Truce in Capay Valley

Tom Frederick and Pam Welch moved to the Capay Valley in 1979, falling in love with the sweeping vistas of oak-covered slopes and the peaceful, starlit sky.

By the mid-1980s, their neighbors -- the once tiny, impoverished Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians -- had opened a bingo hall, which became a casino that grew larger over the years.

Now the Cache Creek Casino Resort, a 24-hour gambling mecca, dwarfs other structures in this winding valley, and its lights glow over the hill until dawn.

"It's bright enough to read in here at night," said Welch, sitting in her living room, sipping coffee on a Thursday afternoon.

Yet there's a surprising acceptance of the casino's Las Vegas-like footprint in this Yolo County landscape of orchards and fields.

Even as casino leaders proceed with another major expansion -- with an eye toward going from hopping casino to destination resort -- the neighbors are generally resigned, some even enthused.

Tribal leaders have wooed many to their side and mollified some of their harshest critics by holding town-hall meetings and buying valley produce, from organic melons to local wines, for their restaurants.

"The leadership of the tribe is creating an environment where we can see each other's points of view and have a healthy conversation," said Paul Muller, an owner of organic Full Belly Farm, which does a small amount of business with the casino.

While its chefs serve up organic heirloom tomatoes, the Rumsey Band is planning to build a 10-story tower with about 450 hotel rooms, an event/conference center and a second parking garage for 2,400 vehicles.

Meanwhile, tribal Chairman Marshall McKay has broken with the tribe's hard-charging tradition and reached out to residents.

For instance, Frederick and Welch, who own Capay Valley Vineyards, had a long-running fight with the casino over sewage seeping onto their land.

But the casino now serves their wine, and McKay has come to their house to talk, they said.

"We feel if we have problems, we can call Marshall and discuss them and hope to get some resolution," said Frederick. "On a personal level, we feel less harassed."

Last year the casino invited area farmers to an open house, prepared their produce and served it to them, said Joseph Diver, the casino's vice president of food and beverage.

About 25 percent of the fruits and vegetables bought by the casino are grown locally, he said.

At the rustic grange hall in the village of Guinda, McKay and casino General Manager Randy Takemoto met Monday with two dozen residents to hear their thoughts on the growth project.

It was the fifth such meeting in recent months.

Takemoto said the expansion was necessary to compete with other area Indian casinos.

The hotel's 200 rooms are full every night, and 4,000 potential guests are turned away each month, he said.

"It comes down to us needing more hotel rooms," he said. "We look at this as lost business, lost revenue for us."

McKay said he understood the feelings against the casino over issues such as traffic, water usage and light pollution. He insisted he wants to work with residents to resolve problems.

"I like to see the stars, too," he said.

The casino has donated $12 million to local causes, he said, and created a full-time, professional fire department where all the firefighters are trained as emergency medical technicians.

As part of the new resort focus, he said, the casino would promote the valley's wineries and organic farms, along with activities such as river rafting and horseback riding.

McKay also said he was interested in working with civic groups to help develop Esparto and the other hamlets on Highway 16.

Almost everyone who spoke at the meeting expressed support for the tribe's plans, saying the once-poor Indians deserved their success and thanking McKay for his efforts to reach out.

Some said the tribe had saved lives with its ambulance service, while others acknowledged the number of local residents employed by the casino.

"I believe they have proven they care about the community," said Elizabeth Campbell, executive director of the Esparto Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Though previous meetings had reportedly been more contentious, the only dissenter who spoke at the Guinda event was valley retiree Paul Turnbull, who lamented the casino's impact on the environment.

"What was once a beautiful valley and creek is being destroyed for the purpose of pumping the last dollars out of the hands of suckers who are enticed to the gambling rooms," Turnbull said.

Takemoto responded that the casino would make more money in an urban area, but the tribal lands were in the Capay Valley.

"If I could put this in the middle of San Francisco, I would in a second, but the trust land is here," he said.

Some former critics say the positive comments reflect a feeling of relief that the hostile relationship between the tribe and valley residents has abated.

Still, it's an uneasy truce. Residents have little legal leverage with the tribe, which as a sovereign nation is generally immune to local regulation and lawsuits.

Frederick, for one, said he wasn't done fighting the casino, and intended to try to persuade the tribe to scale back plans for a 10-story tower.

Many residents are anxious about whether the casino will support a state Transportation Department plan to widen and straighten Highway 16 -- a move they say would alter the valley's character.

Muller said he and others feel sadness and frustration with the casino's presence in the valley but have resigned themselves.

"You juxtapose this world of speed and false hopes against the real risk that farmers take in planting a crop," he said.

Muller said he and his partners at Full Belly struggled over whether to sell to the casino but now send about 1 percent of their produce to Cache Creek.

"Do we say, 'No, we won't deal with them,' " he said. "Or do we say, 'Here's an opening to talk about the food you're serving and bring a whole different set of values into the conversation?' "

About the writer:

• The Bee's Hudson Sangree can be reached at (916) 321-1191 or hsangree@sacbee.com.