SACRAMENTO -- It now appears likely that there will be a television debate on Proposition 5, the Indian gambling initiative.
Both sides said Monday that they have accepted an invitation from the California Broadcasters Association to participate in a debate similar to the ones being hosted by the same group in the gubernatorial race.
Stan Statham, executive director of the nonprofit association, said he's now trying to work out the time, date, place and other details.
The debate is expected to be in mid-October. KESQ-TV in Palm Springs has offered its studio as the site for the debate, though no final decision has been made.
In a brief letter to Statham release Monday, opponents of the initiative accepted the invitation without suggestions about how it might be arranged.
Steve Glazer, a spokesman for proponents of the measure, said his side had agreed orally to the debate.
But he repeated a call by advocates of the proposition for their debate opponent to be an employee of Nevada casinos, which contributed most of the money to defeat the measure in the first half of this year.
"We agreed but suggested an honest debate would be Indians versus executives of Nevada casinos," Glazer said.
Statham said the choice of spokesmen is up to each side; otherwise, he added, his actions "could be interpreted as biasing the debate."