Casino planners lobby Gov. Brown's office

BARSTOW • Leaders of the proposed Indian gaming casino in Barstow are appealing to a new governor, president and economic situation in their second attempt at the casino’s approval in a decade.

“The differences are pretty stark,” said casino spokesman, Tom Shields, of the current lobbying efforts in Sacramento compared to the process with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office. Los Coyotes representatives have met with Gov. Jerry Brown’s office in recent months to provide information on the casino to the new administration, and Shields said the governor’s staff seemed interested in learning both how the casino would help the tribe as well as the Barstow community.

“It fits exactly into the way we approached it seven years ago,” Shields said.

Evan Westrop, a spokesman for Gov. Brown’s office, said while the governor’s office has met with Los Coyotes representatives, he couldn’t comment further, except noting that Brown has signed one compact so far in his term — an off-reservation casino for Habematolel Pomo tribe of Upper Lake in Lake County.  The state legislature passed the tribe’s compact in June, and it awaits approval from the Department of Interior.

Shields presented an update at Monday’s City Council meeting of the recent lobbying efforts by Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians, who first began plans for a casino near the Barstow Outlets in 2001.

The project must receive a compact from Gov. Jerry Brown, have it approved by the state legislature and then be approved by the Department of Interior. In 2006 Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would only approve a compact with Los Coyotes in conjunction with the Big Lagoon tribe in Humboldt County.

“In the long run it weighted us down,” Shields said of the partnership. A compact with Brown would be with Los Coyotes alone.

According to Shields, Los Coyotes representatives have also met with state legislative members to gain their support in the casino as well.

Shields said support for boosting California business is also an advantage for the casino, as the state unemployment rate is at 11.7 percent compared to 4.9 percent in 2006.

“The atmosphere in California is much different,” Shields said. “It’s a state that’s hurting economically and looking for economic opportunities.”

And it was a change in presidential administration that brought the casino issue back to life last month, when the Department of Interior rescinded a memorandum from the Bush Administration that required off-reservation gaming to be a “commutable distance” from the tribe’s reservation. While many tribe members actually live closer to Barstow than the San Diego County reservation, Shields said in Monday’s presentation, the casino application had been rejected the first time based on the memorandum requirements.

With the memorandum rescinded, the Department of Interior will process the casino’s application, should Los Coyotes receive a compact from Gov. Brown. Shields said the best case scenario would be to see a compact from Gov. Brown by the fall, with state legislative and federal approval to both come next year.

Five off-reservation casinos have been approved in the past 22 years, Shields said, and this time around, “this is one of those that could be number six.”

A public hearing on the casino is set for July 27 at 6 p.m. in the Barstow Community College Gymnasium.