Opinion: California tribes face gaming backlash

Thursday, February 17, 2005  

"Indian casinos are generating an estimated $6 billion a year, so the marketplace is telling us that Californians like to gamble.

But some supporters of Indian gaming are concerned that high-profile controversies over proposed urban casinos could turn public sentiment against the tribes. When California voters passed propositions in 1998 and 2000 expanding Indian gaming, they did not envision the explosion of casinos and the inevitable push to be closer to gamblers.

'This has not been positive for the tribes,' said Joyce Burel, chairwoman of the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians, which operates the Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino in Coarsegold. 'If Indian gaming begins to happen outside the prescribed way that (voters) set up, we're vulnerable to a backlash.'"

Get the Story:
Jim Boren: Gaming tribes face backlash (The Oakland Tribune 2/17)