Published 10/22/1998

By Sam Delson
The Press-Enterprise
SACRAMENTO Rival campaigns battling over the Prop. 5 American Indian gaming initiative tried to silence the din of their opponents' television spots Wednesday, trading demands that stations stop broadcasting allegedly inaccurate ads.

California's ABC-owned TV stations in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Fresno temporarily stopped running a No on 5 ad that shows a wetland being bulldozed for construction of an Indian casino. But the ad was back on the air on at least two of the stations by the end of Wednesday after attorneys reviewed it.

The ad charges Prop. 5 gives tribes "a special deal" that makes them "exempt from environmental laws so they can dump sewage and toxic waste and pollute our air and water."

Yes on 5 attorney Frank Lawrence had written to every television station in the state Friday to demand the ad be withdrawn. Lawrence called it "false and defamatory" and said it "crosses the line between passionate political speech and outright unsupportable lies."

Indian casinos are required to follow federal environmental regulations but are exempt from state environmental laws. Under Prop. 5, that would not change.

"It's a misrepresentation to say that if Prop. 5 passes there will be an inability to enforce health and safety or environmental regulations at Indian casinos," said Mary D. Nichols, executive director of the Environment Now foundation and a former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency official. "It's a bogus issue."

No on 5 legal counsel Cathy Christian responded by sending stations a memo defending the ad. She said it accurately shows tribal casinos are exempt from state environmental laws and noted that some tribes have signed compacts with Gov. Wilson that require them to follow state regulations.

The No on 5 campaign said Wednesday that the three stations never formally dropped the ad. But ABC spokeswoman Julie Hoover at the network's New York headquarters said Wednesday afternoon that "the ads are not running at the present time."

Dudley Few, general sales manager at KFSN-TV in Fresno, said his station was holding the ad while it waited for the No on 5 campaign to provide substantiation for its claims. Few later said his attorneys had cleared the station to resume running the ad.

Mike Dempsey, account executive for political ads at KGO-TV in San Francisco, said ABC legal staff reviewed the ad and decided its accuracy was "ambiguous." Dempsey said his station never technically pulled the ad but conducted its review during a break of several hours between broadcasts.

Representatives of KABC-TV in Los Angeles declined to comment.

Both sides said Wednesday evening that they plan to launch new attacks challenging the accuracy of their opponents' advertisements.

No on 5 spokeswoman Gina Stassi said her campaign will send stations a letter this morning demanding they stop broadcasting a Yes on 5 ad that says Indian casinos "generate" $120 million in annual taxes.

"We're challenging their claim, because the reality is they don't pay state and local taxes," said Stassi, who added that the ad deliberately misrepresents a newspaper editorial by taking it out of context.

"If the spots are going to be examined for accuracy, then they should examine both sides," she said.

Indian casinos do not pay taxes on their profits because tribes are sovereign governments and use the profits to provide roads, schools and other benefits for their members. The Yes on 5 statement that tribes generate tax revenues refers to income taxes paid by casino employees.

Yes on 5 spokesman Steven Glazer said his campaign may challenge a new No on 5 ad that says Prop. 5 "guarantees Indian casinos never have to pay taxes on their profits."

Glazer called the ad "false and misleading," because the tax exemption for tribal casino profits is part of federal law and would not be affected by Prop. 5.

He said Yes on 5 strategists are discussing whether to formally ask stations to withdraw the ad.

Link to: California's Modern Indian War