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New Mexico Casino Plans Gather Steam, Flak

Posted on October 8th, 2010

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The Native American tribe of the Mescalero Apache, who happen to be the owners and operators of the Inn of the Mountain Gods, a facility which has a resort hotel, a golf course and a casino with full service – has now stated its objection to the proposal by the Jemez Pueblo area to build a hotel with a casino type facility north of the town of Anthony. The Mescalero Apaches and Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino on Wednesday came out with a statement jointly that claims that the scheme proposed by the Jemez, could adversely affect their business. The Mescalero Apaches also argued that the proposed Jemez casino and hotel is going to be built in their ancestral lands.

The statement reads that the Mescalero Apache Tribe gives recognition to every tribe’s right to plan its own destiny, as well as practice sovereignty over the lands of the tribe.The tribe claims that it has been one of the leaders in the struggle for sovereignty for the past decades. However, the tribe also claims that sovereignty must be used in a manner that conforms with federal law and also does not intrude on other tribes’ sovereignty and rights.The statement goes further by saying that the attempt by Jemez Pueblo to plan a gaming facility in Anthony which is off their reservation, and in fact is at least 300 miles off their ancestral homelands, is not what was guaranteed in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act as passed by the Congress. In fact, the proposed casino by Jemez Pueblo is an impingement of the rights of the Mescalero Apache Tribal peoples, as Anthony is within the latter’s ancestral land.

The statement then reads, “Gerald Peters and Jemez Pueblo should not be permitted to open a casino so far away from home and in a way that will have a negative impact on existing tribal casinos, including that of the Mescalero Apache Tribe.” Jemez Pueblo Governor Joshua Made Lena said he was not pleased with the mounting opposition of his town’s efforts, but also said that parties who oppose their proposal to construct a casino and a hotel on land that measures 100 acres north of Anthony may keep their objections to themselves and not mind them. Lena said, “As one of the poorest tribes in the state, we have never tried to tell other businesses or tribes what they can or cannot do, and we have supported other tribes that work to improve their standard of living.Instead of fighting us, we ask the Mescaleros and Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino (to) join us in establishing a working relationship that will benefit us all.”

Jemez Pueblo has, from 2004, collaborated with Gerald Peters, an art dealer based in Santa Fe, has proposed the construction of a casino hotel measuring about 100 acres from Interstate 10 andState Route 404.The project was projected to cost an estimated $60 million, but the US Interior Department’s approval is required before the plan can proceed. In 2008, the proposal for a casino was rejected by the federal administration of President George Bush as the proposed site was quite far from Jemez Pueblo, which is close to 300 km to the north. But with the administration of President Obama stepping in in 2009, the Ministry of Interior has expressed that reconsiderations of the plan were being done.

Aside from the statement of opposition, a study was also published by Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino on the proposed casino’s projected impact. An initial report was submitted in September 2004 by Christopher Erickson, an economics associate professor at New Mexico State University. Erickson finally completed the study only in September. The study came to a conclusion that the proposed casino in Anthony may cause a only slight increase in local economic activity. This is due to the fact that revenuelossfor businesses in the casino far outweighs its benefits to the economic activity in the area. The study says the loss of tax on gross revenue to both local and state governments could add up to 6.5 million per year.Fulton added in his report, “The proposed casino makes no sense for the state of New Mexico, for nearby tribes who will be affected and for Jemez Pueblo who will not see jobs for their members as the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act calls for.When phoned for further comments, the press did not receive any callback from Fulton.

Mayor Antonio Ramon Gonzalez said he would be behind the casino proposal if the lawyers of the tribe can make assurances that the proposal is legal and either the tribal leaders or developers can ensure that the additional employment opportunities their city will be offered.