La Center might follow Vancouver's lead by adopting its own resolution opposing the proposed Cowlitz casino.
The City Council discussed the possibility at its Wednesday meeting and plans to consider a resolution May 23.
This resolution would be particularly important, because La Center is the city closest to the site of the proposed casino-resort, which would be the largest on the West Coast.
>>Read the story in The Columbian.
For more stories and information, see our Web site: http://www.NotHerePlease.org/.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
WAY TO GO VANCOUVER!
On Monday, Vancouver's City Council announced its united opposition to the Cowlitz Tribe's bid to put a casino in north Clark County.
This is an extremely important development, because federal decision-makers are watching for input from elected officials.
After listening to 90 minutes of public testimony, the mayor and six council members unanimously approved a resolution. It explains their concerns and asks the Secretary of the Interior to reject the tribe's trust application for land in north Clark County as long as its plans include a casino.
Mayor Pollard said he and the council had received approximately 150 e-mails and phone calls weighing in on the issue.
>>Read the city's resolution.
>>Read the stories in Tuesday's Columbian and The Oregonian.
For more stories and information, see our Web site: www.NotHerePlease.org.
This is an extremely important development, because federal decision-makers are watching for input from elected officials.
After listening to 90 minutes of public testimony, the mayor and six council members unanimously approved a resolution. It explains their concerns and asks the Secretary of the Interior to reject the tribe's trust application for land in north Clark County as long as its plans include a casino.
Mayor Pollard said he and the council had received approximately 150 e-mails and phone calls weighing in on the issue.
>>Read the city's resolution.
>>Read the stories in Tuesday's Columbian and The Oregonian.
For more stories and information, see our Web site: www.NotHerePlease.org.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
CLARK COUNTY CUTS BACKROOM CASINO MOU DEAL
Rather than wait for a hearing on the validity of the troubled Clark County-Cowlitz Tribe Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), Clark County commissioners took matters into their own hands and directed a county attorney to work out a deal with attorneys for casino developer David Barnett and the tribe.
This month the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board is considering the 2004 MOU as part of a case brought against the county by resident Al Alexanderson and the La Center cardrooms. They contend that in the MOU the county agrees to extend services to a site not intended for intense commercial development. Also, they say the county broke state law by approving the MOU without first amending its land use plan to reflect this type of development.
“That the county would keep massaging this MOU in secret—working with the casino developer’s attorney—is a breach of the public trust,” said Ed Lynch, chairman of the casino opposition group Citizens Against Reservation Shopping (CARS). “The pattern of secrecy that has surrounded the creation of this document continues.”
>>Read the full story and share your thoughts.
>>Read about the court opinion in our November newsletter.
This month the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board is considering the 2004 MOU as part of a case brought against the county by resident Al Alexanderson and the La Center cardrooms. They contend that in the MOU the county agrees to extend services to a site not intended for intense commercial development. Also, they say the county broke state law by approving the MOU without first amending its land use plan to reflect this type of development.
“That the county would keep massaging this MOU in secret—working with the casino developer’s attorney—is a breach of the public trust,” said Ed Lynch, chairman of the casino opposition group Citizens Against Reservation Shopping (CARS). “The pattern of secrecy that has surrounded the creation of this document continues.”
>>Read the full story and share your thoughts.
>>Read about the court opinion in our November newsletter.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
VANCOUVER FIGHTS PROPOSED COWLITZ CASINO
Once a supporter of the Cowlitz casino project, Vancouver Mayor Royce Pollard on Monday voiced his “strong opposition” to the project.
The city has submitted comments three times, Pollard said, but the preliminary Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) still does not address its concerns.
“You can’t just ignore us and expect us to roll over for you,” he said.
>>Read the full story and share your thoughts.
For more stories and information, see our Web site: www.NotHerePlease.org.
The city has submitted comments three times, Pollard said, but the preliminary Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) still does not address its concerns.
“You can’t just ignore us and expect us to roll over for you,” he said.
>>Read the full story and share your thoughts.
For more stories and information, see our Web site: www.NotHerePlease.org.
REGIONAL BIA, CASINO DEVELOPERS COOK BOOKS TRYING TO SAVE LA CENTER SITE
Two key reports that the Cowlitz casino developers should have released nearly a year ago were quietly issued last month to cooperating agencies by the regional office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). They were included in the preliminary Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
The casino project’s Business Plan and so-called “Unmet Needs Report” contain highly controversial needs and numbers, and are being used by regional BIA in an attempt to justify its dismissal of a site for the proposed Cowlitz casino in the tribe’s aboriginal homeland. The report says a northern site would not make enough money to fulfill what the tribe calls its “unmet needs”—which add up to $113.6 million a year.
The Cowlitz Tribe’s unmet needs include:
The casino project’s Business Plan and so-called “Unmet Needs Report” contain highly controversial needs and numbers, and are being used by regional BIA in an attempt to justify its dismissal of a site for the proposed Cowlitz casino in the tribe’s aboriginal homeland. The report says a northern site would not make enough money to fulfill what the tribe calls its “unmet needs”—which add up to $113.6 million a year.
The Cowlitz Tribe’s unmet needs include:
- a horse program (cost: $22.6 million initially and $655,125 annually)
- two medical facilities plus wellness centers (cost: $41.1 million initially and $30.2 million annually).
- a library (cost: $1 million to acquire core holdings and $500,000 in acquisitions annually).
In written comments to BIA, Vancouver City Manager Pat McDonnell called the Unmet Needs Report “exaggerated.”
>>Read the full story and share your thoughts.
For more stories and information, see our Web site: www.NotHerePlease.org.
SECRETS OF THE MOU
Negotiators for the Cowlitz Tribe withheld important information from Clark County and misrepresented the tribe’s intentions while negotiating a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the county.
“They underrepresented what they were going to do—they misrepresented it,” said Judie Stanton, who was a Clark County commissioner at the time. “I now feel they intentionally deceived us.”
>>Read the full story and share your thoughts.
For more stories and information, see our Web site: www.NotHerePlease.org.
“They underrepresented what they were going to do—they misrepresented it,” said Judie Stanton, who was a Clark County commissioner at the time. “I now feel they intentionally deceived us.”
>>Read the full story and share your thoughts.
For more stories and information, see our Web site: www.NotHerePlease.org.
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