Although a majority of Sonoma County voters backed tribal gaming in California two years ago, a Press Democrat Poll found that only a third wants casinos in their own community today.

The misgivings come less than two months after the county's first casino opened on the Dry Creek Rancheria in the Alexander Valley and plans were unveiled for a casino-resort near Cloverdale.

More than two dozen tribes have opened casinos across Northern California over the past decade, including three in Lake County and four in Mendocino County.

Those casinos are a draw for about a third of Sonoma County voters surveyed, about the same proportion who support casino gaming in the county.

Public opinion polling in Sonoma County since 1994 has shown that voters favor tribal gaming in general, but support drops if a casino is built or proposed close to home.

Two years ago, 56 percent of Sonoma County voters supported Proposition 1A, which gave Indian tribes the right to operate Las Vegas-style casinos in California. In 1998, 57 percent of Sonoma County voters supported Proposition 5, another tribal gaming measure.

Tribal gaming has grown enormously since the late 1980s when a change in federal law allowed tribes to offer high-stakes bingo games. As casinos proliferated in other states, California bingo halls started adding video poker and electronic slots.

But the tribes lacked a mandatory agreement with the state, and federal prosecutors threatened to shut them down until voters approved the two initiatives that authorized Indian casinos in California.

River Rock Casino, which opened Sept. 14 near Geyserville, is the first Indian casino in Sonoma County. And in the first measure of public opinion since it opened, The Press Democrat Poll found voters less enthusiastic than they were about the ballot measures that cleared the way for casino gambling.

In a survey conducted in late October, the paper found that 35 percent of registered voters say they favor casinos in Sonoma County, 40 percent say they are opposed and 23 percent are uncertain.

As for a casino in the Alexander Valley, 42 percent are opposed, 33 percent are in favor and 25 percent are uncertain.

Some residents say their attitude about tribal gaming has changed with the opening of the casino, which has brought both gamblers and controversy to a grape-growing corner of the county.

"I should have thought it through more," Lorene Libby, an 85-year-old Santa Rosa resident, said of her yes vote on Proposition 1A. "I don't feel as supportive as I did then."

She cited the potential downside of gambling. "My greatest concern is the corruption that it invites, the corruption that happens socially, with local citizens who just can't handle it," she said.

Others favor casinos, enjoy visiting them and believe they offer a financial benefit to Indian tribes that helps redress historical grievances.

About a third of the people surveyed had been to one of the tribal casinos in Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake counties. Among people over the age of 60, the number jumps to 40 percent.

Joan Sault, 68, of Santa Rosa said she and her husband are frequent patrons of the Sho-Ka-Wah Casino in Hopland. She said they regularly buy two Sunday papers to get a second $10 coupon for the weekly Seniors' Day.

When asked why she supports tribal gaming in Sonoma County, Sault responded, "Why not?"

For some, feelings are rooted in concern for a people they believe have already suffered enough.

"If they can have a money-making industry in Sonoma County -- or in any other county -- then I say go for it," said Linda Lowe, 60, of Santa Rosa.

"I'm sorry if the people of the Alexander Valley think they are too exclusive to have any industry in their area," she added.

The Dry Creek Pomos announced their plans to build a casino three days after Proposition 1A passed in March 2000. Two weeks later, Sonoma County supervisors voted unanimously to oppose the project, arguing that it violated the general plan.

Last month, shortly after the River Rock Casino opened, county Fire Chief Vern Losh cited tribal leaders and the casino manager for a variety of misdemeanor fire code violations. Losh also asked a judge for a warrant to inspect the casino, a request that is now pending in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

"Indian gaming as conceptualized in Proposition 1A has come home to roost in Sonoma County," said Supervisor Paul Kelly, whose district covers both the Alexander Valley and Cloverdale. "I really don't think voters recognized the impact on their community would be so large and so unwieldy."

The Dry Creek Pomos launched the River Rock Casino with 60 slot machines. Today, they have at least 260, and business appears steady. On a recent weekday afternoon, the casino was filled with about 125 customers.

Tribal leaders say profits from the casino will pay for housing, education and other services for the Dry Creek Pomos. They say they have offered the county more than $10 million to pay for police and fire service and mitigate other impacts.

But the tribe has sparred publicly with critics, including elected officials and a group of neighbors who say the Alexander Valley is the wrong place for a casino. It also ended up in court after a split with its original partner in the casino project.

Liz Elgin DeRouen, chairwoman of the Dry Creek Pomos, blamed bad publicity for unfavorable public opinion toward Indian casinos.

"I think (the poll) reflects people reading negativity in the paper," she said.

California has about 45 tribal casinos. The state also allows regulated card rooms and horse racing, and the state lottery is in its 18th year.

When asked if the state had the right amount of gambling, 31 percent told The Press Democrat Poll there was too much, 5 percent said too little and 20 percent were uncertain.

Sonoma County residents have responded to tribal gaming the same way many people often react to airports, landfills or other major construction projects: Not in my back yard.

In 1994, a Press Democrat Poll found that people were evenly divided on tribal gaming, but two-thirds opposed casinos in their own communities. Respondents to the latest poll share the mixed feelings.

Jim Martin, a 51-year-old Petaluma landscaper, said he voted for Proposition 1A because he wanted to help American Indians. Nonetheless, he is opposed to casinos in Sonoma County.

"I don't want to see those big signs," Martin said, referring to the billboards that beckon drivers to casinos in Mendocino and Lake counties. "I don't want that Nevada thing happening here."

Opposition to the River Rock Casino is intense among those people who live near it.

The majority of Healdsburg and Cloverdale residents, who are within a short drive of the Dry Creek Rancheria, said they oppose the new casino.

"I have no objections to the gambling, just to the impacts on the community," said Betty Andrews, 71, of Cloverdale.

Another casino is proposed on tribal land on the southeast edge of Cloverdale. In contrast to River Rock, the project has received unanimous praise from county supervisors, who say they are pleased with the willingness of tribal leaders to confer with local officials.

Andrews and her husband are regular visitors to the Sho-Ka-Wah Casino in Hopland. "We go up for the drive," she said. "Neither of us are gamblers per se."

But Andrews said she is opposed to casinos in Sonoma County largely because she is afraid they will contribute to traffic congestion.

"Highway 101 is bad enough," she said.

Older and wealthier poll respondents were more likely to say they oppose casinos, whether in Alexander Valley, elsewhere in Sonoma County or anywhere in California. High school graduates were more likely than those who earned a bachelor's degree or attended graduate school to favor tribal gaming.

Democrats were evenly divided on the issue, while Republicans opposed casinos in Sonoma County by a 2-1 margin.

The telephone poll by Richard Hertz Consulting of Bodega Bay surveyed 401 registered Sonoma County voters over a seven-day period ending Oct. 24. It has an error margin of plus or minus 5 percentage points.