By James P. Sweeney, U-T SACRAMENTO BUREAU
March 24, 2008

SACRAMENTO – An unprecedented joint casino venture between two San Diego County Indian tribes appears to be dead after federal officials rejected a gambling agreement needed to build the long-stalled project.

The compact for the Ewiiaapaayp band would have allowed the six-member tribe to build a large new casino on the Viejas reservation near Alpine. In exchange, Viejas would have shared the profits.But federal officials had warned from the outset that the proposal appeared to conflict with federal law, which restricts Indian casinos to lands controlled and governed by the casino-owning tribe.

As a result, Ewiiaapaayp’s compact has been in limbo for more than three years as attorneys for both tribes sought a legal solution and, failing that, federal legislation to take care of the problem.

Without warning, Ewiiaapaayp formally submitted its compact to the Department of Interior last week. It was rejected a day later for the reasons federal officials had outlined from the beginning.

“Indian lands described in the (compact) are not now Indian lands of the tribe, and thus cannot be the subject of a compact between the tribe and the state,” wrote George Skibine, acting deputy assistant secretary.

It was unclear why Ewiiaapaayp (pronounced wee-ah-pie) decided to press ahead for a federal decision, when the outcome had been forewarned. The compact was one of just seven signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to permit unlimited slot machines.

Many close to the situation expected the tribe to wait at least until after the presidential election, when a new administration would install a new team at Interior.

Will Micklin, Ewiiaapaayp’s chief executive officer, would say little about what drove the tribe’s decision, which came less than two weeks after the death of longtime tribal leader Harlan Pinto.

But Ewiiaapaayp had been left to wonder whether Viejas was still interested in a joint project after Viejas announced plans in August to build an $800 million resort with its own second large casino.

Regardless, Micklin said the joint venture “remains an option.”

“Disapproval of the compact doesn’t mean we can’t do the joint project,” Micklin said. “It just means the language in the compact was flawed.”

The move blindsided Viejas tribal leaders, who were not pleased.

Given the prevailing federal view, Viejas spokesman Bob Scheid said the tribe would not have recommended seeking a final decision on Ewiiaapaayp’s compact at this point.

“The Bureau of Indian Affairs has made it clear that this is not a good time to be pushing these issues,” Scheid said. “So it surprises us that Ewiiaapaayp would go and do this on their own Why not just hang in there until there is a change in administrations?”

Viejas and Ewiiaapaayp agreed to the joint venture as an alternative to Ewiiaapaayp’s push to build a casino on the site of a nearby health clinic.

The concept of clustering new casinos on reservations with established gaming was embraced and promoted by the Schwarzenegger administration as well as local officials, including San Diego County Supervisor Dianne Jacob.

James P. Sweeney reports for Copley News Service.
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Posted on March 24th, 2008 by hunwut
Filed under: Gaming, Reservations