September 15, 1998

SACRAMENTO -- San Diego County's Pala band on Tuesday became the first tribe to line up against Proposition 5, the Indian gambling initiative backed by California's most powerful tribes.

Pala Chairman Robert Smith and Stan McGarr, the tribe's executive secretary, appear in a new television commercial panning the initiative that would legalize and allow an unlimited expansion of existing casino-style gambling on reservations.

Proposition 5's opponents trumpeted the development as a major coup, although Pala has been isolated and estranged from most of the state's gambling tribes for months.

Both sides undoubtedly will be carefully monitoring the impact of the new ad. For the first time, Californians will see and hear a chorus of Indians urging them to vote "no on 5."

Pala has no casino but has wanted to build one on its sprawling north county reservation for years. The band negotiated a comprehensive gambling compact, the first of its kind in the state, but was forced to fight other gambling tribes to win legislative ratification of the accord.

Ten other tribes, including San Diego's Barona, Sycuan and Viejas, have since signed similar compacts, although some continue to support the initiative.

The new television spot is intended to show that Proposition 5 is not necessary to permit tribal gambling in the state, said Cathy Christian, an attorney for the No on 5 coalition. Pala Chairman Smith also said the initiative would "surely" spawn casino-style gaming beyond California's tribal lands.

"Tribes would quickly lose their competitive advantage and end up again with poor locations and few customers," Smith said.

McGarr said passage of Proposition 5 would trigger a certain legal fight, which could jeopardize Pala's financing and delay for years the tribe's plans to open its own casino.

The initiative's supporters contend it would not interfere with Pala's compact or any other tribe that wants to negotiate different terms with the state.

Discounting Pala's stance, a spokesman for Proposition 5 said the measure is still supported by 85 tribes who represent 96 percent of the Indians living on California reservations.

"The big Nevada casinos cut a special deal with one tribe and now they're using them as part of their deceptive campaign against Proposition 5," said Ken Ramirez, vice chairman of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association.

Proposition 5 legalizes all existing games played at Indian casinos. That includes video slot machines and house-banked card games that otherwise are illegal in California.

The Pala compact, which is intended to serve as a model for the state, substitutes a lottery-based electronic game for the lucrative video slots. It also would limit the number of such games at each reservation and statewide.

"Pala worked long and hard to achieve an agreement with the state of California that carefully balances the legitimate interests and rights of tribes, law enforcement, local governments, communities, workers and patrons," McGarr said.

Proposition 5, he said, "does not allow for any compromise."

Link to: California's Modern Indian War

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