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