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Guidiville tribe’s casino plans pushing against CA policies

Posted on July 16th, 2010

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A plan of constructing a gambling resort, with luxurious 2 hotels , nature trails , bay views, ferry boats to serve as shuttle for tourists are some of the details that investors and developers are brewing. The proposed casino project, estimated at $1.2 billion is a redevelopment project of the Point Molate Naval Fuel Depot. The casino project aims to give new life to the current struggling state of Richmond City. For Donald Duncan, head of 112-member Guidiville Band of Pomo Indians, this will be the future of his city, and his tribe.

The Guidiville tribe is pushing to make the Richmond casino vision a reality, even if this project comes as a direct challenge to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s strict mandate to having no urban casinos in the area. The current Obama administration is also on the process of reviewing the tribe policies, in relation to tribes hoping to win rights to lands outside of their reservation to build new gaming facilities.

The tribe lives 70 miles away from the Richmond city proper, in a federal housing cluster in Ukiah. Currently, the tribe has no reservation, but has ties in the region dating back to their ancestors in the 1960s. Don Duncan, the tribe’s vice chairman says “To some people, this is a gambling project, to us; it is our land base – where we’re going to have our housing, our dance houses, our culture.” Other tribes are also following suit. The Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians are also planning to create a casino near Richmond Park estimated at $330 million. The Federally recognized Indians of Graton Rancheria is also seeking to create a casino on Highway 101 near Rohnert Park.

Historic in 2004 was the agreement made by Lytton Band of Pomo Indians and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to create a casino with 5,000 slot machines along the Interstate 80 in San Pablo. The deal was later dissolved in the middle of political protests against creating a Bay Area casino facility. In the end, Schwarzenegger’s administration dissolved any deal to build any urban casinos. Investors on the project are the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation tribe, operators of the successful Cache Creek Casino in Yolo County. To be able to enter the gambling industry in San Francisco is one of the main objectives of the casino proposal.

The Point Molate Naval Fuel Depot has always been eyed for redevelopment by Richmond City officials. Plans of creating housing facilities, conference centers, resorts and waterfront parks have been made in the past. City council members in May voted for a one year extension to a consortium about a proposed casino project in the area. The Guidiville tribe is doing everything in order for them to secure federal approval and have the site as their reservation. The tribe is partnering up with development group Upstream Investments LLC, which owns the rights to build on the land. Upstream executive John Salmon is planning on building a casino full of glitzy buildings, restaurants and gambling facilities, fashioning the 1908 Rhineland-style castle. “I start with the 16 million visitors to San Francisco a year,” he said. “We’re 20 minutes from Pier 39 and the Ferry Building. And you’ve got 18 to 19 percent unemployment in a city that wants to develop federal land. Tell me what’s wrong with that.” He envisions a gambling Mecca, no less.

Anti-gambling watchdog group Stand Up for California director Cheryl Schmit thinks there is plenty to frown upon the proposed project. She says the proposed casino project is going against what the California voters approved before, that casinos are only to be constructed on tribal lands and not on California cities.

She stresses that if the Point Molate project pushes thru, this could trigger a mentality of “reservation-shopping” by tribes in looking for desirable places where to build casinos in. “If it goes through at the federal level, it is a signal that projects miles away from former reservations can become a reality,” Schmit said. “Decisions whether to take off-reservation land into trust for gaming purposes … can raise difficult and contentious questions” said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on a June 18 memorandum. He said further that the Obama administration is reviewing policies regarding tribal applications for casino projects.

According to a 2003 study made in the city of Richmond, a casino will generate over 4 thousand employment opportunities and up to $450 million in revenues. The city is still divided on whether or not to support the proposed casino project.