Rohnert Park Families - rpfamilies@gmail.com

A Casino behind Home Depot & Walmart in RP?

2005-08-31T17:00:00.000-07:00

What's up with that?

The voters of Rohnert Park have a very important decision to make: “Should a Native American casino be located within Rohnert Park’s urban growth boundary?” In their latest incantation The Federated Indians of the Graton Rancheria & Station Casinos say they want to build a Las Vegas style CASINO behind Home Depot & Walmart in Rohnert Park. This proposed site is on the corner of Wilfred Avenue and Dowdell Avenue – about 100 yards from the southbound Wilfred Avenue exit off Highway 101.

City Council Meeting Schedule

2005-08-30T16:00:00.000-07:00

Please join other Rohnert Park Families at one of the next regularly scheduled meetings of the RP City Council City Hall, located at 6750 Commerce Boulevard in Rohnert Park:

Tuesday, October 11th @ 6:00 p.m.
Tuesday, October 25th @ 6:00 p.m.

We'll stress our desire for an advisory vote and dispel the myth of the month (the one that states there is little opposition to a casino behind Home Depot & Walmart).

Questions? Want to help? Send an email to: rpfamilies@gmail.com

How to contact RP City Council

2005-08-29T16:00:00.000-07:00

You can send one email to admin@rpcity.org - any email sent to admin@rpcity.org will be copied and given to each member of the Rohnert Park City Council.

Or, you can contact each member of the council individually:

Vice Mayor Jake MacKenzie
email: blumacjazz@aol.com
telephone: (707) 584-1195

Mayor Vicki Vidak-Martinez
email: vvmartinez@rpcity.org
telephone: (707) 795-2676

Amie Breeze
email: abreeze@rpcity.org
telephone: (707) 588-2209

Pam Stafford
email: pstafford@rpcity.org
telephone: (707) 588-2200

Tim Smith
email: timsmith@rpcity.org
telephone: (707) 588-2210

Let the city council know you think urban casinos should be located at least five miles away from the nearest home, church or school.

Two Sets of Laws

2005-08-27T17:00:00.000-07:00

"They (Indian Tribes) can't hide behind sovereignty, using that as an excuse not to collect taxes and not to obey zoning laws. You can't create a whole new nation within a county or a town. We've got to find a way to stop it. We can't have two sets of laws right next to each other." Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY)

Advisory Vote Called for by Governor Schwarzenegger

2005-08-26T17:00:00.001-07:00

PROCLAMATION BY THE GOVENOR OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on May 18, 2005

Here is the paragraph of which calls for an advisory vote:

3. I shall consider requests for a gubernatorial concurrence under section 20(b)(1)(A) of IGRA, that would allow a tribe to conduct class III gaming on newly acquired land, only in cases where each of the following criteria is satisfied:

a) The land that is sought for class III gaming is not within any urbanized area.

b) The local jurisdiction in which the tribe’s proposed gaming project is located supports the project.

c) The tribe and the local jurisdiction demonstrate that the affected local community supports the project, such as by a local advisory vote.

d) The project substantially serves a clear, independent public policy, separate and apart from any increased economic benefit or financial contribution to the State, community, or the Indian tribe that may arise from gaming.

To view the complete proclamation please visit http://www.csac.counties.org/images/public/Advocacy/hlt/urban_gaming_proclamation.pdf

Taking Action

2005-08-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

Taking Action is as easy as 1, 2, 3!

1. Fax Congress regarding urban casinos – especially the one proposed for Rohnert Park

Urge them to pass legislation that gives our community a voice in the process.

Senator John McCain (R-AZ)
Chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs (202) 228-2862 / fax

Senator Byron L. Dorgan (D-ND)
Vice Chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs (202) 224-1193 / fax

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
(415) 956-6701 / fax

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
(202) 228-3954 / fax

Congressman Richard W. Pombo (R-CA)
Chairman, Committee on Resources (202) 226-0861 / fax

Congressman Nick Rahall II (D-WV)
Vice Chairman, Committee on Resources (202) 225-9061 / fax

Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) (202) 225-5163 / fax

2. Fax Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California (916) 323-0935 / fax

Tell him the casino proposed for the corner of Wilfred Avenue and Dowdell Avenue (behind Home Depot and Walmart in Rohnert Park) is inside Rohnert Park’s Urban Growth Boundary. Ask him to meet with citizen groups before considering a Gaming Compact with The Federated Indians of the Graton Rancheria. Mention your concerns about water, traffic, environment, urban sprawl & crime.

3. Fax Gale Norton, Secretary of the Interior (202) 208-6956 / fax

Tell her Greg Sarris told lawmakers his tribe would not build a casino on land taken into trust. Ask that their application to the DOI be denied due to grave concerns about community and environmental impacts. Explain that the Tribe plans to build inside Rohnert Park’s Urban Growth Boundary.

A Brief History

2005-08-25T17:00:00.000-07:00

In the spring of 2000 Chair Greg Sarris sought restoration of his tribe’s Federal rights through an Act of Congress with the help of Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey (D-Petaluma). During the introduction of her bill Ms. Woolsey testified that “a unique aspect of H.R. 946 is that it specifically contains a clause that restricts gaming, gaming on land that is taken into trust for the tribe.” Ms. Woolsey further testified: “[The Tribe’s] sovereign decision—and I repeat, sovereign decision—to choose other means of economic vitality is out of respect for preserving the current character of the North Bay, and a commitment to our community that their quest for restoration is not to establish gaming,” (House of Representatives Committee on Resources Oversight Hearing, CR, 5/16/00, p.52, 1060995).

In his testimony before Congress, Mr. Sarris said: “As a result of Proposition 1A in California, one of the provisions or stipulations is that tribes cannot establish gaming on newly acquired trust land. So if we were to establish or find a larger tract of land [other than the one acre in Graton, California set aside by the Restoration Act] where we could have gaming, we couldn't have it,” (CR, 5/16/00, p.61 1060995).

Because the Tribe agreed to restoration on a “restored” acre of land with a gaming restriction, Ms. Woolsey designed her legislation to speed up the land to trust process by stating that, upon application, the Secretary of the Interior “shall” take the Tribe’s land into trust.

When Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) introduced identical legislation in the Senate (S. 2633) she echoed Ms. Woolsey’s comments: “This bill is unique in that it contains a clause whereby the tribe permanently waives any right to casino-style gambling on their land,” (CR, 5/25/00, F4463). When the Graton Rancheria Restoration Act came to the Senate floor for a vote Ms. Boxer said: “As passed in the House of Representatives, this bill included language that waived the tribe's gaming rights. I supported that language, as did the Graton Rancheria and the local community. However, it was clear that the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Affairs would not support the language. The chairman and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs have offered an amendment that removes the no-gaming clause. In his statement accompanying the amendment, Senator Inouye asserts that the no-gaming clause is unnecessary because the Graton Rancheria have no intention of conducting gaming,” (CR, 12/11/00, S11759).

Sometime between the winter of 2000 and the spring of 2003, the Tribe negotiated a contract with Station Casinos to help them build and manage gaming operations on newly acquired land. The Tribe’s legal right to gaming is not in question or dispute. On the other hand their ability to purchase and have land taken into trust for that purpose without the usual and customary review by the Secretary of the Interior is of great concern to the hundreds and thousands of people who live in the surrounding urban area.

Two years ago Senator the Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) proposed legislation that would stop this casino dead in its tracks. She said: “The changes we are seeking today are extremely modest. We are not reversing any restoration of the tribe. We are not infringing on Native American sovereignty. We are not even blocking the casino proposal. We are only seeking to give the State and the local community a voice in the process. They were promised the Tribe would not open a casino. That promise was broken, so the least we can do is ensure a normal review will take place,” (CR, 6/26/03, S8732).

Please contact Senator Feinstein and ask her to resubmit her legislation.