In what Tribal Chairman Raymond “Chuckie” Hitchcock called “a good week for us,” California Governor Jerry Brown July 19 signed a gaming compact with the Wilton Rancheria that would allow the tribe to operate a casino in Elks Grove.
The tribe proposes to build a $400 million casino on 35.9 acres near Highway 99, in the so-far unfinished Outlet Collection at Elk Grove Mall. It hopes to break ground in the next three years.
The compact must now be ratified by the state legislature as well as approved by the Bureau of Indian Affairs after a 45-day review.
Chairman Hitchcock told the Sacramento Business Journal, “We are excited and grateful to the governor for his leadership in this effort. This is an important day for our people. We waited 58 years for our land to be restored and, now, we can look forward to moving ahead toward self-sufficiency, economic development and giving back to the community.”
The Wilton tribe, which lost its federal status in 1958, was restored as a federally-recognized tribe in 2009, but with no land. However, once it obtained funding it purchased the land, which became eligible to be put into federal trust by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Several weeks ago, the BIA dismissed an appeal of that process that had been made by opponents of the casino.
Cheryl Schmit, director of the casino watchdog group Stand Up for California, which has led the opposition to the casino, told the Journal: “I don’t think any of us were surprised about the compact, because the governor’s role is to protect the interest of the state. And if a tribe comes to him and says that they have land in trust, the federal law obligates him to negotiate in good faith. It doesn’t obligate the tribe to negotiate in good faith, just the governor.”
Schmit said the dismissal of the appeal was an administrative action by the BIA, and won’t have any effect on her group’s challenge of the action in federal court. “Today is just another step, but the deal is not done. Construction isn’t going to start next week,” said Schmit.
The former mayor of Elk Grove, Gary Davis, who has called the combined casino-mall development an “economic catalyst in breathing new life into the ghost mall that’s been dead for so many years” said last week: “The real question is whether or not the mall’s developer Howard Hughes Corp. can ever get the mall built. They have stalled for years and with the casino project moving forward, Howard Hughes should either break ground or sell their property to someone who can.”
The current mayor, Steve Ly said the city will monitor the process as it moves forward. He noted that much of that process is out of the city’s control.
