Residents of Siskiyou County recently attended a meeting sponsored by the Board of Supervisors in which they expressed their opinions about the Karuk Tribe’s proposed casino in Yreka.
Emotions ran high, with angry statements from both supporters and opponents of the proposal.
The tribe is proposing a two-phase project that would commence with a 500-slot casino and eventually have two restaurants and a hotel.
The governor, Jerry Brown, has signed a compact with the Karuk’s that has yet to be approved by the legislature. The compact gives the county some leverage with the tribe through a required Intergovernmental Agreement.
Several members of the public said the tribe should pay for more police to address the crime that they believe the casino will generate. Others argued that the land the tribe wants to build on isn’t really Karuk land.
Karuk Tribal Vice Chairman Michael Thom asked the public to consider that the casino will create 300 new jobs in the county.
Board of Supervisors Chairman Michael Kobseff called on the tribe to take action to prevent taxpayers to be given the bill for impacts that the casino might create. He said the County has hired a consultant to try to tally up what those might be.
