The $500 million casino proposed by California’s Wilton Rancheria survived a legal challenge from opponents last week when a federal judge ruled that the Department of the Interior official who signed off on putting 36 acres in Elk Grove into trust for the tribe in the opening days of the Trump Administration had the legal authority to do so.
Opponents had challenged that action, saying that Larry Roberts, then-acting assistant secretary of Indian affairs, wasn’t a high enough Interior official. The judge threw out the case.
Judge Trevor N. McFadden ruled against Stand Up for California and three residents of Elk Grove, who argued that only the secretary or assistant secretary could put land into trust. The judge wrote, “This case involves a uniquely Washingtonian question: when can a federal employee act in the place of an absent agency or unit head?” He added, “There are very few duties that cannot be delegated to an ‘acting’ officeholder, the second-in-command, or even another official who acts in the place of the principal pursuant to agency regulations or orders.”
The judge also wrote, “This issue becomes acute during presidential transitions, when thousands of senior political appointees exit the government, often leaving their positions vacant for months or even years.”
Tribal Chairman Raymond Hancock hailed the ruling. “I’m very excited of the outcome. It just solidifies what I’ve known all along, in that the land is in trust and the decision is final.” His statement indicated that the tribe plans to start demolition within the next few months and that optimistically, the 600,000 square foot casino, 302-room hotel tower, with dining, a spa and a convention center could open in June 2020.
The tribe’s partner, Boyd Gaming, gave it the money to buy the land, which is part of a so-far unfinished Outlet Collection at Elk Grove Mall, owned by the Howard Hughes Corp. The tribe has 758 members. Boyd will also build and operate the casino.
Longtime casino watchdog activist Cheryl Schmit of Stand Up declared, “The case is far from over, and we’ll be before the same judge again.” She added, “So, there’s no need for anybody to celebrate or be discouraged at this point in time. There’s still a long way to go.”
Schmit said her group plans to amend its brief and re-file alleging other violations including violations of the National Environmental Policy Act and the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. “There are a multitude of federal laws that apply to one project,” she said. “There’s some really serious issues yet.”
Hancock responded that the group will “find anything that they can to slap frivolous lawsuits against the tribe. It costs us hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend these court cases that try to slow our ability to be a sovereign government and have an economic development.”
The tribe was landless from the 1950s until 2013 when it applied to put 282 acres in Galt, California into trust. Then in 2016 the tribe shifted its focus to Elk Grove, 12 miles to the north and the 36 acres in the unfinished outlet mall.
