Email Government Officials
| |
Urgent News
from
Jamulians Against the Casino |
Lakes' 2008 report is out
The interesting points are: Jamul is now listed as a 50/50 proposition (rather than the 85% certainty it has been) and the estimated completion date has been pushed to 2014!!!...
Here is the first installment of what the 10-K has to say about Jamul:
Effective March 30, 2006, we entered into a development financing and services agreement with the Jamul Tribe to assist the Jamul Tribe in developing the Jamul Casino which the Jamul Tribe will manage. The Jamul Casino project has been delayed due to various political and regulatory issues related to access from State Highway 94 to the proposed casino site. The Jamul Tribe first requested approval on a driveway road connection to State Highway 94, but was denied a permit by San Diego
County (the "County"). In addition, the California Department of Transportation ("CalTrans")
issued a letter to the Jamul Tribe indicating that it would not allow access to a casino operation from State Highway 94.
The Jamul Tribe has filed a federal complaint requesting the Federal Court to order CalTrans to cease its efforts to impede the Jamul Tribe from using its lands for economic development purposes. CalTrans responded to the complaint with a motion to dismiss based upon 11th amendment rights of sovereign immunity. A preliminary hearing on the issue was held on December 19, 2008, and the judge dismissed CalTrans' motion. CalTrans answered Jamul's complaint and denied the allegations. The parties met during February 2009 to discuss the situation. CalTrans indicated that they do not intend to block access to the reservation, however, the Jamul Tribe must proceed with an Environmental Impact Study which CalTrans would then consider for approval and issuance of the necessary permits. The Jamul Tribe is considering a stay of its federal lawsuit.
Lakes believes that the Jamul Tribe will ultimately prevail in this situation, but based on the typical duration of obtaining approvals of this nature, Lakes believes that a near-term resolution of the access issue is not probable. In addition, the local opposition to this project has not been resolved and Lakes current expectation is that issues associated with this opposition could cause further delays, even if resolution of access issues is achieved. These factors, in combination with the current general economic environment and probable difficulty of financing projects of this nature at desirable rates, have caused Lakes to lower its estimation of probability of eventual opening of this project to 50%, and adjust the projected opening date of this project to January 2014.
Thanks Mike Weber for posting the info!
(Read the Bill)
This legislation is a step towards the development of sound and well reasoned public policy on tribal gaming. Support for this legislation is helpful to all who are concerned with the acquisition of new lands for off reservation casinos. While this legislation is specific to the Lytton Band in San Pablo near San Francisco Bay, it is important to support legislation that requires newly acquired lands for gaming to process through a two-part determination. Discretionary land acquisitions or "two-part determinations" for gaming provide greater opportunity for communities of citizens, local and state government to assert their legitimate concerns over the development of a casino.
Please send a letter in support of S.338 to:
U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein Attn: Dan Wessel
331 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
FX: 202-228-3954 | |
|
JAC Community Alert
SDGE Substation Proposal
In August 2008 we told you of the unveiling of SDG&E's plans for a major substation and transmission lines they are planning to build in the center of downtown Jamul. The substation will supposedly be hidden by a 16-18 ft. block wall. The planned transmission lines from Rancho San Diego to Jamul would be steel poles, gunmetal gray or rust brown, 65 to 80 ft. tall and proposed to follow highway 94.
At the most recent Planning Group meeting SDG&E was asked about other sites in Jamul that would be of less impact than the Simpson property. They are looking at two possible properties in the Proctor Valley area. And we have discussed undergrounding the transmission and distribution lines. Progress is being made to get this project out of downtown Jamul.
Please attend the next sub-committee meeting on March 24th at 6pm at the Oak Grove Middle School Library. |
Supreme Court rules in big land-into-trust case
Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009
Tribes that weren't under federal jurisdiction in 1934 cannot follow the land-into-trust process of the Indian Reorganization Act, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today. By a 6-3 vote, the justices said the Interior Department can't acquire land for the Narragansett Tribe of Rhode Island because the tribe didn't gain federal recognition until 1983. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the majority opinion. "Because the record in this case establishes that the Narragansett Tribe was not under federal jurisdiction when the IRA was enacted, the Secretary does not have the authority to take the parcel at issue into trust," Thomas wrote.
Supreme Court Indian Trust Ruling Is Victory for States Seeking to Limit Casinos
Feb 24, 2009
The U.S. Supreme Court has limited the authority of the federal government to transfer land in trust for the benefit of Indian tribes. The decision is a victory for states seeking to prevent such transfers in an effort to control development on Indian lands, according to the Associated Press. The ruling today by Justice Clarence Thomas held that the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act applied only to tribes recognized by the federal government at the time the law was enacted, according to SCOTUSblog and AP. In the case before the court, Carcieri v. Salazar, the state of Rhode Island had argued the Narragansett Indian Tribe was not authorized to transfer 31 acres of federal land into a federal trust because it did not obtain federal tribal status until 1983. State officials feared the tribe wanted to build a casino on the site and that the transfer into the trust could remove state authority to ban construction. Guy Martin, a partner at Perkins Coie who was formerly commissioner of natural resources for Alaska, told the ABA Journal that today's decision could affect "dozens and dozens" of tribes that weren't recognized or under federal jurisdiction in 1934.
Read More... |
|
Please forward this newsletter to friends, coworkers and family. (use the link below) | |
|
|
|
