When Clark County commissioners signed the now-invalid 2004 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Cowlitz Tribe, they did not know a casino was in the works, although one suspected it.
They did not know the tribe would apply to make 152 acres of Clark County into a reservation and restored lands—taking away local control of land use and removing it from the tax rolls.
And they certainly did not anticipate that a wealthy East Coast tribe—owner of the second-largest casino in the country—would parachute in and throw its massive financial and legal muscle behind the Cowlitz Tribe’s goals, which mushroomed into a proposal to build the largest casino on the West Coast.
What the Cowlitz Tribe failed to anticipate is that its not-at-all-silent partner, the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut, would fall on tough times: Earnings at its behemoth Connecticut casino were down 23.2 percent last quarter from the same quarter a year earlier,[1] Moody’s is threatening to downgrade its bonds, and some of their business partners have served them poorly.
With the chief financer of the Cowlitz casino under siege, the old MOU defunct, the EIS incomplete, and local governments—and public opinion—lining up against the project, there is no reason for the county to rush into a new MOU that would signal its tacit approval of a Clark County casino.
An article in the March 24 issue of Forbes, titled “With Friends Like These,” examines several of the Mohegan Tribe’s recent travails, caused largely by poor choices in business partners. (We would argue that the reporters overlooked at least one.) The subtitle is, “The Mohegan tribe wants to expand its casinos nationally. Maybe it shoulda stayed home.”
We agree.
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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.