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A simple vote Tuesday on potentially extending Chico police and fire service to a future Indian casino quickly devolved into a verbal melee among representatives of the city, Butte County and the Mechoopda tribe.
Chico officials had not expected the discussion to turn into a more than two-hour ordeal. It had been placed on the City Council's consent agenda, which is reserved for quick summary votes of relatively non-controversial items.
Mechoopda tribe officials previously had approached the city about the possibility of having the Chico police and fire departments provide service to the tribe's planned casino at the junction of Highways 99 and 149, about 15 miles south of the city limits, said City Manager Greg Jones. The council was to vote on giving Jones the authority to begin negotiations with the tribe.
Ultimately, the council voted 6-0, with Maureen Kirk absent because of a death in the family, to wait until Aug. 1 to vote on the negotiations. The move is intended to give the county time to respond.
Jones said the city would be able to provide adequate service to the casino.
"That's the professional opinion of your fire chief and your police chief," he said.
A number of things would have to be worked out before any public safety agreement could be ratified. Such things as how much the tribe would pay the city for service, which laws would be enforced on the reservation by Chico police, where arrestees would be taken and by whom they might be tried, and whether the city would establish police and fire substations all would be among the topics of negotiations, Jones said. If the city and the tribe came to an agreement, it would not take effect unless the casino gets final approval.
The City Council's Tuesday discussion was not supposed to get into whether the casino's proposed location is appropriate. Nevertheless, Butte County Supervisors Curt Josiassen and Mary Anne Houx, who oppose putting the casino at the junction of the two highways, told the council that a city service agreement with the tribe would make federal approval of the site more likely.
"You are being used and manipulated," Houx said. "With your imprimatur on it they have a better chance of getting the support of the state and federal government."
Josiassen said the 630-acre site is owned by a Las Vegas casino development firm. He asked the city to take no action on the tribe's request for negotiations on public safety services.
If the agreement between the city and the tribe falls through, the county would have to step in and provide service, he said.
"You guys can walk away from it. The county can't," Josiassen said.
He said the county would like the casino moved to another location.
"We have offered to find them a site that is acceptable to everybody," he said.
Tribal Chairman Steve Santos said site of the proposed casino is within the Mechoopda tribe's aboriginal territory and near several buttes that figure significantly into the tribe's culture and spirituality.
"These are the lands the tribe has occupied throughout their history," Santos said. "Other sites don't have the same meaning to the tribe."
He said the proposed 43,000-square-foot casino would create 1,000 jobs with a $14 million annual payroll. The tribe can't satisfy its health and elder care needs and financial welfare without economic development, he said.
Robert Rosette, the tribe's lawyer, said the National Indian Gaming Commission has endorsed the site. If all the various government agencies sign off on the project, it could go forward in about a year, he said.
"They have a legal entitlement to establish a reservation somewhere," he said. "That land has already been designated as Indian land by the federal government."
He denied that the tribe wants an agreement with the city to help the project along.
"Clearly the tribe is not seeking support from the City Council for the casino project or for gaming," he said.
Rather, the city would have police and fire services relatively nearby, while the county sheriff's department might not always be patrolling the area, Rosette said.
"The tribe genuinely desires to protect its patrons. The city is the best entity to provide those services," he said. "The tribe will receive better service from the city than it will from the county."
Chico City Councilors said they don't have any jurisdiction over the casino's location. Andy Holcombe said he doesn't believe negotiating with the tribe for public safety services will affect the outcome anyway.
"At best or worst it will have a very slight, marginal, tangential effect. It really has no bearing on the substance of the dispute," he said.
Steve Bertagna accused Supervisors Houx and Josiassen of being obstructionists.
"It's frustrating that the county can't come to an agreement with these folks," he said. "What I have seen is a defiant Butte County. I wouldn't want to negotiate with you. I am perplexed at this point to see how this has been handled."
Ann Schwab rapped the county officials for perpetuating a historical wrong.
"One hundred and fifty years ago white men came to this valley and decided arbitrarily where Indians could go," she said. "I'm amazed that we're still spending this much time telling them where to go."
Those opposing the proposed casino site have not offered an alternative location, said Larry Wahl.
"Nobody wants it in their backyard, but everybody thinks its OK somewhere else," he said.
Mayor Scott Gruendl said waiting until the casino approval process is finished would leave federal officials free to decide how best to provide public safety service, potentially shutting off future revenues that would have gone to Chico.
"If we fail to make our intent clear now, that door becomes closed to us," Gruendl said.
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