Duluth, Minnesota City Attorney Gunnar Johnson recently announced after spending nearly million on legal fees—and losing every legal battle–the city will use in-house counsel in its long-running litigation against the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians.
At issue is an agreement requiring the tribe to pay the city 19 percent of annual revenue from its Fond-du-Luth Casino. The tribe stopped making the payments after paying the city $75 million from 1994 to 2009. In 2011 the National Indian Gaming Commission determined that the deal violated an Indian Gaming Regulatory Act provision requiring a tribe to retain “sole proprietary interest” in a casino. Therefore, the agency said, the agreement was invalid and issued a notice of violation to the tribe.
Duluth originally sued the tribe to reinstate the agreement but lost before the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. Most recently, the federal court in Washington, D.C. ruled against the city in its suit against the NIGC. The city filed a notice of appeal with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Mayor Don Ness, who led the fight against the Fond du Luth tribe, is not running for re-election. Joey Luder, campaign manager for mayoral candidate Chuck Horton, said, “He thinks that they’ve paid enough to the city so we really shouldn’t ask then for any more money. They’ve paid their dues. They’ve been here long enough. They’ve paid the city $80 million dollars and that’s plenty for them.”
Candidate Emily Larson said, “It’s in everyone’s best interest to have positive working relationships between neighboring governments. While I am unable to comment on active litigation, it’s important to understand that this is a complicated and complex matter with very real impact on both governments.”
