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April 2003
Our Goal: To improve the livability of Florence through public education and community involvement.
 

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04/23/03 -  Florence Pauses on Including Tribes' Land
04/07/03  - Some Learn Indian Justice the Hard Way
04/06/03 -  On Their Land, Tribes' Law is the Last Word
04/04/03  - Gambling Will Mean Big Losses for Everybody
04/03/03  - Law Firm Sues Tribe Over Legal Bills for Florence Site
April 23, 2003 - Florence Pauses on Including Tribes' Land - Don't tell this city's residents that the fate of a casino on the North Fork of the Siuslaw River is in the courts and out of their hands.  About a hundred concerned citizens packed a city planning meeting Tuesday night that didn't feature public testimony, didn't yield a decision and centered on a topic that's arguably a sidebar to whether a casino opens up shop near Florence.

 The city Planning Commission began deliberations Tuesday on whether to extend Florence's urban growth boundary to include 98 acres off Highway 126 that recently have been brought under the control of the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians.  It appears that the city's decision isn't central to whether a casino arrives in the Florence area.
 Rather, the tribes' fate lies most squarely in U.S. District Court, awaiting a May 6 hearing on a lawsuit filed by the state, challenging federal approval of the tribes' land acquisition.  

Wary of their decision becoming moot, commission members decided Tuesday to speak little, extend the period for written public testimony until May 1 and continue their deliberations until next month, after the hearing. "It doesn't make sense to eliminate the (tribal land from the proposed boundary change) until the appeals are settled," commission member Pat Bales said. The commission has already heard a wealth of public testimony against extending the boundary, which would result in the city extending water and sewer services to whatever winds up on the tribes' land.

 One faction of residents, People Against a Casino Town, is focused on stopping the proposed $24 million casino; the other, Citizens for Florence, wants to keep the city from expanding its urban growth boundary.  The two groups have found a common cause.

 PACT members fear that such an expansion could serve as a stamp of approval on a project that nobody wants. There's some concern that extending city services is a welcome mat, something the tribes could use as fodder in their lawsuit. Some suspect that funding for the casino project could be tied to an extension of city services, as it would be far more expensive for the tribes to establish their own wastewater treatment system.  At any rate, PACT members say, the city shouldn't be providing services to a casino that Florence residents oppose.  

 "Our biggest concern is that it's going to provide water and sewer to the casino," PACT spokesperson Susie Dewberry said, "and that's handing (the tribes) the opportunity to develop a casino there on a golden platter."

 Those involved with Citizens for Florence, on the other hand, have taken a hands-off approach to the casino issue, but oppose expanding the growth boundary all the same.  They say such an expansion would have a detrimental impact on the residents of Florence, by sucking away tax dollars and badly needed water supply from the city.

"The city can't take care of what they've got," Citizens for Florence President Zane Ziemer said.  If city leaders think they can have any control over what happens on tribal land by extending the boundary, "they also believe in the tooth fairy."
 Ziemer added, "That's a sovereign nation. (The tribes) write their own law."

 City Manager Rodger Bennett acknowledged Tuesday that Florence's expansion of the growth boundary could be used by the tribes' lawyers in the state hearing.  But he said the city has no interest in encouraging growth in that area. City leaders simply have to decide how involved to be in the tribes' project, whether it's a casino or some other use. "We're going to have urban development on our eastern boundary," Bennett said. "Do we want to pay attention and try to minimize the impacts of that urban growth?"

In any event, it made sense to commission members Tuesday to wait.  "If we expanded tonight the UGB, we would lose any leverage the city might have," commission member Dave Franzen said. "If they wanted water, we have to give them water.
 "The city's ability to provide water to those who are here is far more important than to those who are not here yet. There's no compelling reason to rush into this at this time." Source: April 23, 2003, Eugene Register-Guard, by Winston Ross.

Also see:  CFF Comments re: UGB Expansion,  Casino Information Page and Public Comments

April 7, 2003 - Some learn Indian justice the hard way. - If you get into a car accident with a tribal employee on tribal business, are injured at an Indian resort or casino, or are fired without just cause, you can't sue the tribe in California court. If you're owed money in a business dispute or are sexually harassed, you can't sue, either.  The tribes alone determine civil justice in Indian territory because, as sovereign nations, they enjoy immunity from civil suits -- the same immunity granted to states and foreign countries.  For rest of the story :  Learn Justice Story
April 6, 3002 - On their land, tribes' law is the last word.  On their land, tribes' law is the last word.
With court rulings that affirm their sovereignty, Indians are fighting off a variety of challenges  -  Bob Bowling jokes that he drinks beer all day because he can't afford water -- the Barona Indian tribe down the road has sucked it all up for its world-class golf course and 400-room casino resort.

Two dozen of Bowling's fellow homeowners in the Old Barona Road Association have watched their wells -- and their property values -- dry up while their Indian neighbors consume nearly a million gallons a day. The association has pleaded with the tribe and complained to elected officials, only to run into a wall of sovereignty that protects Indian tribes from state and local laws. Bob Bowling jokes that he drinks beer all day because he can't afford water -- the Barona Indian tribe down the road has sucked it all up for its world-class golf course and 400-room casino resort. . . .  For rest of story: On Their Land
April 4, 2003 - Gambling Will Mean Big Losses for Everybody - - “Gambling should not be viewed as purely a budgetary matter . . .  There are costs to families, communities and, ultimately, the state when people go bankrupt playing games, commit crimes to gain money for gambling, get divorced or fail to feed their children.  There are costs when an employee does not show up for work because of an uncontrolled desire to play video poker.  And there are costs to existing businesses when patrons divert their spending toward gambling activity.” - Oregon Attorney General Ted Kulongoski, Oct. 4, 1996.

It has been little more than a generation since gambling arrived, gently on cat’s paws ... just a little bingo in church basements.  Early on, Ralph Nader saw where this was heading.  “Legalized gambling is going to sweep this country.” he said.  “The churches have always stood as a bulwark against gambling, because they saw it as a vice which bled families and communities.
But the churches have been seduced by bingo.”

Just as the church cracked the door to gambling, the state lottery rushed in to open the door and casinos finish the job by taking the door off.  We are now left with wide-open Las Vegas-style gambling in our neighborhoods, and we are even threatened with a megacasino in the center of the city.

Video poker is an engineered addiction.  The machines stimulate the central nervous system in a manner that has been compared to crack cocaine.  Addiction experts tell us that with traditional forms of gambling it normally took 20 to 30 years for a player to become an addict.  With video poker machines, the time is down to two to three years.  Spend an hour at your local tavern and
see how easy it is to distinguish the few new players from the veterans.  These machines such people dry - body, soul and goods.

When a state budget depends on legalized gambling, the relationship between the individual and the state changes.  Instead of being a democratic instrument of service and protection, the state assumes the role of the con, the hustler, the pimp, appealing to people’s weaknesses in order to exploit them.  The predictable result is that the state is discredited.  Who wants to pay taxes to
the state when the state is a hustler and a con?

By advertising the various lottery “games,” the state is teaching our children that wealth is what matters most, and the easier you make it the better.  While parents try to teach the values of thrift, responsibility and viewing money as fair compensation for social contribution, our state is spending huge sums of money to undermine these messages, teaching our children the virtue of
getting something for nothing – the glory of getting lucky.

But more devastating that this, the state itself becomes addicted to the gambling revenue, then seeks to chase its losses by sacrificing more of its citizens.

Today, Oregon is second only to Nevada in the variety of ways the state encourages its citizens to gamble.  The logical extension of relying on gambling can be seen in Nevada.  Surely if this industry promoted healthy economic development, Nevada would be the showcase.  Yet Nevada shows that like a person, a state cannot gamble itself rich, but can gamble itself poor.  Despite having most of its gambling done by tourists, Nevada has a state deficit of $700 million.  Nevada residents also lead the nation in gambling addiction, suicide, divorce and high-school dropouts.  Gambling culture does not just produce random victims; it undermines the sense of community itself.  Among the 50 states, the one dead last in voter participation is Nevada.

Fortunately, Gov. Ted Kulongoski was the head of the task force that studied gambling in Oregon seven years ago.  The task force’s primary conclusion was that the state had steadily increased gambling without any thought of where it was taking us.  He said if the state budget depends on gambling, “there will be constant pressure to increase gambling,” and that little recognition had been given to the fact that “increasing revenues to the state means increasing gambling losses for players.”  This failure to consider the costs as well as the benefits was the natural outgrowth of the failure of the state to “do systematic studies of the various impacts of gambling in this state.”

As governor, Kulongoski has now blocked the “casino for stadium” scheme., and he showed considerable wisdom and guts in doing so.  Still, he left the door ajar for further consideration of gambling expansion, including both line games and casinos on non-tribal lands.

Yet the very study of the costs of gambling which he called for in 1996 has yet to be done.  It is time for Gov. Kulongoski to heed his own counsel and demand a moratorium on gambling expansion in Oregon until a complete and rigorous evaluation has been made of the economic and human costs.  Anything less would have the governor “chasing the very losses” he foresaw
seven years ago.

-- Tom Grey is a Methodist minister from Hanover, Ill.  He is founder and director of the National Coalition Against Gambling Expansion.  Before he joined the ministry, he was a quarterback at Dartmouth University and commanded a rifle battalion in Vietnam.  Greg Kafoury is a Portland lawyer and anti-gambling activist.  He was a leader in the successful campaign to close the Trojan Nuclear Plant and was a key organizer of Ralph Nader’s 2000 presidential campaign.  He lives in Northeast Portland.  Source:  4/4/03 - The Oregonian, by Tom Grey. 

Also see:  CFF Casino Information Page and Public Comments

April 3, 2003 - Law Firm Sues Tribe Over Legal Bills for Florence Site -- A Washington, D.C. law firm has filed a lawsuit against the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw, claiming it was not paid for legal services involving land intended for a casino near Florence.

In a response Monday, the tribe argued that it is immune from lawsuits tried in courts other than tribal courts.

Jackson Kelly filed the lawsuit in February, alleging the tribe promised to pay all outstanding invoices as the firm continued legal work on the Florence site.  Jackson Kelly helped the tribe secure restored land status for the 98-acre property west of Florence.   The site must be considered reservation land for the tribe to build a casino without the approval of Oregon's governor.  The tribes received federal designation, but a lawsuit to stop the casino filed by the state is pending in federal court.

Jackson Kelly was retained by the tribe from 1999 to 2001, when the tribe fired the law firm.  The tribe made periodic payments, according to court documents, but nearly two years of bills remained unpaid, totaling $163,715.  Source:  April 3, 2003, The Oregonian.

Also see:  CFF Casino Information Page and Public Comments

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
       
Citizens For Florence
P.O. Box 1212
Florence, Oregon 97439
E-mail Address: citizensforflorence@yahoo.com
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