Raised concern around Sacramento casino proposal

Even the federal government controls almost all Native American affairs, residents can slow down the process with objections and legal actions.

The local Wilton Rancheria tribe has identified the two cities in southern Sacramento County as the main places where it would like to acquire tribal land and build a 12-story hotel tower, a convention center and a 110,000sqft gambling floor with slot machines and table games. The proposed size of the project puts it in the same league as some of Northern California’s largest gambling meccas.

Galt residents and city officials have voiced mixed emotions, from anti-gambling sentiments to concerns about traffic to eagerness for the hundreds of jobs the project could generate. Elk Grove residents are just starting to understand that a site along Highway 99 adjacent to the city’s half-built “ghost mall” now may be the tribe’s first choice, partly because of objections in Galt.

The Galt site remains “Alternative A” in the tribe’s application for land to the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, said Wilton Rancheria Chairman Raymond “Chuckie” Hitchcock.

Hitchcock said the proposed casino resort could generate about 1,750 full-time jobs plus hundreds of constructions jobs during a two-year build-out. Those workers would spend their money at local stores, buy homes and cars, and boost the casino’s economic benefits through what economists call a multiplier effect.

Residents and local officials have little say in the world of Indian lands and gaming and Wilton Rancheria tribe is looking for a receptive city, where locals see a casino resort as an economic and cultural benefit.

Silvia Rodriguez, a resident of Elk Grove’s Laguna Greens neighbourhood, attended a community meeting Thursday night to address a recent rash of gun violence. She said she didn’t think a casino would fit with Elk Grove’s family-friendly neighbourhoods and would only bring more safety problems. “There needs to be a real economic justification,” she said.

Leaders in Elk Grove are just starting to take the casino plan seriously. The city recently posted information about the project on its website, and city planners have begun examining the details, Councilman Steven Detrick said. “A lot of people think we have the power to say yes or no,” Detrick said. “All we can do is say, ‘If you guys were to come here, these are the concerns.”

Tribes enter into revenue-sharing compacts with the state and typically reimburse counties for the negative effects of casino projects. Thunder Valley, for instance, pays Placer County more than US$4m annually to offset the county’s additional law enforcement and fire expenses and US$2 million more in place of lost property taxes.

Experts also said that whether a casino gives an economic boost to its surrounding area often hinges on factors such as the number of out-of-town visitors it draws and how many local residents it employs. In either Galt or Elk Grove, the Wilton Rancheria project would be near a large local workforce and strategically positioned between Sacramento and Stockton and at least a half hour closer to the Bay Area than Thunder Valley and other large area casinos.