Federal officials were busy considering conditions at three California tribal casinos last month:

• The San Pasqual tribe’s government has collapsed, which could force closure of the Valley View Casino in Valley Center.

The San Pasqual tribal council—called the business committee—has split, and each faction, claiming to be the tribal government, tried to suspend and institute impeachment proceedings against the other.
 
Without a government, the tribe can’t legally operate its Valley View Casino, which each month pays an estimated $4,000 to each enrolled member— which is the root of the dispute. Part of the tribal council, led by the vice chairman, has started proceedings to dis-enroll about 80 members of the 300-member tribe, claiming that they are actually not legitimate descendents of tribal members from the last century, although the BIA ruled in 1994 that they were.

The casino continues to operate without the internal tribal divisions having any noticeable effect.

• The Sycuan tribe’s lucrative amended gaming compact for the Sycuan Resort & Casino in El Cajon might need to be yanked because the tribe hasn’t ratified it.

California’s governor, legislature and voters have approved the pact that allows Sycuan to add 3,000 slot machines to 2,000 it already runs. The compact requires an upfront annual payment of at
least $18 million for the first 2,000 machines.

Sycuan’s agreement also says the tribal council must ratify the compact to make it active. Those 68 members of the tribe have never done so, for reasons tribal officials and attorneys have refused to disclose since the lapse came to light in July.

• Safety and other factors merited a visit to the Soboba Casino in San Jacinto, which has been called unsafe after shootings and police tensions on the surrounding reservation.

Conditions may have been clearer at Soboba than Sycuan when National Indian Gaming Commission agents investigated environmental concerns, public health and safety there last month. NIGC told Riverside’s Press-Enterprise it was to be a routine visit.

Tribal Chairman Robert Salgado says he requested the visit “to make clear there was no violence at the casino,” the paper says, after three members of the tribe died in shootouts with Riverside County sheriffs on the reservation. County officials and others have called the casino unsafe, partly because of law-enforcement tensions on the reservation, and the county sheriff in July asked NIGC to close the casino for allegedly hindering deputies’ access to it.

By Roger Gros

Roger Gros is publisher of Casino Connection and editor and publisher of Global Gaming Business magazine, the industry’s leading gaming trade publication. Prior to joining Global Gaming Business, Gros was president of Inlet Communications, an independent consulting firm. He was vice president of Casino Journal Publishing Group from 1984-2000, and held virtually every editorial title during his tenure. Gros was editor of Casino Journal, the National Gaming Summary and the Atlantic City Insider, and was the founding editor of Casino Player magazine. He was a co-founder of the American Gaming Summit and the Southern Gaming Summit conferences and trade shows. He is the author of the best-selling book, How to Win at Casino Gambling (Carlton Books, 1995), now in its third edition. Gros was named “Businessman of the Year” for 1998 by the Greater Atlantic City Chamber of Commerce.

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