Edgewise

casino california

Briggs Nisbet

I blame Arnold. Well, why not. There really is nobody to blame but ourselves for the mess we're in here. The casinos are coming to town whether we want them or not. A few people are going to make millions, perhaps half of them people of the First Nations, and the rest of us will be free to lose our millions in the rococco halls of the gambling malls. Uh, and we also lose our sovereignty. What?

In California, gambling of the Las Vegas type (slot machines) is only allowed on tribal land. Many tribes, however, lost their status over the decades and their reservation land. But new legislation in recent decades allowed tribes to re-establish their sovereign status via application to the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs--or BIA.

With the arrival of the casino craze in California, getting sovereign tribal status has suddenly became the hottest game in town. Big money developers have gone looking for tribes to invest in--and tribes are looking for land to buy. In the San Francisco Bay Area alone there are as many as five proposed tribal gaming developments. These are huge Vegas-style entertainment/gaming/hotel facilities that have one purpose--to get you to pull the stick of a slot machine. As the odds are set, every dollar you plunk into the slot will earn the Tribes twenty cents (and the developer, and the consultants, and the casino management company and, oh I almost forgot, the politicians).

There's nothing new about gambling or get rich quick developments. What is new is that tribal land is being created within municipal boundaries. That is, the tribal property, once approved by the BIA, becomes a sovereign nation, even if it's smack dab in the middle of Oakland. No permits, or zoning laws, or environmental impact reports, or tax remitances need apply. It's a whole new world of urban planning and I got a taste of it last week at the Oakland City Council meeting....more to come.