Oregon Governor Kate Brown has reached a tribal state gaming compact with the Coquille Tribe that would allow them to build a small casino in a former bowling alley in Medford near Interstate 5 and deploy Class II games.
Critics point out that two years ago Brown told the Bureau of Indian Affairs that she felt it was “essential that the state ‘hold the line’ in the number of casinos” in Oregon.
In April of that year she wrote, “I believe the state should, as a matter of policy, resist the building of additional casinos because 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 the public welfare.”
The critics point out that the governor’s position on Indian gaming began to evolve after she was the recipient of $115,000 in campaign contributions from the Cow Creek Tribe.
