Amador County - Friends of Amador County (FOAC), a local activist group, announced last Thursday that they have filed a lawsuit in federal court aimed at stopping further development of the proposed Buena Vista Casino. The lawsuit alleges the creation of the Buena Vista tribe was illegal under the Indian Gaming and Regulatory Act (IGRA) of 1988 and unconstitutional under the California State Constitution, among other laws and agreements. FOAC claims it is made up of residents who are “aggrieved by the erroneous, arbitrary, capricious and illegal decisions of the (U.S. Department of the Interior) Secretary Kenneth Salazar and…George Skibine, acting chairman and Commissioner of the National Indian Gaming Commission.” Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is also listed as a defendant for failing to properly “negotiate tribal-state compacts…in a lawful manner.” The lawsuit outlines a long and complicated history beginning in 1934 with landowners who were “not a federally acknowledged Indian tribe” and leading up to current plans headed by Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians leader Rhonda Morningstar Pope to construct a gaming facility on 67.5 acres in the rural setting at Buena Vista. FOAC says the real motivation for the creation of this “tribe” occurred in the 1980s “in order to take advantage of casino gaming opportunities developing in California at that time.” That applicant, Donna-Marie Potts, was not a descendant of any of the land’s original occupants. FOAC says that “until at least 1994 there was no official record of, or any proper acknowledgement or federal recognition of, any ‘tribe,’ ‘band’ or ‘community’ of Indians known as the ‘Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians.’” The tribe currently consists of Potts, Morningstar Pope, her children and other relatives. FOAC claims some of its members “will be irreparably and negatively impacted, injured and damaged by the increases in traffic, noise, vision and light pollution, crime and other significant impacts arising from the proposed operation.” FOAC also claims that Morningstar Pope, Potts and their relatives, using that status as a “purported Indian tribe…have been collecting over $1 million a year from the California Tribal Gaming Revenue Sharing Trust Fund.” The FOAC group is asking the court to issue an injunction with the ultimate hope of permanently preventing any proposed construction of a gaming operation. Amador County has been actively fighting the establishment of more casinos since 2003, and filed a lawsuit of its own in 2005 alleging that amendments to the gaming compact between the Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians and the State of California were in violation of the IGRA. A U.S. Judge granted a motion to dismiss, stating that the Secretary Salazar’s choice to take no action to allow the approval of an agreement of the gaming compact between the tribe and the State of California is not subject to court review by the express terms of the IGRA. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Monday, 15 February 2010 08:37
Local Group's Lawsuit Hopes to Stop Proposed Buena Vista Casino
Amador County - Friends of Amador County (FOAC), a local activist group, announced last Thursday that they have filed a lawsuit in federal court aimed at stopping further development of the proposed Buena Vista Casino. The lawsuit alleges the creation of the Buena Vista tribe was illegal under the Indian Gaming and Regulatory Act (IGRA) of 1988 and unconstitutional under the California State Constitution, among other laws and agreements. FOAC claims it is made up of residents who are “aggrieved by the erroneous, arbitrary, capricious and illegal decisions of the (U.S. Department of the Interior) Secretary Kenneth Salazar and…George Skibine, acting chairman and Commissioner of the National Indian Gaming Commission.” Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is also listed as a defendant for failing to properly “negotiate tribal-state compacts…in a lawful manner.” The lawsuit outlines a long and complicated history beginning in 1934 with landowners who were “not a federally acknowledged Indian tribe” and leading up to current plans headed by Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians leader Rhonda Morningstar Pope to construct a gaming facility on 67.5 acres in the rural setting at Buena Vista. FOAC says the real motivation for the creation of this “tribe” occurred in the 1980s “in order to take advantage of casino gaming opportunities developing in California at that time.” That applicant, Donna-Marie Potts, was not a descendant of any of the land’s original occupants. FOAC says that “until at least 1994 there was no official record of, or any proper acknowledgement or federal recognition of, any ‘tribe,’ ‘band’ or ‘community’ of Indians known as the ‘Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians.’” The tribe currently consists of Potts, Morningstar Pope, her children and other relatives. FOAC claims some of its members “will be irreparably and negatively impacted, injured and damaged by the increases in traffic, noise, vision and light pollution, crime and other significant impacts arising from the proposed operation.” FOAC also claims that Morningstar Pope, Potts and their relatives, using that status as a “purported Indian tribe…have been collecting over $1 million a year from the California Tribal Gaming Revenue Sharing Trust Fund.” The FOAC group is asking the court to issue an injunction with the ultimate hope of permanently preventing any proposed construction of a gaming operation. Amador County has been actively fighting the establishment of more casinos since 2003, and filed a lawsuit of its own in 2005 alleging that amendments to the gaming compact between the Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians and the State of California were in violation of the IGRA. A U.S. Judge granted a motion to dismiss, stating that the Secretary Salazar’s choice to take no action to allow the approval of an agreement of the gaming compact between the tribe and the State of California is not subject to court review by the express terms of the IGRA. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Latest from
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