The Bureau of Indian Affairs last week denied an administrative appeal of the way that it put 36 acres for California’s Wilton Rancheria in Elk Grove into trust earlier this year.
The challenge had been mounted by Stand Up for California, a gambling watchdog group that said the Bureau of Indian Affairs had the wrong official sign off on the action. They argued that the action should have been signed by the secretary of assistant secretary of the Depart of the Interior, who is over the BIA. In this case the action was signed by a deputy assistant secretary, Michael Black. Stand Up filed its appeal in February.
Stand Up is likely to go to federal court to challenge the action—or rather, to amend a lawsuit it already filed in January. Its director, Cheryl Schmit said in a statement that the casino was “not a done deal. ““This dismissal doesn’t change anything. The casino is still a long ways off.”
She added, “The proposed casino by the Las Vegas-based Boyd Gaming and the Wilton Tribe raise a mire of irregularities in the federal process of the National Environmental Protection Act, The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and substantial issues in the Administrative Procedures Act,” Schmit said. “The dismissal of the administrative appeal does not change or damage any of our arguments going forward.”
Meanwhile Wilton Tribal Chairman Raymond Hitchcock hailed the announcement and said the tribe plans to break ground on a $400 million casino resort with a hotel and convention center in less than a month. “This lays to rest the conjecture of the opposition,” he declared. “The tribe has land into trust, and we continue to move forward.”
Under questioning the tribal chairman speculated that it could take five the seven years before the tribe opens a casino.
Hitchcock added “Everybody keeps on saying, ‘Well, wait a minute, this decision isn’t final, you don’t have land into trust.’ It’s disappointing to hear all this opposition’s comments and quotes being continually shoved down newspapers throats, clouding the issue and having a lot of people question, is it really in trust?’”
Wilton spokesman Robert Manuson told the Elk Grove Citizen: “Stand Up for California! is led by Cheryl Schmit, who lives in Placer County and has represented gaming interests, despite portraying her organization as a gaming industry ‘watchdog,’ ” he said. “Her co-plaintiffs in the appeal filed with the Department of the Interior, Joe Teixeira and Patty Johnson, were active in gathering signatures for a voter referendum against the project.”
The next legal step for the tribe would be to begin tribal state gaming compact negotiations with the administration of Governor Jerry Brown.
The Stand Up lawsuit isn’t the only pending legal action. Elk Grove citizens have also challenged the action of city officials who they say illegally colluded with the tribe to make the tribal leaders to remove a restriction on the land on the unfinished Outlet Collection at Elk Grove mall before it was sold to the tribe by the Howard Hughes Corp.
All of these developments could slow the project down, but probably not derail it, say legal experts such as Howard Dickstein, a tribal law attorney who has closely followed this case.
The issue of the tribe building a casino in the hard luck shopping center pitted the city council, and its mayor, Steve Ly, against a vocal group of residents who oppose a casino. The council and city officials have argued that the casino will be an economic engine for the city, and create as many as 2,000 permanent jobs.
Meanwhile, Mayor Ly told a group of residents on July 11 that the Outlet Collection mall will now open the fall of 2018. The project has been pushed back so many times that it has been dubbed the “Ghost Mall.”
Ly said, “The city remains optimistic. The Howard Hughes Corp. proceeds with their plans to open the outlet collection in Elk Grove. “City staff remains in contact with Howard Hughes regarding leasing, and the city is doing everything possible to assist and work with the developer.”
