The city council of Porterville, California, last week endorsed the efforts of the Tule River Tribe to relocate and expand its Eagle Mountain Casino to land that it has owned for many years at the Porterville Airport Industrial Park.
The vote was 4-1 to support the tribe’s application for an off-reservation casino to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Before the vote Mayor Milt Stowe declared, “It’s about time we get this done and get it going.”
It is always challenging to obtain approval for an off-reservation casino, although several tribes in the Golden State have been able to pull it off. Getting the council’s blessing is just one of many hoops that the tribe will have to jump through, including obtaining the support of California Governor Jerry Brown. Once again, however, Brown usually supports such requests.
The tribe is mulling moving its existing casino to 40 acres at the industrial park and adding a 250 room hotel and 20,000 square foot convention center. It has owned the land since the 1990s. The entire project could cost $150 million or more.
Casino General Manager Matthew Mingrone told the Porterville Recorder, “This is the beginning of the process with the BIA and the letter of support is just that first step.” He added, “The project idea is supported, that is all it’s saying, and that we do have a relationship and a rapport. This is our way of saying to the BIA that we are not going to be one of those negative projects; we are doing things the right way by getting the support ahead of time.”
Eagle Mountain Casino has been at its current location for 20 years on the reservation, which is 17.5 miles from Porterville. It offers 1,200 slot machines, plus blackjack and poker.
The tribal state gaming compact will come up for renewal in 2019 and the tribe is currently negotiating with representatives of Governor Brown.
The tribe is also talking with the city about a memorandum of understanding for government services if the casino relocates.
