Tribe complains about La Center to DOI

In a July 20 memorandum to the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), the Cowlitz Tribe blasts La Center’s opposition to the tribe’s proposed mega-casino and resort. The 19-page diatribe accuses La Center of maneuvering to preserve the city’s “private gaming monopoly” (four privately owned cardrooms) and keeping the tribe “from—finally—having a reservation of its own.” (It does not address the fact that very few Cowlitz Tribe members live in the area or that the Cowlitz Tribe’s aboriginal homeland is located to the north, along the Cowlitz River.)

According to a July 27 article in The Columbian,

City Councilman Troy Van Dinter disputed (Cowlitz Tribe attorney Heather) Sibbison’s depiction of a city council in cahoots with the four nontribal cardrooms.

“That’s just completely wrong,” he said. “We’re just trying to keep the city intact and protect the citizens we have, as well as the tax base we have.”

The article includes a reaction from La Center city attorney Dan Kearns: “This is the definitive slamming of the door, on negotiations for mitigation and negotiations for sewer service.”

The memorandum includes a section describing the tribe’s “local outreach” efforts and lists local leaders with whom it has met. The text and 41 names are juxtaposed in such a way as to make it appear that all in the list support or do not oppose the proposed casino, although some are casino opponents.

>>Read the memo.