A Big THANK YOU to TVT for the real truth!

Thank You TVT!
From the bottom of my Heart!

The Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Verifiable Truth on who is buying influence in Barstow! TVT breaks with the TRUTH again!

It can be a bit overwhelming being on the front lines in the battle against the Barwest corruption. It is hard to sustain all the assaults by the Liar-in-Chief Tom Shields, Mayor Dale, and the entire BarWest Kool-Aid Club when you know they are vicious lies meant to smear you. I have been damaged and my business has suffered as a result. Their libel and slander has consequences and the damages include some despair over the whole experience. I always believe that the truth will eventually come out and in the meantime, having TVT tell the real truth goes a long way to feeling exonerated. Thank You so much TVT! Maybe now good people will recognize the truth and help us bring and end to the Barwest nightmare.

What they need to know is that they are really hurting the children that we are trying to help and protect. I moved to Barstow for the affordable housing for the children that we have taken on and adopted. There are a total of eight children that my wife and I have taken on that are children that are born into a nine month history of drug abuse. My children are but a sample of a couple million nation wide that the true victims of the failed 'war on drugs'. These children are mostly doomed to be living in perpetual foster care where they are likely to repeat the mistakes of their biological parents. My wife and I are the founders of the Earth Haven Foundations for Kids which is dedicated to finding adopted loving homes and together we are committed to ending this crisis and injustice toward children.

I support myself as a consultant in Economic Development, Project Management, Environmental and Natural Health Product Development, Publishing, and as a writer and a speaker.

These Barwest lies have hurt me financially and put my family and home at risk. But in a way, that is not as bad as the total climate of corruption that has hurt the entire community of Barstow economically and throught the loss of local democracy. Lots of Barstow citizens are barely getting by and desperately need the higher living standards that the hope of responsible, progressive development would bring. I know we can do better. Lots better but only if we take back our city from these corrupt politicians and the plague of the billionaire Detroit developers Barwest.

Having a distinguished 'whistle blowing' website like TVT and to whomever is dedicated enough to help expose the Barwest scandals and schemes, I really appreciate the recognition and the truth. I thank you! My kids thank you too!

Larry D. Halstead

Ps: Please support Ancestral Rights and Indian Sovereignty!

Here is the TVT Post!
Here is the Verifiable Truth!

From TheVerifiableTruth.com
http://www.theverifiabletruth.com/2007/09/barwests-buying-political-influence-in.html

BarWest’s Buying Political Influence in Barstow,
Make NO Mistake About That

Friday, September 14, 2007

2006 Barstow Political Cash
Detroit-based BarWest - $200,000
San Manuel Indian Tribe - $2,500

In Barstow recently, there has been much ado about a $2,500 contribution from the San Manuel Indian Tribe to Larry Halstead’s city council campaign in 2006.
It’s merely a BarWest/Dale smokescreen to divert attention away from the more than $200,000 spent by BarWest and directed by Mayor Lawrence Dale on Barstow political campaigns in 2006. And that does not include the more than $100,000 in court costs BarWest was ordered to pay when it tried to stop the re-call campaign of Paul Luellig and block voters from voting on the future of casinos in Barstow.

If you want to know why Mayor Lawrence Dale and his allies on the Barstow City Council won’t back any casinos other than those controlled by BarWest, take a look at the following political payments and campaign contributions made by the BarWest controlled political committee Barstow Citizens for Real Economic Development (BCRED). More than 93% of the approximately $200,000 spent by BCRED in 2006 was paid by BarWest principals, agents and their undisclosed partners (Las Vegas). And this doesn’t even include any gifts, business deals or contributions directly to the campaign committees of any of these officials.

Councilman Steve Curran
$3,883.50 efforts to support Curran for Council
$3,883.50 efforts opposing Gurule for Council
$7,767.00

Councilman Tim Silva
$2705.97 Printing, Newspaper Ad
Councilwoman Julie-Hackbarth McIntyre
$874.31 Newspaper Ad (total cost of ad $2,622.93)

Former Councilwoman Gloria Darling
$2002.17 Desert Signs

Planning Commissioner Mike Lewis
$1,699.93 Printing Solutions
$794.55 Quigley’s Restaurant
$2,494.48

Lint/Krommenhoek Families (Sean Lint, Stacey Krommenhoek, etc.)
$4,113.67

Desert Dispatch
$12,143.25
$3,497.18
$15,640.43


BarWest even had to pay the members of the Los Coyotes Indian Tribe to come to Barstow as “volunteers” for their political campaign. And yet, these same individuals criticize Larry Halstead for taking $2,500 from the San Manuel tribe toward his campaign for city council.

Chapparosa Family (Los Coyotes)
$1,650.00

Kupsch Family (Los Coyotes)
$1,050.00

And all the above represent the “known” payments to these elected officials, individuals and their companies that were required to be disclosed because they were funneled through the political committee BCRED. They don’t have to disclose anything paid to them directly from BarWest or its agents or their friends in Las Vegas who want to control the future of any Barstow casino.

In addition, there have been thousands in luxury jet travel, nights out on the town in Las Vegas, five course meals at the Four Seasons Hotel, tickets to sporting events, and lucrative land sales to family members that aren’t reported in the political campaign disclosures of these Barstow officials.

Friday, September 14, 2007

Hackbarth Family land value dependent on future of Barwest property

Approximately six months before Julie Hackbarth-McIntyre was elected to the Barstow City Council and during the campaign to defeat Measure H, her parents managed to participate in a syndicate that purchased a 2.2 acre parcel on speculation from the estate of Marie DeChellis for $100,000.00. The property is close to the proposed BarWest casino site. Now the future value of the Hackbarth family property is dependent upon what happens to the nearby BarWest property -- Or what a prospective buyer thinks is going to happen to the BarWest property.

Read the whole story here

Curran family land value dependent on future of Barwest property

Just months before Steve Curran was elected to the Barstow City Council and during the campaign to defeat Measure H, his family sold approximately 15 acres of property to BarWest LLC for an undisclosed amount (likely $25,000-$50,000 per acre or more). His family and their partners own another 11.5 acres directly connected to the BarWest controlled property. The future value of their property is directly dependent upon what happens to the adjacent BarWest property -- Or what a prospective buyer thinks is going to happen to the BarWest property.

Read the Whole Story Here

Breaking News - BARWEST COMPACTS DEAD

This just in……..

THE BARWEST COMPACTS
ARE DEAD!!!

As is often the case, The Verifiable Truth had it first. What, you were thinking you would hear about it first from the Desert Dispatch? Yeah right! Snap out of it.

On Saturday, September 08, TVT reported the news under the heading:
BREAKING NEWS: SB 157 has been gutted indicating the Barwest gaming Compacts for Barstow are DEAD!
"As of September 7, 2007, SB 157 "An act to add Sections 12012.53 and 12012.54 to the Government Code, relating to gaming" has been gutted by its author Senator Patricia Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa) and is now "An act to amend Sections 23356.1, 23399.6, and 25503.9 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to alcoholic beverages." [click here for full story]


You didn’t have to be psychic to predict this outcome. The only place that you could find anyone that believed in the ratification of these compacts was in the fantasy land of Barstow, home to the BarWest Kool-aid Club. Only there can you find people that ignore conventional political wisdom and buy into the lying spin being generated by BarWest Liar-in-Chief, Tom Shields.

And I am not sure that even they really believe it but when your under the influence of the greed-tainted Kool-aid, it is too traumatic to recognize reality even when you are being challenged with it from a big mouth like mine. A couple months ago, I challenged the Barstow City Council and the Kool-aid Club to find one single objective person who believed that the compacts stood a snow ball chance in hell of passing.

Watch the video

More recently, even the city’s own lobbyist, Nick Medeiros, was reporting that the compacts would die and was blaming the Governor’s total “lack of enthusiasm” as the principal target for the failure of the compacts. And this despite that the Governor’s signature on the compacts was touted as the number one reason that local redneck hillbillies and sell out politicians were using as their best reason for wanting to violate the Ancestral Rights of legitimate local tribes like the Chemehuevi.

Of course the ONLY real news here is that in an act of euthanasia, one of the two authors of the bill, Senator Wiggins, pulled the plug on the bill a full ten days prior to the compacts natural
death when they were scheduled to expire on September 17.

One can only speculate as to why she held the pillow over this terminal patient and choked the last breath out prematurely. Since we are unlikely to ever get the real story out of Senator Wiggins, and we know we will never get the truth out of the BarWest politicians in Barstow, let us take a moment to speculate shall we?

1. Could it be that the Senator has suddenly come to her senses about her role in the assault on the Ancestral Rights of the legitimate local tribes of Barstow and is now embarrassed that as a Democrat she has abandoned the core Democrat values of standing up for Indian Sovereignty?

2. Could it be that she could no longer justify her involvement in the BarWest schemes after Big Lagoon Chairman Virgil Moorehead announced a couple of months ago that he was pulling out of the BarWest con game in pursuit of a legitimate casino project in Big Lagoon country?

3. Could it be that she no longer wants to be associated with sell out politicians like Mayor Dale, Council Member Hackbarth-Silva, and Councilman Silva or sleazy, lying, political hacks like Tom Shields?

4. Or is it possible that with the on-going investigations into the multiple campaign violations of BarWest partner Michael Malik by the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) which could easily implicate her as the top out-of-state donor to Wiggins 2006 campaign just prior to her signing on as one of the two authors of SB 157 the BarWest Compact legislation?


Fresh after paying a $6,500 fine for failing to report a $26,600 contribution to then Congressman Richard Pombo's County GOP Committee, Malik was desperate to find a last minute stooge to author his Reservation Shopping Bill. Now, amongst other issues, the FPPC is also investigating the fact that Malik made two contributions to Sen. Wiggins campaign in the Fall of 2006 which he again failed to report to the FPPC and which exceeded the aggregate amount he could contribute to Wiggins in the last election cycle. Malik was the top out of state donor to Wiggins 2006 campaign.

All of this has left Barstow officials scampering for cover since any comprehensive investigations will inevitably lead to the City of Barstow. And we have already documented inconsistencies, under reporting and other wrong doing in the BarWest meddling in our election process and the death of local democracy.

But by now, nobody expects that we have seen the last of Tom Shields and the BarWest thirst for Reservation Shopping schemes. As the saying goes: “you break it, you own it”. With hundreds of thousands of dollars that BarWest has spent buying politicians and influence in Barstow, we know that the billionaire Detroit developer doesn’t plan on pulling up stakes this soon.

Many of us have been speculating as to what the ‘Plan B’ will be for the local chapter of the BarWest Kool-aid Club that they have in motion, once it was uncovered that Big Lagoon would no longer be part of their schemes. But even before that, we knew that they were leaving the door open for other possibilities. BarWest was never in any hurry to turn the land over to the tribes and the sign announcing the project never bore the names of the two tribes.

"Barwest Gaming" sign in Barstow but no tribe names
Now Big Lagoon is gone and Los Coyotes
don't qaulify for a 'stand-along' project

Now they have an eleventh hour media blitz that they are running in selective districts where key legislators reside.

Watch the Video

However, even as the Barstow politicians were embarrassing themselves and the city by acting like paid lobbyist and pawns in Sacramento, BarWest and Los Coyotes were working on a stand-alone project for the Los Coyotes tribe. This despite the fact that the Governor is tired of this whole albatross that has dragged him through the BarWest Reservation Shopping mud and has already ruled that the Los Coyotes do not qualify for a stand-alone project in Barstow.



On September 5, while Barstow’s sell out politicians were knocking on doors in Sacramento, John Myers of KQED reported on his “Capitol Notes” that the Los Coyotes has reopened negotiations with Governor Schwarzenegger’s office for a stand-alone project. He also reports confirms what we have been saying for awhile now. The Governor was stuck with this albatross insider deal.

His lack of enthusiasm stems from his strong stance that the Governor took against the evil of Reservation Shopping prior to getting suckered into signing the compacts. Even the Big Lagoon Chairman came to understand that the Governor didn't really want it and neither did the local tribes and that it was a bad idea all along. I feel that by moving ahead on his own Ancestral lands Chairman Moorehead takes the honorable path and restores any integrity that the tribe might have loss due to their mere association with this greedy Detroit developer.

I salute you Chairman Moorehead!

Thanks John for getting the story and getting it right. The following passages from John's blog say the whole story! [Read the full story on John's Blog Here]

"Meantime, the vice-chairman of San Diego's Los Coyotes, Shane Chapparosa, told reporters that his tribe has now begun separate negotiations with the governor's office for a solo Barstow casino. The governor's office won't confirm whether that's the case."

At a news conference this morning at the state Capitol, the tribes announced an 11th hour media campaign, with a TV ad that they say will be broadcast in Sacramento, the Bay Area, and Los Angeles over the next few days.


But there's no indication that the casino deals will be ratified before legislators adjourn for the year early next week. While the two tribes signed formal casino compacts with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2005, those compacts have been in limbo in the Legislature ever since. Critics say the projects might set a precedent for tribal casinos on non-tribal land. And several politically powerful tribes in southern California say that's why they oppose the casino deal -- even though Los Coyotes and Big Lagoon accuse those tribes of being more concerned about casino competition in the region.

So what's happened since late May?

"A lot's happened," said Big Lagoon chairman Virgil Moorehead, alluding to the ratification of amended casino deals for some of the tribes opposing his project.

"Our [compact] got pushed down, kind of to the bottom of the barrel. Why did it get pushed down to the bottom of the barrel? Because these tribes don't want us down there.

Moorehead also said he thinks Schwarzenegger hasn't done enough to cajole legislators into ratifying the deal, an accusation the governor's office disputes.

Meantime, the vice-chairman of San Diego's Los Coyotes, Shane Chapparosa, told reporters that his tribe has now begun separate negotiations with the governor's office for a solo Barstow casino. The governor's office won't confirm whether that's the case."

Read the full story her on the John Myers, KQED Blog Here.

All of this is going to be great fodder for major fireworks at the up-coming September 17 Barstow City Council which just happens to be the date that the compacts were scheduled to expire on their own. Ah, only in Barstow!

The Barwest Kool-aid Club

The sign outside the BarWest Kool-aid Club House

The BarWest Kool-Aid Club
Barstow Chapter

Captain 'Kool-aid Shields' explains to his BarWest Kool-aid Club
how he has been lying all along and the compacts are now dead

When speaking out against the BarWest influence of corruption in Barstow and the blind allegiance by which people have been bamboozled into following Tom Shields directives in supporting these compacts, I often use the term “BarWest Kool-Aid Club”. Usually I will be using that expression when at the City Council meetings and I am being limited to three minutes with about an hour of information that I would like to be covering.

'Captain Kool-aid', aka Tom Shields,
explains his strategy to the Kool-aid Club,
for how he plans to deal with anyone
who dares to oppose the BarWest Compacts

When I have used the term, I feel that it should be clearly obvious just from the context even if one is ignorant of what happened with Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple in Guyana or the history of the expression, “drinking the Kool-aid”, that preceded that mass suicide. But as obvious as it is to me, the term still seems to elude many members of the club and even those that do not support BarWest. So it seems incumbent upon me to offer an explanation for those who still haven’t caught on.

Scientific Fact: 98.5%
of all members of the BarWest Kool-aid Club
are also faithful views of Bill O'reilly. The
other 1.5% don't have cable in their trailers

So to those who still suffers from some degree of ambiguity regarding my use of the term “BarWest Kool-Aid Club”, I offer the following explanation of my use, a background on Kool-Aid the product, a brief explanation of the term, “drinking the Kool-aid”, and a rendition of the story of Jim Jones and the People’s Temple in Guyana, complete with a YouTube video on the whole event.



Explanation of my use of the expression: “The BarWest Kool-aid Club”
By definition, a cult’s leader wields tremendous influence over his followers. But as the German people proved in the case of Adolph Hitler, the blind sheep syndrome is not limited to religious cults. Likewise, in the world of big money, greed can be the driving force behind blind allegiance. This is evidenced in situations like pyramid schemes and multi-level marketing. Amway ‘sales associates’ are often made fun of as having a giant A tattooed on their forehead while their product line is the only conversation that they are capable of talking about.

In Barstow we have a phenomena where BarWest comes to town in the form of Tom Shields. The next thing you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars are thrown around and a line forms of local leaders who line up to drink the Kool-aid and they instantly start shouting the praises of BarWest. Next thing you know Mayor Dale is flying around in a BarWest Lear Jet to lobby on their behalf. President of the Chamber of Commerce Tim Silva puts the Chamber up for sale as a public relations firm for BarWest in a deal to become the next City Councilman. Business leaders across town start worshiping at the throne of BarWest. And anyone who dares to speak ill of their god is chastised and ostracized.

Background on the development of Kool-Aid the product

Kool-Aid was invented by a Gerard and Edwin Perkins in Hastings, Nebraska. In Hastings, Nebraska. Its predecessor was a liquid concentrate called Fruit Smack. To reduce shipping costs, in 1927, Perkins discovered a way to remove the liquid from Fruit Smack, leaving only a powder. This powder was named Kool-Ade (and a few years later, it was renamed 'Kool-Aid' due to a change in government regulations regarding the need for fruit juice in products using the term "Ade"). Perkins moved his production to Chicago in 1931 and Kool-Aid was sold to General Foods in 1953. The artificially flavored drink is now owned by the Kraft Foods Company.


A brief explanation of the term, “drinking the Kool-aid”
It seemed as though Kool-Aid could turn water into a yummy drink even though it was obvious Kool-Aid contained no fruit, just sugar and an assortment of preservatives. Kool-Aid’s colors are aesthetically pleasing – bright red, blue, green, etcetera. At around $.25 for a packet which can fill an entire pitcher, the expense for the package of sugar seemed small indeed which was an incentive for mom, of course. Overall, Kool-Aid was the ideal drink for an unknowing kid and because it is saturated with sugar who would notice if a cup of Kool-Aid was laced with bitter cyanide.

Even prior to Jim Jones and 909 inhabitants of Jonestown, 276 of them children, died in what has commonly been labeled a mass suicide, the expression of “Drinking the Kool-Aid” used to connote the dangerous influences over souls by the workers of iniquity and to guard against their wiles. It was a warning of evil into an everyday habit of imbibing whatever nonsense accompanies that which is cheap, looks good and smells good.

Ever since the mass suicide of the followers of Jim Jones in Guyana, “Drinking the Kool-Aid” has now morphed to the point that it represents revolutionary suicide because of the tragedy at People’s Temple.


The story of Jim Jones, the People’s Temple, and the mass suicides in Guyana



James Warren "Jim" Jones was born in 1931, in Lynn, Indiana. He became a preacher in the 1950s. He sold pet monkeys door-to-door to raise the money to fund his own church that would be named Wings of Deliverance, which he later renamed the Peoples Temple and was located in Indianapolis. He gained respectability when he became an ordained minister in 1964 in the mainstream Christian denomination of Disciples of Christ.

After leaving Indiana, the Peoples Temple cult built its home in Redwood Valley, California, because Jones believed it was one of the few places in the world likely to survive a nuclear holocaust. Jones authored a booklet, called "The Letter Killeth" pointing out what he felt were the contradictions, absurdities, and atrocities in the Bible, but the booklet also stated that the Bible contained great truths.

He was particularly fascinated with how he could manipulate people. Rather than quitting after he got what he wanted, Jones pushed the envelope to see just how far he could go before the person objected. Throughout the years the young man perfected his craft and was very skilled in his new found art. He claimed to be an incarnation of Jesus, Akhenaten, Buddha, Lenin, and Father Divine and performed supposed miracle healings to attract new members. Members of Jones' church called Jones "Father" and believed that their movement was the solution to the problems of society and many did not distinguish Jones from the movement. The group gradually moved away from the mainstream.


In the summer of 1977, Jones and most of the 1000 members of the Peoples Temple moved to Guyana from San Francisco after an investigation into the church for tax had begun. Jones named the closed settlement of Jonestown after himself. His intention was to create an agricultural utopia in the jungle, free from racism and based on socialist principles.

People who had left the organization prior to its move to Guyana told the authorities of brutal beatings, murders and of a mass suicide plan, but were not believed. In spite of the tax evasion allegations, Jones was still widely respected for setting up a racially mixed church which helped the disadvantaged. Around 70% of the inhabitants of Jonestown were black and impoverished.

In November 1978, Congressman Leo Ryan led a fact-finding mission to the Jonestown settlement in Guyana after allegations by relatives in the U.S. of human rights abuses. Ryan's delegation arrived in Jonestown on November 15 and spent three days interviewing residents. The delegation left hurriedly on the morning of Saturday November 18 after an attempt was made on Ryan's life by a man armed with a knife. The attack was thwarted, bringing the visit to an abrupt end. Congressman Ryan and his people succeeded in taking with them roughly 15 Peoples Temple members who had expressed a wish to leave. At that time, Jones made no attempt to prevent their departure. However, Peoples Temple survivors reported that a group from Jonestown left shortly afterwards in a truck with the intention of stopping the delegation and members from leaving the country alive.

Surviving delegation members later told police that, as they were boarding two planes at the airstrip, the truckload of Jones' armed guards arrived and began to shoot at them. It was here that Ryan was shot and killed. At the same time, one of the supposed defectors, drew a weapon and began to fire on members of the party. When the gunmen left, six people were dead.

Later that same day, 909 of the remaining inhabitants of Jonestown, 276 of them children, died in what has commonly been labeled a mass suicide. However, there is much ambiguity over whether many who died committed suicide or were in fact murdered. Some followers obeyed Jones' instructions to commit "revolutionary suicide" by drinking cyanide-laced grape flavored Kool-aid. Others died by forced cyanide injection or by shooting. Jones was found dead sitting in a deck chair with a gunshot wound to the head, although it is unknown if he had been murdered or committed suicide. The autopsy on his body showed levels of the barbiturate pentobarbital that could have been lethal to humans who have not developed a tolerance to the drug.

Watch the Video:

PLEASE DO Contact Our Leaders in Sacramento!

NOTICE
ACTION ALERT!!!

Please Do Contact Your State Representatives: Support Ancestral Rights! Do it TODAY!

As part of the BarWest Media Blitzkrieg and All-Out Lobbying Campaign to resurrect the compacts that were long ago pronounced Dead on Arrival, liar-in-chief Tom Shields is asking Barstow residents to contact the legislature. I agree, but for quite the opposite reasons.

The Big Lagoon Tribe has already pulled out of the project in favor of doing a casino project of their own by their reservation in Humboldt. The Governor has already ruled that the Los Coyotes Tribe did not qualify for the project on their own. The City of Barstow’s own lobbyist, Nick Medieros, has blamed the total lack of enthusiasm on the part of the Governor as the principal factor responsible for the failure of the compacts. Even the two authors of the bill have acknowledge that they are dead and that their support was always reluctant and half-hearted.

Of course we know that it was an insider deal that got the Governor stuck with this Reservation Shopping albatross in the first place. We NOW have the benefit of first hand experience about the BarWest style of buying influence. We NOW know about the corrupting nature of the billionaire Detroit developers that make a practice of violating Ancestral Rights while they peddle their Reservation Shopping schemes.

Please DO Contact our leaders in Sacramento!

TELL THEM: That you want them to say no to the Assault on Ancestral Rights.

TELL THEM: That you want to put an end to the climate of corruption that they have created in Barstow.

TELL THEM: That we support Native Americans and their fight for self determination through Indian gaming on their Ancestral Lands

TELL THEM: That they should ignore our sell-out Barstow Council Members who have been bought and paid for by BarWest and are now doing their bidding as paid lobbyist in violation of the Brown Act and in violation of all ethics and laws against conflict of interest.

AND FINALLY: Tell them that BarWest and these corrupt local politicians have stolen our democracy in Barstow and that we desperately need an investigation to restore ethics and the voice of the people in Barstow. Let them know we need their help so that the corrupt corporate influence is stopped now.

We need their help and the future of our city depends on you contacting them to tell them that BarWest does not speak for you and Mayor Dale, and the other two BarWest pawns do not represent your voice or your future.

For your convenience here is the contact information for the Senate President pro Tem Don Perata; Speaker of the Assembly, Fabian Nunez; and the list of members of the Senate and Assembly Government Organizational Committees:

Please DO Contact Our Leaders!
Let them know we need their help now!!!

Senate President pro Tem Don Perata
D-East Bay
Senate District 09
Email: Senator.Perata@sen.ca.gov
Web site: http://dist09.casen.govoffice.com
State Capitol Room 205
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 651-4009








Speaker of the Assembly, Fabian Nunez
D-Los Angeles
Assembly District 49
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0046
(916) 319-2046

Assemblymember.Nunez@assembly.ca.gov

CA Senate Governmental Organization Committee
[meets every 2nd and 4th Tuesdays at 9:30 am in Room 31 91.]

Senate GO Committee
(916)651-1530
1020 N Street
Suite 584
Sacramento, CA 95814

JURISDICTION: Bills relating to state government organization, horseracing public gaming, the National Guard, alcoholic beverages, and management of public safety emergencies and disaster response, and legislation permitting the use of state-controlled lands. Bills that have been considered by other committees having jurisdiction of the appropriate subject, for consideration of any question relating to state government.

Members:

Senator Dean Florez
Chair of the Senate Government Organization Committee
Senate District 16th
Email: Dean.Florez@sen.co.gov
http://dist16.casen.govoffice.com/
State Capitol, Room 5061
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 651-4016




Senator Jim Battin
State Capitol, Room 3060
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 651-4037
Fax: (916) 327-2187
Email: Jim.Battin@sen.ca.gov







Senator Abel Maldonado
State Capitol, Room
4082 Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-651-4015
Fax: 916-445-8081
Email: Abel.Maldonado@sen.ca.gov












Senator Gloria Negrete McLeod
State Capitol, Room 2059
Sacramento, CA 95814
San Bernardino Office
357 West Second Street, Suite 1
San Bernardino, CA 92401
Email: @sen.ca.gov






Senator Edward Vincent D-SD 25
State Capitol, Room 5052
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone:(916) 651-4025
Fax:(916) 445-3712
Email: Edward.Vincent@sen.ca.gov






Senator Pat Wiggins SD-2
D- Santa Rosa
State Capitol, Room 4081
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 651-4002
Fax: (916) 323-6958











Senator Mark Wyland SD-38
N. San Diego Co. & S. Orange Co.
State Capitol #4066
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 651-4038
Fax: (916) 446-7382











Senator Leland Y. Yee, Ph.D. SD-8
D-San Francisco/San Mateo
State Capitol, Room 4048
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 651-4008

Assembly Government Organization Committee

Committee phone (916) 319-2531

Alberto Torrico - Chair Dem-20
(916) 319-2020
Assemblymember.torrico@assembly.ca.gov

George A. Plescia - Vice Chair Rep-75
(916) 319-2075
Assemblymember.plescia@assembly.ca.gov

Charles M. Calderon Dem-58
(916) 319-2058
Assemblymember.Calderon@assembly.ca.gov

Kevin de Leon Dem-45
(916) 319-2045
Assemblymember.deLeon@assembly.ca.gov

Noreen Evans Dem-7
(916) 319-2007
Assemblymember.Evans@assembly.ca.gov

Bonnie Garcia Rep-80
(916) 319-2080
Assemblywoman.garcia@assembly.ca.gov

Kevin Jeffries Rep-66
(916) 319-2066
Assemblymember.Jeffries@assembly.ca.gov

Lloyd E. Levine Dem-40
(916) 319-2040
Assemblymember.levine@assembly.ca.gov

Tony Mendoza Dem-56
(916) 319-2056
Assemblymember.Mendoza@assembly.ca.gov

Anthony J. Portantino Dem-44
(916) 319-2044
Assemblymember.Portantino@assembly.ca.gov

Curren D. Price Jr. Dem-51
(916) 319-2051
Assemblymember.Price@assembly.ca.gov

Jim Silva Rep-67
(916) 319-2067
Assemblymember.Silva@assembly.ca.gov

Nell Soto Dem-61
(916) 319-2061
Assemblymember.Soto@assembly.ca.gov

Van Tran Rep-68
(916) 319-2068
Assemblymember.tran@assembly.ca.gov

My Commentary on the BarWest Media Blitzkrieg

As the desperate Detroit billionaire BarWest and their partners the Desperate Barstow Politicians Unleash Massive Media Campaign and all out Lobbying Effort

Emails, campaign adds on YouTube, and major lobbying efforts by Mayor Dale, Council Members Hackbarth-McIntire and Silva spreading their distortion, deception, and outright lies in Sacramento. The shameless sell out of our council as the pawns and puppets of BarWest is in full operation.

The Barstow City Council Lobbyist
for BarWest Scramble to State Capitol

King Dale, Prince Silva, and Princess Hackbarth of BarWest fantasyland are busy playing the role of pawns and puppets while they embarrass themselves in front of Sacramento Democrats that are wise to BarWest and not about to compromise their values in favor of these Republican Sell Outs!

Fresh after the recent outing of Mayor Lawrence Dale as the total pawn and spokesperson for the corrupt, right-wing BarWest corporate interest, by Councilman Joe Gomez at a ‘Special Meeting‘ of the Barstow City Council, a massive media campaign by billionaire Detroit Developer BarWest has the Mayor running off to Sacramento with fellow pawns and puppets, Julie Hackbarth McIntire and Tim Silva.

BarWest Pawn Mayor Dale

This BarWest project was a nonstarter all along

This was a nonstarter because Reservation Shopping is the worst violation of Ancestral Rights. Those are sacred rights that Native Americans have shed blood and life over a 250 year history. No matter what people think about gaming, Indian gaming has made major progress in lifting Native Americans our of dire poverty and able to empower them to have a seat at the table and bargain from a position of strength. As far as I am concerned we owe them so much more that this is still just a start of how we can restore these people and preserve their culture. This is why I am in this fight and for no other reason. I have fought hard for other issues involving civil rights and this feels no different in any way.

But Democrat leaders in Sacramento are intimately aware of the sacred nature of Ancestral Rights. They are aware of the strong opposition from the vast majority of Native Americans that are opposed to the threat of Reservation Shopping. Democrats know how Native Americans are a vital part of the core of our party’s base. Most importantly they know how Indian gaming as done much to raise the standard of living for Native Americans and empowered them with a voice at the table to protect their Ancestral Rights from greedy developers, governors, and sell out politicians like we have in Barstow.

BarWest Partners

BarWest had to work over time to find anyone willing to author the last compact bill. After speaking with Senator Ashburn’s office, it was disclosed to me by his staff that the Senator doesn’t really support the idea of Indian gaming in Barstow. He has his arm twisted into authoring the bill only because he believes that it should be decided at the local level and he bought the BarWest lie that 81% of the Barstow residents support these compacts. Still even he was convinced that they would fail even as he reluctantly agreed to author the bill.

BarWest was only able to get Senator Pat Wiggins [D- Santa Rosa] to sign on after contributing thousands of dollars to her campaign. She too has been total lacking in her support her signature on the bill. She has done little or nothing to move the bill along and she predicted the bills failure weeks ago. Nonetheless, as a Democrat she should be held accountable for taking BarWest money and then joining the attack against the Ancestral Rights of local legitimate tribes. She should be ashamed and retract her support sooner rather than later.


Governor’s Signature wasn’t ever worth Squat

Before the governor’s signature was yet dry, BarWest, the Los Coyotes, Mayor Dale, his puppets Tim and Julie, along with the entire BarWest Kool-Aid Club of Barstow have constantly parroting the same phrase over and over again like trained monkeys. “It is the ONLY compact that has the signature of the governor.” Ever since the first chanting of that BarWest mantra, I have been pointing out to the Council that the governor’s signature wasn’t worth the wrapper on a stick of gum. I keep trying to educate them on Poli Sci 101 that if the legislature has to ratify these compacts and the legislature is dominated by Democrats then it is NEVER, NEVER going to happen.

Now we find out from the city’s own lobbyist (a solid member of the Kool-Aid club) Nick Medeiros, in a memo dated August 22, 2007 that the blame for the failure is being laid in large part to the total “lack of interest on the part of the governor”.

So the number one argument in why everyone should drink some Kool-Aid and then line up to support these corrupt Detroit billionaire schemes to assault the Ancestral Rights of local legitimate tribes, turns out to be crumbling into the reality that the signature never represented anything more that a total “lack of interest on the part of the governor.” Such a sting of lies, deception, and distortion of the truth should NEVER be rewarded with the ratification of these fatally flawed compacts. I trust in the strong values and experience from Democrats in Sacramento to see through this extreme case of attempted Reservation Shopping.

Sacramento Democrats Protecting Ancestral Rights Against Reservation Shopping from Greedy Developers and Corrupt Barstow Council

And so far, Democrats in Sacramento (except Senator Pat Wiggans) have not disappointed me. They have stood with the sanctity of Ancestral Rights and against the threat of Reservation Shopping. Chairman Wood of the Chemehuevi Tribe was reporting to the Barstow City Council on August 20 regarding a recent trip he had made to the State’s capitol in Sacramento. After meeting with members of the Democratic and Republican Caucuses, the Governor’s office, and members of the two Government Organization Committees, he was told that there was ZERO support for the failed BarWest compacts and that not only was nobody talking seriously about their passage but that it didn’t even qualify as idle chatter in the hallways.

The Government Organization (G. O.) Committees

In the legislative process, the Senate Government Organization Committee and the Assembly Government Organization Committee are the two gate keeper committees that are designed to vet the issues involved in state bills and decide whether they are worthy to be passed on to the legislature at large for ratification.









Senator Florez

Assemblyman Horton

The Chair of the Assembly G.O. Committee, Assemblyman Jerome Horton and Senator Dean Florez, Chair of the Senate G.O. Committee were both brilliant in their handling of these compacts when they came in front of their respective committees. They saw through the hypocrisy of BarWest arguments and exposed the BarWest schemes of Reservation Shopping. In the end, these compacts were killed by the principals of Ancestral Rights that protect Native Americans from the deceit campaigns of the greedy Detroit billionaire developers.
While the compacts were going through these committees, I made a point of making contact with members of the two G.O. Committees and sending them the relevant information about the BarWest corruption and influence peddling in Barstow.

Last October, just before the November elections, I personally met with Assembly Member Gloria Negrete McLeod, who was on the Assembly Government Organization Committee as the BarWest Compacts were being heard. At that time, she had just received a $2100 campaign contribution from BarWest partner Michael Malik. I wanted to make sure that she was aware of the true right-wing nature of this greedy Detroit billionaire developer. She was not personally aware of the contribution but she was emphatic in letting me know that nobody was going to buy her vote. Furthermore, she confided to me that it was all a mute point because in her words: “members of the G.O. Committee were on to BarWest and were not about to be duped by their tactics”. In other words, these compacts were dead back then and that’s the way they were going to stay - dead and buried.






Assembly Member
Gloria McLeod


Tom Shields, the ‘Carl Rove’ of the BarWest Nightmare in Barstow

The new campaign, which has been secretly in the planning stages for the past several months, was unfurled in a media blitz and all out lobbying effort on the part of these sell-out politicians that have been bought and paid for by BarWest. The comprehensive strategy operation is the work of the chief spin doctor Tom Shields who serves as the ‘Carl Rovian’ mastermind behind BarWest campaigns across the country.

The Liar-in Chief for BarWest is also the bullshit artist behind the anti “Measure H Hurts Barstow” campaign, the distorted, deceptive campaign election of Council Members Julie and Tim and the fantasy campaign of ‘Keep Hope Alive’ that these long dead compacts ever stood a snow ball’s chance in hell of ever being passed.

BarWest Spin Doctor
'Shady Shields'

More recently, ‘Shady Shields’ is the liar who is also master minding the attack against me with a smear campaign to silence me. He said that I tied to extort him into giving me a bunch of money to keep me from going to “the other side”. In a lifetime of fighting for social justice, I am used to dealing with slime like him. What saddens me and makes me angry is that he has played on human greed to bring dishonor upon the Los Coyotes.



Conflict of Interest not a problem for Barstow Politicians -
They live in BarWest fantasy land

The extensive Conflict of interest involved in these shameless politicians, having had their campaigns run by Tom Shields and financed largely by BarWest has NEVER given them a restless night nor dampened their assault on the sacred Ancestral Rights of local legitimate tribes, especially the Chemehuevi. While these Barstow politicians are behind the false allegations of me being a being a paid hack for “the other side”, they make it obvious that there is something in it for them that goes way beyond being given a seat on the council. Their zealous attitude in dropping all other business to run up to Sacramento at the smallest snap of the fingers from BarWest has made them totally transparent that their blind loyalty is light years above any possible real concern for the citizens of Barstow.

BarWest Stooge
Council Member Silva

It begs the question of how much it cost to get a politicians to violate those sacred Ancestral Right of local tribes such as the Chemehuevi. The Native American Heritage Commission is now calling for Attorney General Jerry Brown to get involved. It is way past time for and investigation by his office along with the U. S. Attorney’s Office and the Public Integrity office of the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office. And yet these guys are blatantly demonstrating that they have no shame and that their greed will get them running at a moments notice.












BarWest Stooge
Council Member McIntire

This thing is going to DIE a fitting DEATH big time and now these guys are up in Sacramento lobbying as if they were high paid pawns on the BarWest payroll. And they wonder why this town has a history of being economically depressed or why we are the laughing stock of everyone in the real world. Tim and Julie have ZERO qualifications or background that would ever equip them to serve as effective leaders of the people, much less to live up to the promise that BarWest sold them in their campaign literature as “The Turn Around Team”.

Larry Dale, Julie (Del Taco) Hackbarth-McIntire, and Silva have some explaining to do about the details of what’s in it for them. Nobody is so stupid as to believe that you would make yourself vulnerable for indictment, recall, or other prosecution just because you think it is ok to commit gross violations of Ancestral Rights with the most extreme example of the evil of Reservation Shopping to ever be proposed anywhere. Larry, Julie, and Tim, you need to know that everyone in Sacramento is laughing at you playing the role of puppet and pawn for BarWest.

It is time for the truth to come out!
It is Time for Investigations,
Recalls and Indictments!

Operation Desperate BarWest Media Blitz

HOT OFF THE WIRE
DIRECT FROM
THE PRESS ROOM:

Desperate BarWest, Desperate Politicians Unleash Massive Media Campaign and all out Lobbying Effort

Emails, campaign adds on YouTube, and major lobbying efforts by Mayor Dale, Council Members Hackbarth-McIntire and Silva spreading their distortion, deception, and outright lies in Sacramento. The shameless sell out of our council as the pawns and puppets of BarWest is in full operation.

Here is the Media Coverage of the BarWest’s “Operation Media Blitz and All Out Last Minute Lobbying Campaign”:

INDEX

BarWest/ Los Coyotes ad on YouTube, and select TV markets
The YouTube Video version of the television advertisement

The Desert Dispatch story of 9.5,7
Casino Backers Try Last Minute Effort to Pass Compacts

Business Wire Press Release of 9.5.07
PRESS RELEASE Tribes Fronting for Detroit Billionaires Launch Media Campaign to Urge Passage of Barstow Compacts

TheVerifiableTruth.com Editorial of 9.5.07 and 9.6.07
Who's behind the political ads launched by Detroit-based BarWest in California this week and what's their true motivation?

Billionaire Detroit Casino Syndicators with ties to Las Vegas have launched CA Ad Campaign against Established Gaming Tribes

The Times Standard
Time is Running Out for Barstow Compact by Jessie Faulkner

The San Bernardino Sun
Tribes launch TV campaign for Barstow casinos

BarWest/ Los Coyotes Commercial
on YouTube, and select TV markets

The Desert Dispatch story of 9.5,7

Casino backers try last minute effort to pass compacts

By JASON SMITH, staff writer With about a week left in the 2007 legislative session, supporters of one proposed off-reservation Indian casino in Barstow are trying one final push to get the state legislature’s approval before the agreements expire.

State senators, Mayor Lawrence Dale, and representatives of the Big Lagoon Rancheria and Los Coyotes Indian tribes met in Sacramento on Wednesday to announce a renewed effort to lobby legislators to pass the compacts with the tribes to build a casino in Barstow. The compacts, signed by the governor on Sept. 9, 2005, will expire if not passed by Sept. 17.

The supporters have created a 30-second television commercial that will air in the districts of Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez, D-Los Angeles, and state Senate President Don Perata, D-Oakland, and in Sacramento. The commercial features Francine Kupsch of the Los Coyotes tribe, who originally starred in a 1998 ad used to support Proposition 5, which expanded Indian gaming in California. The ad blames “rich tribes who own casinos” for the stalling the compacts in the legislature and urges viewers to call the offices of Nuñez and Perata.

“We’ll be taking the issue directly to the public,” said Tom Shields, spokesman for the casino’s developer, BarWest LLC. The tribes and BarWest will pay for the commercial, which will be broadcast during the next week. “It’s unfortunate that it’s come to this,” he said.

Alicia Tross, spokeswoman for Senator Perata’s office, said she doesn’t think the efforts will be successful. “There is just no time left in this session to move the compact,” she said. She said that the senate has a rule that compacts must sit at the senate desk before being taken up for a vote.

Steven Maziglio, spokesman for Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez’s office, said that the speaker has not decided whether or not to support the compact because the compacts have not reached the Assembly floor.

Shields said that although the deadline will be tight, there is still hope to pass the compacts this year. He said last year at this time the compacts for the TASIN tribes, the Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations tribes, passed in one afternoon at the end of the legislative session.

“In Sacramento, where there’s a will there’s a way,” he said.

Nick Medeiros, a lobbyist hired by the city of Barstow, recently wrote a letter to the city of Barstow calling passage of the compacts “doubtful this year. In order for the Barstow casino development to proceed the compacts would have to be approved by Sept. 17 and land for the project would have to be put into federal trust, a lengthy process that is still underway.

Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4126 or jason_smith@link.freedom.com

Business Wire Press Release of 9.5.07

PRESS RELEASE Tribes Fronting for Detroit Billionaires Launch Media Campaign to Urge Passage of Barstow Compacts

Legislators, Environmental & Tribal Leaders Appeal to Legislative Leadership

DETROIT, Michigan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tribal leaders from the Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeño Indians and Big Lagoon Rancheria today unveiled a media campaign, funded by Detroit billionaires, urging legislative leaders to ratify the Barstow compacts. (Note: the television advertisement unveiled to the news media may be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvipfS9MVPo)
Last Fall, the California Fair Political Practices Commission fined the promoters behind this advertising campaign for two counts of violating California's Political Reform Laws when they failed to report a $26,6000 contribution they made to the San Joaquin County GOP Committee in 2004. While compacts for the richest California tribes have been passed by the State Assembly and Senate, there have been no hearings or any consideration of the Barstow compacts. With compacts set to expire on September 17th and only days remaining in the legislative session, the Tribes were left with no option but to make their case directly to Californians.

"My family was used as the face of Indian poverty in the campaign to pass Proposition 5," said Francine Kupsch, Los Coyotes tribal member. "But a decade later, the wealthy tribes are using their gambling dollars to keep poor tribes like the Los Coyotes from having the same opportunity to succeed." [Prop 5 did not approve of off-reservation casinos like those promoted by Detroit billioaire Marian Ilitch].

Opposition from the state’s richest gaming tribes has been a roadblock to the legislature’s timely consideration of the Barstow compacts, preventing even an informational hearing on this issue from occurring. Given the upcoming deadlines, direct action is needed from Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata.

"Now is the time for our state’s legislative leadership to stand up and fight for all Indian tribes," said Virgil Moorehead, Chairman of Big Lagoon Rancheria. "The future of our people is truly in the hands of Speaker Nuñez and President Pro Tem Perata. Without your leadership, the environment at Big Lagoon will be jeopardized."

Big Lagoon Rancheria’s homeland is located along the environmentally sensitive Big Lagoon and is one of two remaining naturally functioning coastal lagoons left in California. The lagoon has long been recognized as an important natural habitat area, and the State of California has asserted it has a legitimate interest in protecting it. It was the State of California who asked the Tribe to consider moving its proposed gaming facility elsewhere. As part of the compact agreement, Big Lagoon Rancheria agreed to forgo commercial development at the lagoon.

"This is the last opportunity we have to avoid development on an environmentally sensitive habitat in Humboldt County," said Senator Wiggins." If the legislature doesn’t ratify these compacts, the Big Lagoon Rancheria will have the sovereign right to negotiate for gaming rights on their tribal land."

Signed by Governor Schwarzenegger in September 2005, the Barstow compacts are a model for tribal-state gaming agreements in California. The agreements include: significant revenue sharing for the State of California; provisions for labor unions to organize and bargain collectively; mechanisms for independent audits of casino revenues; and systems to enforcement payments of child support. These provisions have been hailed by legislators, labor unions and good government advocates as positive benefits for the State of California.

The City of Barstow has approved Municipal Services Agreements with both tribes that are expected to generate millions of dollars of revenue for the desert community. The compacts will also generate hundreds of good-paying permanent jobs.

"The compacts represent a tremendous partnership that meets the needs of the Tribes, the community of Barstow and the State of California and we hope legislative leaders will do the right thing to pass the compacts immediately," said Barstow Mayor Lawrence Dale.

The Los Coyotes and Big Lagoon have submitted land-into-trust applications to the federal government and the Bureau of Indian Affairs is currently preparing a draft environmental impact statement to identify potential environmental impacts of the project. California lawmakers must pass legislation to approve the compacts, the final state step in proceeding with jointly developing the casino resort.

(Note to news media: High Definition versions of the commercial are available. Please contact Toby Allen at 517-372-4400 or tobya@mrgmi.com to request a copy.)
Last Fall, the California Fair Political Practices Commission fined the promoters behind this advertising campaign for two counts of violating California's Political Reform Laws when they failed to report a $26,6000 contribution they made to the San Joaquin County GOP Committee in 2004.
The Barstow Casinos and Resort are designed to capture some of the market of an estimated 60 million cars that travel through the community on their way to and from Las Vegas each year. The projects will support approximately 900 construction jobs and 1,700 full time positions at the casinos. It is expected that the Los Coyotes and Big Lagoon tribes will contribute to the local community government yearly and generate millions of dollars in new revenue for the Barstow economy. The Barstow community has lagged behind the state in economic development with more than 35 percent of the residents on public assistance. More than 2,000 local residents signed postcards addressed to the Governor asking him to negotiate the compacts. More information is available at www.barstowcasinosandresort.com.
Posted by Verifiable at 4:37 PM
Labels: Barstow, Barwest, Big Lagoon, California, Compacts Rejected, Lawrence Dale, Los Coyotes, Marian Ilitch

TheVerifiableTruth.com Editorial of 9.5.07

Who's behind the political ads launched by Detroit-based Barwest in California this week and what's their true motivation?

Given the lobbyist representing both the Big Lagoon Rancheria and the City of Barstow reported the last week of August that the Big Lagoon and Los Coyotes gaming compacts were officially dead, it begs the question, who's funding the advertising campaign that was launched on Wednesday seemingly to push for approvals of the two gaming compacts and what's their real motivation.

Is this purely a way for Detroit gambling interests and their Las Vegas partners to help lay the ground work for signature gathering by Labor Unions and Race Track owners to referenda the four gaming compacts that were approved by the legislature this year without having to report the expense as a campaign contribution?

The Detroit Gambling syndicators (Mrs. Marian Ilitch and Michael J. Malik, Sr.) behind the Barstow gaming compacts were fined on two counts in 2006 for earlier violations of California's political reform laws when they failed to report a $26,600 contribution they made late in the 2004 Presidential Election to then Congressman Richard Pombo's County GOP Committee. It is rumored that the same individuals are under investigation yet again by the FPPC for similar charges.

Billionaire Detroit Casino Syndicators with ties to Las Vegas have launched California ad campaign against established gaming tribes


This advertisement is funded by Billionaire Detroit Casino Syndicators who are exploiting Native American interests and trying to get a foot in the lucrative California gaming market.

Last Fall, the California Fair Political Practices Commission fined the promoters behind this advertising campaign for two counts of violating California's Political Reform Laws when they failed to report a $26,6000 contribution they made to the San Joaquin County GOP Committee in 2004.

Mrs. Marian Ilitch (founder of Little Caesars Pizza; family also owns Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings) has previously partnered with Mandalay Resort Group and MGM Mirage. Her casino syndicate partner Michael Malik has partnered with Harrah's. The Michigan Gaming Control Board refused to grant her partner Michael Malik a gaming license in Michigan so now they're trying to break into the California market.


Together they're trying to push an unorthodox proposal to relocate two tribes from opposite ends of the state to a location in Barstow where they plan to develop and manage side-by-side off-reservation Indian Casinos for tribes that have no ancestral ties to the Barstow area.

Ilitch, Malik and their Las Vegas friends have spent millions trying to convince the California legislature to approve their Barstow scheme. They failed the last two years to win any legisaltive support so now they're joining with Labor Unions and Horse Racing Tracks in an attempt to beat up California's homegrown gaming tribes.
Several weeks ago their own lobbyist has already reported that their plans for Barstow casinos are dead in this year's legislature (the second year in a row Ilitch's team has failed to win support).

Time is running out for Barstow compact
Jessie Faulkner/The Times-Standard

Patience and extensive lobbying have not moved the Big Lagoon Rancheria's gaming compact any closer to ratification.

On Wednesday, Rancheria Chairman Virgil Moorehead, representatives from the Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians, state Sen. Patricia Wiggins, city of Barstow officials and others gathered in Sacramento to launch a media campaign designed to get the attention of legislative leaders.

Under the gaming compact, signed by the governor on Sept. 9, 2005, both the Big Lagoon Rancheria and Los Coyotes would be allowed to open casinos in Barstow. The arrangement, the first to allow construction of an Indian casino away from tribal lands, would prevent construction of a casino along the shores of Big Lagoon.

Both tribal entities have applications before the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs to bring the Barstow land into trust.

The gaming compact is the settlement agreement of Big Lagoon's bad-faith negotiating lawsuit against the state. If the gaming compact is not ratified by Sept. 17, Big Lagoon's chairman has pledged to go back to court.

The campaign will begin today with television ads airing on cable television in Sacramento, Oakland and Los Angeles, according to Big Lagoon spokesman Jason Barnett.

Organizers are hoping the campaign will prompt residents to urge Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata to bring the gaming compact -- Wiggins' Senate Bill 157 -- to the legislative floor for action.

"This is a legislative leadership issue," Barnett said. "If (they) wanted it on floor, they could make it happen."

To date, the bill has not made it out of the rules committee.

"This is the last opportunity we have to avoid development on an environmentally sensitive habitat in Humboldt County,” said Wiggins, who represents the North Coast, in a release. “If the Legislature doesn't ratify these compacts, the Big Lagoon Rancheria will have the sovereign right to negotiate for gaming rights on their tribal land."

During the 2006 legislative session, a bill to ratify the gaming compact -- then sponsored by former state Sen. Wesley Chesbro -- was voted down in the Assembly Committee on Governmental Organization, but with the proviso that the item could be brought back.

The primary stumbling block both during both legislative sessions has been opposition from other gaming tribes opposed to the compact's more liberal labor language and the higher-percentage of casino revenues earmarked for the state.

"We're running out of time,” Barnett said, “we're running out of options."

If the gaming compact is not ratified, Moorehead has pledged to build a casino on the tribal land at Big Lagoon. The first step in that process may be alleging that the state negotiated in bad faith.

Jessie Faulkner can be reached at 441-0517 or jfaulkner@times-standard.com.

Tribes Launch TV Campaign for Barstow Casinos

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer San Bernardino County Sun

Two California Indian tribes launched an 11th-hour media campaign Wednesday with a televised ad they hope will prompt state Legislators to ratify their gaming compacts so they could build casinos in Barstow.

Big Lagoon Rancheria of Humboldt County and the Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians in San Diego County negotiated gaming compacts with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in September 2005, but the compacts have remained in limbo ever since.

No hearings on the compacts have been scheduled in Sacramento.

"My family was used as the face of Indian poverty in the campaign to pass Proposition 5," said Los Coyotes tribal member Francine Kupsch, referring to a 1998 televised ad that featured her and her children sitting in their trailer on the reservation, reading a book by oil lamp light. "But a decade later, the wealthy tribes are using their gambling dollars to keep poor tribes like Los Coyotes from having the same opportunity to succeed."

With only a week to go before the 2007 Legislative session ends, the clock is ticking.

Both tribes are hoping a public rallying cry will draw attention to their cause.

If not, the tribes are likely to go their separate ways, with Big Lagoon considering a casino or hotel somewhere on their 20-acre reservation off the Pacific Coast and Los Coyotes continuing its push for a Barstow casino.

Both tribes want to open a joint casino - the Barstow Casinos and Resort - that could pull an estimated 60 million cars traveling to and from Las Vegas to the casino, a venture that could mean millions of dollars in new revenue to Barstow and about 1,700 full-time jobs.

An ad posted on YouTube on Wednesday and expected to run on cable television in the next several days in Sacramento, the Bay Area and in Los Angeles shows a snippet of the 1998 televised ad featuring Kupsch and the message for California voters to "Stand up to the greedy tribes" and to "Call your legislative leaders" to support the tribal fairness bill.

Some gaming tribes including the San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians are fighting the move by Big Lagoon and Los Coyotes to build casinos in Barstow, calling it an encroachment on Serrano ancestral lands.

But Los Coyotes and Big Lagoon believe San Manuel and other gaming tribes are more concerned about competition.

San Manuel spokesman Jacob Coin said that while he had not yet seen the YouTube ad or was aware of the news conference the tribes held at the state Capitol, San Manuel's position was still status quo.

Moving so they can have a better market location is just not what we promised the voters would happen," Coin said, referring to Big Lagoon Rancheria, whose reservation lies more than 700 miles northwest of Barstow.

San Manuel also hit a roadblock getting its amended compact ratified this year when the tribe refused to sign a side agreement that would make the compact more palatable to some Assemblymembers.

The compact would allow the tribe to add 7,500 more slot machines to its casino near Highland and would generate $45 million a year in state revenue to start.

Big Lagoon spokesman Jason Barnett said the lack of progress Big Lagoon and Los Coyotes have made in Sacramento in the last two years is an "unfortunate commentary on how much power the big tribes have in Sacramento."

"We've been locked out of the game for months. We can't even get an informational hearing, let alone an up or down vote," Barnett said.

Contact staff writer Joe Nelson at (909) 386-3874 or via e-mail at joe.nelson@sbsun.com