The Coquille Tribe of Oregon is waiting to see if the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs will allow it to operate a second casino, this time in Medford, in a former bowling alley. Most tribes in the state claim their compacts limits them to one casino. The Coquille say they are not bound by such a pact—because they didn’t make one.
This would require putting the now defunct bowling alley into trust—making the building and land around it into a part of the tribe’s reservation.
Opposing such a decision are Oregon Governor Kate Brown and the Oregon Lottery—and the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians. Cow Creek Chairman Michael Rondeau told the Willamette Week: “It would change the face of tribal gaming in Oregon forever.” He added, “Every tribe would be looking at the very edge of the envelope and pushing it. You’d see casinos up and down I-5.”
The state has nine gaming tribes, and nine casinos. No one of them ever claimed the ability to have more than one since the first gaming compacts were approved in 1988.
The governor opposes this plan because she has plans for expanding gaming through the lottery and “tribal partnerships,” such as one recently penned between the state and Cow Creek, for a joint venture.
Six years ago, the Coquille, who operate a casino in North Bend, applied to open a second casino in Medford, which lies along Interstate 5—which runs up three states from the Mexico border to Canada—near Cow Creek’s Seven Feathers casino, in Canyonville, and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde’s Spirit Mountain Casino.
The Seven Feathers casino also lies alongside Interstate 5, 70 miles north of Medford.
During her extended opposition to the Medford casino, Brown has declared “State support for even a single, modest additional casino is likely to lead to significant efforts to expand gaming across Oregon, to the detriment of public welfare.”
Critics note that Brown’s new deal with Cow Creek flies in the face of that statement. They also note that Cow Creek contributed $115,000 to Brown’s reelection war chest.
Judy Duffy Metcalf, chief executive officer of the Coquille Economic Development Council, groused about this connection to the Willamette Week: “She’s not only expanding the lottery but she’s cutting a side deal with the Cow Creek, our biggest opposition.”
The lottery is a big part of Oregon’s state budget. Brown’s 2019-2020 budget expects it to contribute $1.3 billion to the treasurer over the next two years. Gaming is the state’s second largest source of revenue. However, the lottery needs an injection of something to breathe new life into listless profits. Hence the plan for forming partnerships with gaming tribes, in which tribes could sell lottery products, such as scratchers, at their properties.
The agreement between Cow Creek and Brown was done in secret, which also raises Duffy-Metcalf’s hackles. “Where’s the transparency?” she demanded.
The lottery admits to not seeking bids from other tribes but adds that it’s just a pilot program. If results are favorable it will offer the same deal to other tribes, says lottery spokesman Matt Shelby.
The Coquille say they need a second casino because the first in Coos Bay is in a remote location and health care costs are rising. They also note that the second casino will have Class II gaming, rather than Class III Las Vegas style gaming offered in the original location.
