As reported by: Recordnet.com
Two Mother Lode American Indian tribes have encountered very different scenarios while planting their respective 21st century economic development seeds: gaming casinos.

The Tuolumne Band of Mi-Wuk Indians met virtually no resistance in building and opening Black Oak Casino just outside Sonora and has had no major problems since it opened 20 months ago.

In fact, the casino has been so fruitful, the tribe already has broken ground on a replacement structure that will be seven times the size of the original building and include nearly twice as many slot machines.

But to the north, in the small Amador County city of Plymouth, the battle rages on over the Ione Band of Miwok Indians' proposal to build a casino off Highway 49.

Debate hasn't stopped since the proposal became public earlier this year. Last week, the city mailed surveys to 509 registered voters -- about half the city's population -- to gauge support for the project.

Residents must turn in the survey cards no later than 5 p.m. Friday. The City Council will tally the results and make them known at a meeting Sept. 11.

The Tuolumne tribe broke ground three weeks ago on a 160,000-square-foot, three-story building that will have a 24-lane bowling alley, restaurants, 940 slot machines, an entertainment venue, an arcade and more. The target completion date is December 2004.

Lester Lingo, the tribe's development director, wouldn't divulge income figures for the existing casino but said things have "gone very well" since it opened in May 2001.

"The quality of life for tribal members has greatly improved," he said. "Everyone in the tribe who qualifies for a job and wants one has one.

"Everyone appears to be driving around in new cars, so we must be doing all right."

The tribe has 137 enrolled voting members, and about 60 families live on the 400-acre rancheria. The tribe is purchasing an adjacent 300 acres it hopes to use for tribal housing.

Earlier, the tribe bought 350 acres formerly occupied by the West Side Lumber Co. There, the tribe plans to develop a 150-room hotel, a golf course and about 90 homes.

Lingo said the casino expansion alone will cost $60 million. In addition, the tribe is paying for a bypass that will link Tuolumne Road and Tuolumne Road North and take casino traffic out of town.

Lingo said the tribe has involved the community in the casino plans from the outset, and that's why there has been little resistance. In addition, the casino has been a major boon to the economy, as it has created more than 300 jobs -- and the expanded casino will employ nearly 700 people.

"The economics of the Tuolumne Valley really needed help," he said. "And from the start, we didn't see this just as a tribal opportunity but an opportunity for everyone -- natives and non-natives.

"The (non-natives) actually feel included in what we're doing. It's not like we're out here by ourselves."

Mark Thornton, chairman of the Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors, has no complaints with the casino or the tribe.

"They've done well in standing by their promises and pledges to the county financially and in the spirit of wanting to bring about a project that improves our county," he said. "They seem to really care about their community, and they're not developers who are moving on. These people live here."

That's one of the complaints voiced by some opponents of the Plymouth casino proposal -- not only are the developers from out of town, but a number of the tribe's 529 members live outside Amador County.

Elida Malick, a Plymouth resident, said her opposition has increased as she has learned more about the proposal and the casino's developer, Mississippi-based IKON Group.

"The people who are associated with the casino are divorced from any negative impacts, because they don't live here," she said. "If they did, they'd have some interest in keeping the negative impacts to a minimum and mitigating to the best of their ability. Instead, they'll be living life happily wherever they are, and the negative impacts will fall squarely on the city and county."

Backers say the project will solve the tribe's economic-development problems and provide needed jobs, and those benefits will spill over into the city.

But an opposition group known as the Citizens of Plymouth claims a casino would clog roads; drain an already dwindling water supply; create crime, noise and air-pollution problems; and generally ruin the overall quality of life.

Some Amador County officials -- in particular Supervisor Mario Biagi, who represents the Plymouth area -- have criticized the proposal roundly. Biagi said the county already has one casino operating in Jackson and has another approved near Ione, and a third would be a major drain on county services.

The federal government will analyze the proposed casino's impacts when the tribe applies to have land taken into trust for the project. Ultimately, the federal and state governments will have the final say on whether the tribe can proceed with the casino.

The City Council hasn't taken an official stance on the proposal. But council members Rich Martin and Darlene Scanlon said they support it and believe the casino will happen, whether the council or residents want it or not.

For that reason, they said, the city should work with tribal officials, who already have offered to pay the county about $1.2 million and the city $2 million a year to offset impacts to law enforcement, schools, water, sewers and roads, among other things.

"I've lived in Plymouth 10 years, and nothing has changed, businesswise," Martin said. "If anything, we've lost some businesses. I'm leaning toward support of (the casino). We need to change, and we need to work with the developers to benefit from this."

Scanlon agreed. "It's going to revitalize our town, which is slowly but surely dying," she said. "It's not my idea for what the city needed to become a better place to live. But it's here, and we have to deal with it. We have to work together to find out how to make as small an impact as possible."