Veteran Yolo County Supervisor Mike McGowan is frustrated, and understandably so. He complains that his county and others in the region are "victims of intense competition between three massive casinos each vying to become the largest and most profitable."
As the county's lead negotiator with tribal leaders planning a huge expansion of the Cache Creek Casino, McGowan has felt the pressure firsthand.
To compete with the bigger Thunder Valley Casino in Placer County and the newer and flashier Red Hawk Casino in El Dorado County, the Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians wants to triple the size of the tribe's Cache Creek Casino in Yolo County's rural Capay Valley.
Under the expansion plan, the casino would add 467 hotel rooms, more than 20,000 square feet of retail, 23,000 square feet of gambling space and 2,410 parking spaces.
The casino would increase in size from 414,110 square feet today to 1.2 million square feet in two years. When completed, the expansion will profoundly change the character of the Capay Valley – and local elected officials have no real power to prevent that.
They cannot stop expansion because it's being done by a sovereign tribe on trust land. As a sovereign government, the tribe has power and financial resources that exceed those of the county.
Under the compact the Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians signed with the Schwarzenegger administration, the tribe must negotiate with the county to mitigate the impacts of its expansion. The tribe, which already pays the county $5 million a year for police, social services and other public costs its facility generates, has agreed to pay an additional $3.27 million annually when the expansion is completed.
But there are significant environmental and infrastructure impacts that are more difficult to quantify or mitigate. After months of negotiations over those costs, the tribe and Yolo County officials have reached impasse. Under the terms of the compact, each side presents its last best offer. Then a private arbitrator must accept one offer or the other in total, so there is no room for compromise.
As a way to make important decisions balancing competing interests, this is far from ideal.
The biggest dispute centers on Highway 16, the road that leads to the casino. The county wants the tribe to pay more than $20 million to widen it, build a bypass around the town of Esparto and make other improvements. The tribe has said it will pay only its fair share, and those costs would be determined by Caltrans.
Other important issues remain unresolved. How will the tribe dispose of the additional sewage generated by its expanded operations? Is there enough groundwater to accommodate the massive casino and its neighbors?
Given such questions, it's hard to imagine that this project would ever get off the ground if it were proposed by a private business.
Casino officials argue that the expansion is a boon to Yolo. It will generate 1,000 jobs and pump $90 million into the economy.
It will also profoundly change the rural character of Yolo County in myriad ways. Those elected to protect the interest of Yolo residents, people like Supervisor McGowan, have little power to do anything about it.
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