Casino hot topic at two Glenn election events

 

lend County supervisor candidates, the district attorney, members of a grass-roots committee and a representative of the Grindstone tribe choose sides this week on Measure F.

The measure is an advisory vote asking whether Glenn County citizens support development of a casino on Interstate 5, off the reservation of the Grindstone Rancheria of Wintun-Wailaki Indians.

At separate events Tuesday and Wednesday nights, the casino was the hot topic.

Of five Board of Supervisors candidates present Tuesday at Carnegie Center in Orland, three candidates opposed the casino, one supported it and one said he is neither opposed, nor for it.

Tracy Quarte, opposing incumbent Gary Freeman for the District 2 seat, said firmly, “No,” adding that a pending bill barring off-reservation casinos could make Measure F a moot point.

“I think we need to think this through a whole lot more,” Quarte said.

District 2 incumbent Freeman also said he is opposed and signed the ballot against the measure. Freeman voted against the tribe’s proposal when it was before the Board of Supervisors last August.

“The promises are empty. All the promises have not come to fruition,” he said Tuesday.

Freeman also said the implications of a casino on mental health agencies, and police and sheriff’s offices may be “many times more than we believe” and would strain county services.

District 4 candidate Heather Baker also said she’s against the casino, but rival Jim Bettencourt said he supports a casino, saying it would bring 425 new jobs and $63 million to Glenn County.

Only one candidate did not take a stand. Jake Jacobs, a retired law enforcement officer, said he’s not opposed and not for a casino.

“If you look at the tribe and what they’re trying to do for themselves … I don’t see it as a good alternative, but apparently it’s all they can come up with,” Jacobs said. “I don’t think that there’s negative impact, either.”

Two other candidates for District 4, Willows Mayor Mike Murray and Willows City Councilman Jim Yoder, were unable to attend due to a scheduled City Council meeting.

Over in Willows Wednesday night, the lines were clearly drawn, both on the Elks Lodge podium and within the 130-plus audience that responded alternately with cheers and moans.

Supporting the measure were District Attorney Robert Holzapfel and Phil Bush, an Indian from the Confederated Tribes of Chehalis Reservation in Washington state. Bush, from Santa Rosa, is executive director of the Modoc Lassen Indian Housing Authority, and has worked with the Grindstone Tribe for 18 years, he said.카지노사이트

Opposing the casino were the Rev. Keith Corium of Willows, who presides over Families, Farmers and Businesses say No on Measure F, and Robert Bishop of Orland, a member of the same committee.

The issues are economic and social: creating opportunities for Grindstone Indians to emerge from poverty and more jobs for county residents, versus social ills, federal gaming regulations and possible negative economic impact.

Like an echo of Bettencourt in Orland the night before, Holzapfel said in his opening statement the creation of jobs — 425 — is the reason for his support for a casino.

“People who have good jobs definitely do not commit crimes because they have too much to lose,” Holzapfel said.

He also said the social issue of gambling is not an issue because gambling is already established in California and Nevada.

“There are multiple places to go and gamble,” he said. “The issue is economic. We need jobs.”

But in his opening statement, Corium argued the economic issue. First, he said it’s not a moral issue, although gambling is as addictive as any drug. He said his research has shown that a casino would increase costs to local governments.