The Bureau of Indian Affair is processing a request by the Timbisha Shoshone tribe to put land into trust in Ridgecrest, California, for a casino.
Recently City Manager Ron Strand flew to Washington D.C. to meet with Associate Deputy Secretary of the DOI James Cason and representatives of the tribe to answer questions.
After the meeting Cason directed staff to continue with the land trust process. No timetable has yet been established on the process.
Back in California a pro-casino group called CasiNOW has unveiled a campaign to counter residents who oppose the casino, including one who has threated to file a lawsuit to try to prevent city officials from cooperating with the tribe.
The pro-casino group have so far mailed hundreds of letters of support. One of the volunteers, Scott Leahy, told the Daily Independent: “We are not accepting money from the tribe. We are doing this. And the reason we are doing this is that we want to convey to Washington DC that the letters they are getting saying that this city opposes the casino are lying. Saying that this city opposes this casino is incorrect and they know it.”
Leahy estimates there are around 2,500 casino supporters in the area, which is about 60 percent of eligible voters.
Another casino supporter told the paper that he supported the casino as a way of “bringing additional life-blood into the community.” The man added, “People whine and complain that there is nothing to do in Ridgecrest. There is a solution to that. We are going to have a casino in town, we are going to have a musical venue.”
Leahy added that the Timbisha people are native to the area. “They belong here,” he said.
