A newsletter sent today by the Cowlitz gambling syndicate seriously misleads readers by making much of some recent news saying that Clark County has the highest unemployment rate among counties lining the Interstate 5 corridor. It uses that snippet of information to assert that “many residents of Clark and surrounding counties would benefit” from the jobs the proposed Cowlitz casino-resort would bring.
The syndicate is taking advantage of an aberration. Yes, the August unemployment rates put Clark County at 6.4 percent, Cowlitz County at 6.1 percent and Lewis County at 6.3 percent. (See the data from the state Employment Security Department.) But between January 2005 and August 2007, Clark County had the lowest unemployment rate of the three counties for 28 out of the total 32 months.
In fact, Clark County was featured in February in The Seattle Times for showing the state’s hottest job growth over a couple of years with a 16 percent employment increase through the end of 2006.
Clark is not a county that needs a casino for job growth—particularly when it comes with food-stamp wages. (The average county wage is $37,200. The average casino wage would be, according to the Environmental Impact Statement, $28,000—with the lowest wages being in the teens.) Moreover, the other counties would provide more affordable housing to potential workers: In the second quarter of 2007, Clark County’s median home price was $277,900, while Cowlitz County’s was $182,900 and Lewis County’s was $195,000.
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For more information, check out the CARS Web site:
Who’s behind the proposed casino project?
Many of CARS’ stories about this casino proposal describe it as the work of “the Cowlitz Tribe.” But every time we attribute it to “the Tribe,” we wince.
The casino project is being driven by the Salishan-Mohegan partnership, which includes:
+ the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority (49.15 percent)
+ David Barnett (Salishan Co.), son of the late tribal Chairman John Barnett (sharing 43 percent with the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians)
+ the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians, California (sharing 43 percent with David Barnett)
+ the Mohegan Tribe, Connecticut (7.85 percent)
According to the development agreement, the partnership would receive fees equal to 3 percent of total project costs. The management agreement states that Salishan-Mohegan would manage, operate and maintain the casino-resort for seven years and earn 24 percent of annual net revenues.
We want to be clear: CARS is critical of the casino proposal and the way it has been pursued. Beyond its involvement in the casino, we have no issue with the Cowlitz Tribe.
The casino project is being driven by the Salishan-Mohegan partnership, which includes:
+ the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority (49.15 percent)
+ David Barnett (Salishan Co.), son of the late tribal Chairman John Barnett (sharing 43 percent with the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians)
+ the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians, California (sharing 43 percent with David Barnett)
+ the Mohegan Tribe, Connecticut (7.85 percent)
According to the development agreement, the partnership would receive fees equal to 3 percent of total project costs. The management agreement states that Salishan-Mohegan would manage, operate and maintain the casino-resort for seven years and earn 24 percent of annual net revenues.
We want to be clear: CARS is critical of the casino proposal and the way it has been pursued. Beyond its involvement in the casino, we have no issue with the Cowlitz Tribe.
About CARS
Citizens Against Reservation Shopping (CARS) is a group of Clark County, Wash., citizens formed in June 2005 and led by longtime Vancouver businessman and civic leader Edward Lynch.
CARS opposes the Cowlitz Tribe's plan to build a casino in Clark County in part because it objects to the practice of "reservation shopping." This is the practice of selecting an ideal casino site and then working to have it given reservation status.