Governor Jerry Brown announced last week that he and the Wilton Rancheria have negotiated a compact that will allow the tribe to operate a casino in Elk Grove, California. The compact still needs to be approved by the legislature.
The tribe proposes a $400 million casino in what is currently the unfished Elk Grove mall, owned by the Howard Hughes Company. Last week Tribal Chairman Raymond Hitchcock said he thought the tribe could break ground in three years in the community, which is less than an hour’s drive from the state capitol, Sacramento.
“I’m feeling very good,” said Hitchcock. The compact will allow the tribe to deploy up to 2,500 slot machines, which is a comparable number to the tribe’s nearest competitor, Thunder Valley Casino.
The announcement by the governor follows a denial two weeks ago by the Interior Department of an appeal of its decision putting the land in Elk Grove into trust for the tribe. Opponents had challenged the decision, claiming that the wrong Interior official signed the approval.
The compact doesn’t require the tribe to pay a revenue sharing to the state until the casino has been open for seven years. The tribe has already penned deals with the city of Elk Grove and Sacramento County for annual payments.
The California casino watchdog group Stand Up for California is promising to fight the casino in federal court while another group of Elk Grove residents are planning actions against city officials who they claim improperly colluded with the tribe to arrange for the tribe to get the land put into trust before opposition could form against it.
Stand Up Director Cheryl Schmit told the Sacramento Bee: “This thing has so many legal flaws to it. We’ve got a buffet table of challenges that we can pick and choose from.”
A spokesman for the city reacted to Governor Brown’s announcement by stating, “This is another step in the process for Wilton Rancheria’s project. The city continues to monitor developments associated with the project at both the state and federal levels.”
