• Indian Casino Near Ridgecrest Ca
• Casinos Near Ridgecrest California
• Casinos Near Ridgecrest California

Council OKs Municipal Services Agreement ‘in concept,’ moves forward with land sale negotiations

TIMBISHA SHOSHONE CASINO PROJECT TRIBAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT The Proposed Project site (project site) is located near the northeast corner of the City of Ridgecrest (City) in Kern County. Ridgecrest Casino. Tribal Organization: Timbisha Shoshone Tribe. PROPOSED CASINO. RIDGECREST NATIVE AMERICAN ENTERTAINMENT & GAMING FACILITY. Ridgecrest, CA 93555 (760) 499-5000.

By BRIAN COSNER, News Review Staff Writer

After five public discussions, several of which ran for five-plus hours, the Ridgecrest City Council voted 4-1 to approve in concept a Municipal Services Agreement with the Timbisha Shoshone tribe, bringing the city one step closer to being home to an Indian gaming casino. The casino’s proposed location, directly adjacent to the Naval Air Weapons Station front gate, has been one of the most often cited concerns and will continue to be discussed throughout the land sale process.

Council made the decision during its regular May 18 meeting at City Hall. The chambers were again packed to the brim with community members sporting “casiNO” buttons, but significantly more holding supportive “#LetRCGrow” and “Vote Tonight” signs.

The majority approved the decision despite Councilman Jim Sanders’ objections that the MSA language was incomplete and that a public vote might be more appropriate.

“We don’t even have final language yet. How are we going to vote on this tonight?” Sanders asked, also mentioning that some of the changes had been known for only about five or six hours.

The council decided to approve the concept and leave the final language to City Attorney Keith Lemeiux.

The MSA outlines how the tribe will reimburse the city in lieu of property tax and what will be required of the tribe as far as local ordinances and environmental requirements needed when the land on which the casino will be built would become tribal land taken into trust by the federal government.

“We’re in a position to move forward,” began Lemeiux, who kicked off the discussion. “It’s actually been very helpful to have these meetings, and we’ve heard a lot of comments. As you know, we’ve been taking those comments back and discussing with the tribe, and that’s resulted in the agreement being strengthened for the city in a lot of respects.”

He discussed two items that were being altered at the last minute but still pending “final language.” The first change gives the city full indemnity given the hypothetical scenario of Ridgecrest being “dragged into” any kind of intertribal dispute. Language will be included making it understood that the tribe will pick up any and all defense costs regarding the validity of the MSA so that “we’re not buying litigation by entering into the agreement,” said Lemeiux.

The second change would require the tribe to adhere only to the municipal code as it exists currently. Any future changes to the municipal code would need to be agreed upon with the tribe in order to enforce the code against them.

Lemeiux said the concern was raised that a future city council could start making unreasonable regulations such as altering the municipal code to not allow casinos. The city and tribe would be required to come to an agreement on whether or not the change could be enforced on tribal land.

He specified that the city would not require the tribe’s approval to make any change to the code, only to enforce the change on the tribe.

“Asking them to allow us to enforce the municipal code is unique,” said Police Chief Ron Strand. “I don’t know of any other jurisdictions that are asking for that ability that have been granted that. So we’re actually asking for significantly more than what other jurisdictions have been able to do.”

Economic Development Manger Gary Parsons gave a presentation that more thoroughly outlined the economic benefits to the city and addressed some common concerns.

He addressed the concern that Ridgecrest would garner a “sin city” image like that of Las Vegas, but pointed out that California cities of Bishop and Lemoore had similarly sized casinos and had no such image.

In an attempt to quell concerns that there would be increased crime near the casino, Parsons reported that the most calls for police services in 2015 came from the Ridgecrest Regional Hospital (398 calls), Rose Garden Inn & Suites (360), Walmart (276) and McDonald’s (100) with the first bar, Schooners, trailing with 95 calls.

The casino would provide payment in lieu of property tax equal to 2 percent of the property value at a minimum of $100,000 per quarter or $400,000 per year plus $128,000 per year for “critical services” such as police, fire and emergency medical services. These payments would result in a minimum of $10 million over the course of 20 years.

Upon completion of Phase 2 of the project, which would add a hotel and steak house to the complex, annual revenue would increase to more than $1 million. However, the developer has not confirmed if and when Phase 2 would occur.

Parsons projected that the casino would bring in 65,000 visitors annually spending $125-225 daily, averaging more than $11 million annually. The projected 180 new jobs with an average annual salary of $38,500 would also result in nearly $7 million.

After continuing to factor in construction jobs and purchases from local businesses, Parsons projected that the indirect income for the local economy would result in nearly $20 million annually, a figure that the public did not easily digest.

“I believe that the presentation is fairly one-sided,” said David Coit during public comment. “I think there were a lot of assumptions, a lot of estimates on the pro sides with very little data on the negatives, including no estimated cost to the police force.

“In terms of the agreement – with the terms changing today, I think it would be irresponsible to vote on this today,” he added.

Indian Casino Near Ridgecrest Ca

“I think anything coming to town is fantastic,” said Wallace Martin. “We need some new tourism, we need some new life in town — new jobs. All the things I see on these slides look fantastic. The numbers look great; it really looks good.

“But here’s the deal – I’m a professional writer, I’m a marketing man, I’m a developer — and I understand that Mark Twain said, ‘There are lies, damn lies and statistics.’ Numbers have to be verified and validated, and I need to look at the sources … I don’t see too much data. We need data, source material, where these studies came from. I’d like to see that — both for the pros and the cons. I say it’s fabulous for the city — provided that all the numbers and all that cool stuff bears fruit and is actual.”

Public comment continued for several hours by both the casino’s opponents and its proponents who showed up in full force, outnumbering the opposition by about three to one.

Opponents of the casino continued to pose moral objections to bringing a “predatory” casino to Ridgecrest, raise concerns about an increase in crime and assert that casinos don’t actually produce anything beneficial to the economy.

Casino supporters stressed the importance of diversifying Ridge-crest’s economy and bringing more jobs and tourists to the valley. They also criticized the opposition for exaggerating the “gloom and doom” that a casino would bring. Supporters also criticized opponents for leaning on moral arguments in their objections, stressing that this is a business decision, not a moral decision.

Another unanswered question addressed was the fate of the property if for some reason the casino project failed. The tribe’s chairman, George Gholson, specified that the land will not actually be owned by the tribe, but will be in trust to the federal government. The tribe merely has permission to run commercial operations on the land.

Parsons reported that the tribe would most likely repurpose a failed casino building for some type of retail business.

If the tribe were to abandon commercial prospects for the land, it could ultimately be returned to the city, but it would be a years-long process, Gholson said.

“First of all, I don’t want to vote tonight,” said Sanders. “There is language that hasn’t been written into the MSA. I think that’s the responsible thing to do.”

Sanders said he would prefer to put the issue to a public vote on the November ballot to avoid alienating as much as half of the public.

“Never before have I had people ask to vote on a decision in the next election but I’ve had a lot of people say that here. The people are our boss. The only authority we have was given to us by them. So I don’t think it’s abdicating our responsibility because they’re asking for it.”

“I think it’s our job to make the tough decisions,” said Council-woman Lori Acton who disagreed with Sanders. “I just don’t think putting it off and dragging it out for months and months is an answer.”

“We either do it to benefit the city and the tribe or we don’t benefit at all and the tribe goes on their way,” said Councilman Mike Mower. “With that choice, I’ve got to vote to benefit the city. And I’m ready to vote tonight.”

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To those who spoke against the casino on morality issues, Council-man Eddie Thomas said he does not believe the Bible speaks directly to the issue of gambling. “I think the mayor has done an excellent job to bring people in to be heard as many times as possible,” he said. “I don’t know how much more we need to continue. I think it’s our responsibility as a council to make a decision. I think there are still some questions to be answered, but personally I think we’re ready to vote.”

“It is probably one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever made,” said Mayor Peggy Breeden, who said she had even received threats from some members of the community that they may no longer do business with her depending on her vote.

“But I do not believe you elected us to say, ‘It’s too hard’ or ‘It’s too divisive.’ Did we do it perfectly? Absolutely not. Everything said, was it the best way it possibly could have been done? Absolutely not. But we did what we thought we had to do to give you every opportunity to speak.

Casinos Near Ridgecrest California

“I think God’s saying, ‘Make a decision, folks.’ That’s what we were elected to do.”

Sanders was the lone dissenter on the vote. The decision was met by applause by the supporters, who outnumbered the opposition by about three to one that night.

Pictured: Residents show mixed support of and opposition to casino. -- Photo by Laura Austin