Representatives of the Me-Wuk Indians and the proposed Buena Vista Casino released a statement yesterday outlining the Tribe’s position now that the Board of Supervisor’s did not approve the Intergovernmental Services Agreement. “We’re surprised Supervisors Forster and Boitano voted against the ISA after we agreed to their requested changes. We all saw Supervisor Forster’s comments in the press that he intended to vote for the agreement. We are not sure what happened between then and now to change his mind, but it’s clear that the decision now belongs to an arbitrator,” says John Tang, CEO of the Buena Vista Rancheria. Indeed, Supervisor Forster’s position is a surprise to many who expected him to vote in approval of the revised ISA he had proposed in a counter offer last week.

Forster told the press that the position he conveyed publicly was a tactical part of the negotiation process, and that it was necessary to vote no and hold on to the county’s rights without giving the tribe a foothold. According with the Tribal Compact signed by the Buena Vista Tribe and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, each side will now present its best proposal to an independent arbitrator. The arbitrator must pick what they consider to be the better of the two proposals. This "baseball style" arbitration process is intended to force each side to present a fair and reasonable proposal. The compact states that the Tribe need not address alternatives that would cause it to forgo its right to engage in Gaming Activities authorized by the gaming compact.