Dry Creek Pomo chairman, 3 board members re-elected

Harvey Hopkins was re-elected Saturday to a fifth two-year term as chairman of the Dry Creek Rancheria Board of Directors.

Hopkins beat out fellow board member Marina Nojima, in what some observers saw as a referendum on the Pomo tribe's strategy for dealing with its imminent loss of its monopoly on Las Vegas-style gambling in Sonoma County.

The tribe, which runs River Rock, the county's first Indian casino, faces a threat from another casino opening in Rohnert Park later this year.

Hopkins interpreted his re-election as a sign that the tribe's members "understand that the business of the tribe is stable."

He said he defeated Nojima by a nearly 2-to-1 margin. More than 300 members of the tribe voted, he said.

Salvina Norris, Margie Rojes and Jim Silva were all re-elected to the board. The only new member is Bruce Smith.