Southern Pomos, among several bands that inhabited much of what is now Sonoma and Marin counties. In 1920, U.S. officials placed into trust land for the some of those bands outside the small town of Graton, near Sebastopol. In the 1950s, government policies changed and the land was sold to individual tribal members, many of whom eventually lost the properties. By the end of that decade, the tribe's federal recognition had been eliminated.

But three years ago, Sarris, a Loyola University literature professor, and other tribal leaders persuaded U.S. Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, and Boxer to carry legislation re-establishing recognition. The original bills contained a provision precluding gambling on tribal lands.  "Sarris in public and private committed to not do gambling," Sen. Boxer said.

But the Senate Indian Affairs Committee removed the clause because it interfered with tribal sovereignty and invited a veto from then-President Bill Clinton, she said. The amended measure was later enacted into law as part of broader Indian legislation.

Sarris has said the tribe explored other business opportunities, including wine-grape growing and cheese manufacturing, but none penciled out. And casino operators, aware of the tribe's renewed official status, were calling.

The tribe subsequently joined with both Stations Casino and Platinum Advisors -- a lobbying outfit led by Darius Anderson, a top fund-raiser for Gov. Gray Davis. Doug Boxer, Sen. Boxer's 38-year-old son, was hired by the firm six months after the tribe regained recognition, the senator said.  Doug Boxer and Anderson own a firm that reportedly attained an option on several hundred acres of Sears Point land on behalf of Stations Casino. It also negotiated the purchase of nearby land for Stations.

Anderson, Doug Boxer and Station Casino officials failed to return telephone requests for interviews.

The casino is proposed for vacant land just south of the intersection of Highway 37 and Lakeville Highway. There is little for miles around but grassy fields dotted by a few homes, ramshackle barns and grazing cattle.  Much of the area, once marshlands that are now protected from the bay by dikes, has been designated for restoration, said Marc Holmes of the Bay Institute. "Essentially they've plunked this casino right in the heart of the largest remaining tidal restoration area on the map," said Holmes. "It's incredibly environmentally sensitive."

Opponents point out that the two-and four-lane roads running past the casino site are choked with rush-hour traffic now, and are worse when the Infineon Raceway two miles away hosts an event. They shuddered from reports that the opening of the Thunder Valley casino caused two-hour traffic jams that reached Interstate 80, less than 10 miles away. While Sarris has offered millions of dollars to mitigate traffic woes, opponents say it is too little and note that environmental concerns will restrict the degree to which roads can be widened.  

"This is the poster child for what's wrong with gambling in California," said Mary McEachron, who heads No Las Vegas in North Bay, a coalition of groups opposing the casino. "There's no question our federal government, as well as others, have historically taken advantage of Indian tribes," said Mike Kerns, a Sonoma County supervisor. "White man's guilt dictates a lot of current policy and law. But there reaches a point, where you say, you know, we support these kinds of projects but let's go about it in the right way."

But other influential voices are supportive. Several area unions are close to inking a pact with the tribe calling for unionized workers to build and staff the casino, whether at Sears Point or elsewhere in Sonoma County. "I have a feeling that a casino is going to be built somewhere in Sonoma," said Bill Scott, secretary-treasurer of the Sheet Metal Workers' Union Local 104. While the local does not necessarily back the Sears Point site, he added, "We support the fact that they are going to the community to provide good paying jobs." 

Two other Indian casinos operate further north in Sonoma County, and tentative plans have sprung up for gaming in Vallejo and Richmond. A proposal by the Lytton Band of Pomo Indians in San Pablo is mired in court proceedings. But the Graton proposal appears more viable because the 2000 law that re-established the tribe's recognition also said the Interior Department "shall" place land in Marin or Sonoma County into trust on its behalf, said Cheryl Schmit, co-director of the gambling watchdog group Stand Up For California.

Graton's critics want to amend the statute so the agency "may" place land into trust, allowing them to make a case against the Sears Point site. Woolsey plans to propose legislation to make the change and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is considering doing the same, aides said.

But casino critics remain angry with Sen. Boxer, who faces re-election next year. "Her reputation here is just mud right now," said Doug Webster of Sonoma Citizens to Stop the Casino.  They also are wary of Davis. While the governor has voiced strong opposition to Las Vegas-style casinos in urban settings, his aide on gambling issues suggested that the Graton proposal's location might not be considered urban. "It's hard to argue that's urban gaming when the land is unincorporated and is zoned agricultural," said David Rosenberg, though he added that Davis has not considered the issue.  Source:  Sacramento-Bee, June 23, 2003, by Herbert A. Sample.

Grey, a Methodist minister from Illinois, said Oregon is second only to Nevada in the amount of different types of gambling opportunities available, a "pathological gambling state."

And he argued that the social and economic costs of gambling far outweigh any benefit, be it jobs or state revenue.

"It's bad economics," Grey said.  "And it sucks disposable money out of people's pockets. What kind of government cannibalizes and makes losers out of 2, 4, 5 percent of its people? "What kind of people are we, that we take advantage of diseased and sick people and make them pay the freight?"   What Grey didn't offer, however, is a way for Florence to stop this particular casino from coming to town.  "This issue is going to be decided by a federal judge," said Tribal Administrator Francis Somday. "It's already been decided by two other federal judges. It's been decided by (the) secretary of interior. In a sense, it's been decided by the former governor.  "It's not going to be decided by people who oppose it." 

But the people who packed the Florence Events Center Thursday night would hear nothing of that.  "Why don't we form our own sovereign nation of Florence?" someone called out from the crowd. Grey said that at least a dozen other communities have successfully kept casinos out even after their arrival was proclaimed a "done deal."

"You'll fight them at the political level and in the courts," he said. "Why? It's your future." As time wears on, Grey suggested, the nation would begin to realize the negative social impacts of gambling and put a stop to it. Perhaps trial lawyers, eager to seek out the next Big Tobacco, could take up the cause, he said.

Responding to a question, Grey even mentioned that there are several efforts under way to put an end to tribal sovereignty.  Source:  May 9, 2003 Register Guard, by Winston Ross

Also see:  CFF Casino Information Page and Public Comments

4/23/03 - Governors can veto casinos, judge rules - A federal judge ruled Wednesday that state governors can veto off-reservation tribal casinos, ending a lawsuit three Wisconsin tribes filed in 2001.

The Lac Courte Oreilles Band and the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and the Sakaogon Chippewa Community filed the lawsuit after former Gov. Scott McCallum blocked them from turning a former dog track in Hudson into a casino.
Under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, the interior secretary can approve off-reservation gambling if it's in the tribe's best interest. The law also says the agreement of state governors must be obtained.

The tribes argued in their lawsuit that allowing governors the final word on off-reservation casinos is unconstitutional because it prevents Congress from fulfilling its responsibility to economically disadvantaged tribes.  

But U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb ruled the act expresses the will of Congress and doesn't compel governors into federal service.    Source: April 23, 2003, Journal Sentinal, Wisconsin News Briefs.

Connecticut already has two of the world's largest casinos -- Foxwoods Resort Casino, operated by the Mashantucket Pequot tribe, and the Mohegan Sun, run by the Mohegans.  The Pequots used Connecticut's "Las Vegas Nights" statute to negotiate a gambling compact with the state after they were recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Federal law permits recognized tribes to pursue any gambling already allowed by a state.

The House voted 83-59 Monday in favor of repealing the law and the Senate approved the measure on a 25-10 vote an hour later. Rowland, a Republican, said he expects the measure will be challenged in court and acknowledged that it will be difficult to defend.  "I liken it to the Supreme Court saying McDonald's can have a franchise here but Burger King can't," Rowland said. "I just don't see the Supreme Court ruling in our favor, but the attorney general has asked us to pass this legislation. He thinks he can defend it. Good luck to him."

State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said he  anticipates a legal challenge, but expects the state to prevail. He said the state does not permit gaming, ather, gambling was imposed on the state.  Several Connecticut tribes and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People have already threatened lawsuits over the repeal.  Lawmakers said the repeal would not affect the existing casinos.

The BIA last year recognized a third Connecticut tribe, the Eastern Pequots. A fourth, the Golden Hill Paugussetts, expects a preliminary BIA decision this month. They and several other groups seeking recognition in Connecticut are hoping to open casinos.  Two tribes seeking recognition say the state is targeting them. "They used particular legislation against a particular group of people to deny them  equal rights under the law," said Chief Quiet Hawk, head of the Golden Hill Paugussetts of Trumbull.  Members of the legislature's black and Hispanic caucus argued the repeal would be discriminatory.  "Government ought to protect the rights of everybody," said state Rep. Ernest Newton. "Now, today it might be the Indians. Tomorrow it might be somebody else."

But critics say the big casinos cause a variety of problems, including crime, problem gambling and traffic jams.  While prohibiting charities to have casino-style "Las Vegas Nights," the new law would allow them to  continue to sponsor raffles and bingo games to raise money. --  Source: SUSAN HAIGH, Associated Press Writer , Tuesday, January 7, 2003.