TODAY'S HEADLINES
HOME PAGE
SECTIONS
• NEWS
• SPORTS
• BUSINESS
• LIFESTYLES
• NEON
• Dining
• Showguide
• Nightlife
• Transportation
• Movies
• TV Listings
• OPINION
• Columnists
• IN-DEPTH
• CLASSIFIEDS
• WEATHER
Recent Editions
• Monday
• Tuesday
• Wednesday
• Thursday
• Friday
• Saturday
• Sunday
• Archive
Fun Stuff
• Crosswords
• KIDS AREA
• Gallery
• Buy Tickets
• LV Links
• Site Index
• Newspaper Subscription
• News Tips
• Contact Us
• Corrections
• Rate us
|
Tuesday, July 28, 1998
Viejas Band approves compact to keep its gambling machines
Associated Press
VIEJAS INDIAN RESERVATION, Calif. -- Members of the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians have narrowly accepted a compact with the state that ensures they can continue operating their video gambling machines.
Approval of the accord -- modeled after one Gov. Pete Wilson reached in March with the Pala Indians -- comes just days after San Diego County's Barona tribe made a similar deal.
Agreeing to terms brings Viejas into compliance with the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and prohibits the government from seizing the tribe's lucrative video slot machines, which Wilson has deemed illegal.
Tribal leaders at the Alpine-area casino, about 30 miles east of San Diego, were not immediately available for comment on the agreement Sunday. Details of the compact were not revealed, but the 41-36 vote was confirmed by tribal sources to The San Diego Union-Tribune on Saturday.
"There was no jubilation after the vote," one unidentified tribal member told The Union-Tribune. "The people are very, very unhappy that it even came down to having to vote on this compact. ... This compact, basically, we feel was forced upon us."
Northern San Diego County's Pala Indian band does not have a casino but wants to build one. The Pala compact and similar versions adopted in recent weeks by seven other tribes authorize a new lottery-style machine that remains under development.
Under federal law, Indian tribes are required to have state compacts for most forms of casino gambling, but Wilson refused to negotiate with those running gaming operations.
Wilson worked with the Pala tribe for 17 months before reaching an agreement intended to be a model for the state.
That gambling compact has been opposed by most of California's 39 gaming tribes, including Viejas. Many say the agreement surrenders their tribal sovereignty to the state and say the deal represents only the Pala band.
However, if Viejas had not adopted a compact, it stood to lose its video slot machines, which generate 80 percent of the tribe's revenues. With the agreement, they can continue operating their current machines until the new ones become available.
Federal prosecutors in central, eastern and Northern California have filed suits to confiscate the gambling machines of 27 tribes that refused to enter negotiations.
In San Diego, forfeiture suits filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office were put on hold in May, pending outcomes of negotiations between local gaming tribes and the state. A status conference is scheduled for Thursday before federal Judge Marilyn Huff.
The county's other gaming tribe, the Sycuan Indian band, has failed so far to reach an agreement with the governor. A deadline set by federal and state officials lapsed July 13.
Give us your FEEDBACK on this or any story.
Fill out our Online Readers' Poll
|
|
