The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde announced it will petition the U.S. Supreme Court over a recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals allowing the Cowlitz Tribe in Oregon to keep its 152-acre reservation and continue to build the 0 million Ilani Resort and Casino, set to open 15 miles north of the Portland-Vancouver metro area next April. Grand Ronde operates the Spirit Mountain Casino 60 miles south of Portland.
Grand Ronde’s former partners in the lawsuit have dropped out, including the city of Vancouver, and Clark County may not be far behind. That leaves the casino opposition group, Citizens Against Reservation Shopping, and a group of La Center cardrooms possibly joining Grand Ronde in the appeal.
In its announcement Grand Ronde said, “The Supreme Court, unlike the Court of Appeals, is not required to take all cases. If the Supreme Court does not take the case, the decision of the Court of Appeals stands.” Even if the Supreme Court decides to hear the case, it may not rule on it before Ilani opens. An injunction is a remote possibility.
Grand Ronde officials noted since the Ilani casino is expected to attract Spirit Mountain customers, tribal revenues could drop by as much as 41 percent, or $100 million per year. Tribal lobbyist Justin Martin said, “Just like any government that offers programs such as health, education, housing, elder services, we’ve got to look at potential services to either sustain or regain revenue, and we’re currently doing that.”
The four La Center cardrooms also stand to lose customers to the nearby Ilani casino. John Bockmier, representing the cardrooms, said, “My clients have not made a decision yet on what the next moves are going to be. We haven’t sat down and had a strategic summit on how this is all going to work.” The city of La Center would be impacted since more than half of its general fund revenue comes from a 10 percent tax on cardroom receipts. Anticipating $2.6 million in cardroom revenue in 2016, the city budgeted spending $3.8 million.
Mayor Greg Thornton said, “As far as the cardrooms in La Center go, it’s just a big unknown at this point. It’s hard to determine just what the impact is going to be. There’s definitely going to be some decreased revenues as a result of the Cowlitz casino.”
Cowlitz Tribal Chairman Bill Iyall said the lawsuit the cardrooms are pursuing goes against the tribe’s intergovernmental agreement with La Center. “We are optimistic this will also be rejected,” he said. However, he added, “We have a great partnership with Mayor Greg Thornton and the city of La Center. As part of our intergovernmental agreement with La Center, the tribe is supporting the development of a $32 million sewer line to the interstate junction that will spur future commercial business growth across the city.”
Thornton added, “That’s our goal, to extend sewer to the junction, then the city hopes to see commercial development and possibly light industrial. That would help the city rebound from impacts to the local cardrooms.”
The Grand Ronde, meanwhile, is seeking other opportunities, should the Supreme Court refuse to hear its case against the Cowlitz Tribe. Grand Ronde Chairman Reyn Leno said, “In addition to how we respond to this decision, the tribe has initiated a major renovation of Spirit Mountain Casino, is redeveloping the greyhound track at Wood Village, Oregon and continues to explore options to build the Grand Ronde economy.”
Meanwhile, Washington resident Doug Hatcher is kind of weary hearing that the Ilani casino is “near La Center.”
Hatcher, 64, anticipates the casino’s opening, but doesn’t want people going to the wrong town. He insists that the casino is actually closer to a town called Ridgefield, which is where he lives.
Hatcher told the Columbian “I just can’t figure it out,” he said. “That’s why I’ve been calling the Columbian every other week. Yeah, it’s near La Center; why won’t you say where it’s at?”
In fact the reservation’s postal address and school district are both listed in Ridgefield.
