By Peter Crowley, Katie Niekerk and Kollin Kosmicki Staff
Writers
Gilroy
– Civic leaders in general say it’s too early to take stances
for or against a tribal casino that is being proposed for state
Highway 25, about four miles south of Gilroy near the Santa
Clara-San Benito county line.
By Peter Crowley, Katie Niekerk and Kollin Kosmicki Staff Writers
Gilroy – Civic leaders in general say it’s too early to take stances for or against a tribal casino that is being proposed for state Highway 25, about four miles south of Gilroy near the Santa Clara-San Benito county line.
First, they say, they want more information.
“What they want is details, and that’s exactly what we don’t have,” Rachael Gibson, land-use aide to Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage, said Monday. “It’s sort of nebulous at this point so far.”
Area investors and their tribal partners envision something similar to the 66,000-square-foot Cache Creek Casino Resort north of Sacramento, according to Phillip Thompson, a Washington, D.C. lawyer representing the group. The Cache Creek casino employs more than 2,000 people, according to Yolo county Supervisor Mike McGowan. Its Web site advertises 1,762 slot machines, 120 table games, a luxury hotel and spa and eight restaurants, among other amenities. A golf course is in the works.
A few local leaders are already speaking out against building something like that here.
Local Amah-Mutsun Indians say it’s unjust for the California Valley Miwoks – a tiny band that is federally recognized but landless – to set up a casino on the Amah-Mutsuns’ ancestral territory.
“Our main objective is honoring our ancestors,” said Anne Marie Sayers of Hollister, who belongs to an Ohlone band related to the Amah-Mutsuns. “I am personally not opposed to gaming, but ceremony and gaming I think have a hard time co-existing.”
San Benito County Supervisor Ruth Kessler, whose term on the county board ends in December after an unsuccessful re-election bid in March, also opposes a casino. In her experience of talking with other counties’ supervisors, she said, “Those that have (casinos) don’t want them, and those that don’t have them don’t want them.
“They say, get as much out of them that you possibly can,” Kessler said. “I don’t want them, period. … I don’t like to see young people borrow somebody’s ID card so they can get in and gamble. … (To) see people poor, gambling, bothers me.”
San Benito County Sheriff Curtis Hill, one of the first to publicly oppose it, said a crime spike would accompany a casino.
Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith, however, is waiting to see what the community says. Police agencies traditionally oppose casinos, sheriff’s spokesman Terrance Helm admitted, but if the community supports one here, then Santa Clara County deputies will police it, Helm said. Deputies also would, however, educate the public about the types of crime these areas can bring, Helm said.
The Gilroy and San Benito County economic development directors, meanwhile, see the casino as an opportunity for jobs and tourist dollars.
“I’m not a gambling guy,” said Al Martinez, who directs the San Benito County Economic Development Corporation. “I don’t like Reno, I don’t like Vegas. And I don’t particularly care what gambling does to people. But it’s economic development … It’s a big job provider, and that’s about the only thing I see.”
Staff at the Gilroy Visitors Bureau say it’s not unusual for people to walk in and ask where the nearest Indian casino is. Office Manager Pam Gimenez said she can recall at least a dozen such requests this calendar year.
Because of the demand, bureau staff have a directory of California’s 50-plus tribal casinos behind the desk. The closest ones, they say, are Cache Creek, north of Sacramento, and The Palace in Lemoore, west of Fresno.
Susan Valenta, executive director of the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce, said the proposal is still too new for the chamber to take a formal stance. Although it would bring more tourism to Gilroy – something the chamber can’t complain about – Valenta said the chamber would also consider possible negative impacts, such as on public safety and traffic, should plans advance.
“I’ve heard a lot of conversation in the community about it,” Valenta said. “It’s good when people talk about ideas, … but there’s so much that needs to take place before it could be a qualified option. To formulate a position now would be premature.”
Gilroy Mayor Al Pinheiro said he has mixed feelings about a casino on his city’s outskirts.
“I right away start worrying about access to gambling and what that would do to families around here,” Pinheiro said, “but then I think, ‘Yeah, but what about families who have to deal with alcoholism, and you have places that serve alcohol around here?'”
Pinheiro also recognizes that a casino could bring tourist dollars into Gilroy, he said.
“They’re not just social impacts; they’re all kinds of impacts,” he said.
Three or four months ago, Pinheiro said someone asked to meet with him about building an Indian casino in or near Gilroy. The meeting was canceled, however, and Pinheiro said he never learned the caller’s identity.
City Councilman Russ Valiquette echoed Pinheiro’s hesitancy to say if a casino near Gilroy is a good thing.
“Until something gets put on paper to make it look like it’s really going to happen, I’m not going to worry about it,” Valiquette said. “It’s in its infancy stage right now, and so you’re hearing all kinds of things. Right now, it’s just an idea. It might not even be feasible.”
If it is feasible, Valiquette said he would want to question all sides before forming an opinion. The city would see increased sales tax revenue from tourists, Valiquette said, but negative impacts such as increased crime and disorderly conduct would be right around the corner.
Valiquette and Pinheiro said the city council has no plans as yet to discuss the issue as a body.
Taking a look at how other casinos have worked in the Bay Area in the past might help predict this one’s success, Councilman Craig Gartman said. The proposed location “out in the middle of nowhere” could work for or against it, he said, especially considering the condition of the roads leading to the property.
“We’d need to make some major improvements to the (U.S.) 101 and 25, and that’d be a huge project in and of itself,” Gartman said. “But I’ve been to some casinos that are pretty far out there, too, and their parking lots were jammed. Some people don’t want to go to Vegas or Reno to gamble. They want to stay local.”
“I think it’s really wrong we have (some) Indian casinos in California and not others,” said Hollister Mayor Tony Bruscia. “Fundamentally, I’m opposed to it.
“Having said that, jobs, tourism … has to be looked at. If we can mitigate negative impacts, … if we can make it work for the community and bring in jobs and tourism, we’d have to look at something like that.”
