Having just cleared a vital federal hurdle, the Indian casino-resort proposed on the outskirts of Rohnert Park now faces another gauntlet: winning approval from the governor and Legislature.
The Federated Indians of the Graton Rancheria property on Rohnert Park's northwest edge was taken into trust by federal authorities on Friday. That step effectively made the 254-acre parcel a reservation — though some foes are still disputing that — allowing the tribe to continue with its plans.
Now the tribe, which plans to develop a Nevada-style casino hotel complex, must negotiate a gambling compact with the governor if it hopes to join the 60 tribes in the state that operate 67 full-scale casinos. It must then win the approval of state legislators of that compact; a task that already has drawn an unusual level of opposition from some lawmakers.
Also, the Graton tribe may face further legal challenges. The decision by the federal Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs to take the land into trust was delayed two years by a lawsuit filed by opponents.
"We are planning right now legal action," said Chip Worthington, a leader of a Stop the 101 Casino, a coalition of groups opposing the casino. The group filed the lawsuit that held up the decision to take the Graton Band's land into trust.
Worthington has said that one avenue of legal action is the report on the casino's environmental impacts, which opponents say is inadequate.
The National Indian Gaming Commission, a federal agency that oversees Indian gambling, must also rule that the land is eligible for gaming, a requirement that applies to Indian lands acquired after 1988.
It couldn't be determined Tuesday if that step had taken place, although observers experienced in federal and Indian law said it was likely that it would happen.
"In my view Graton will almost certainly get that," said Santa Rosa attorney Tony Cohen, who specializes in governmental and federal Indian law.
Cohen said the Graton tribe meets requirements that it was once terminated by the federal government and later had its tribal status restored, and that the tribe has established a significant historical connection to the land in question.
"Miwok and Pomo people should have no problem establishing a connection to their site in Rohnert Park," he said. The Graton tribe claims about 1,000 Coast Miwok and southern Pomo Indians.
The gaming commission has approved a management agreement between the tribe and Station Casinos, the Las Vegas company partnering with the tribe to develop the casino.
The tribe's next key stop, then, will be the governor's office to negotiate a gambling compact, which governs various aspects of casino operations, including the permitted number of slot machines and table games and the state's share of revenues.
Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, called it "unlikely to the point of being impossible" that the negotiations will occur before year's end.
That means tribal leaders and Station Casinos representatives will meet with representatives of Jerry Brown, currently Attorney General and the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, or former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, the Republican candidate.
Both candidates have reached out to tribal leaders and received campaign contributions from tribes. Brown, as of mid-August, had received the far greater amount, $715,000, to Whitman's $140,000.
"Both seem to have a very strong grasp of tribal government and the rights of sovereign nations and it seems like it would be easier to sit down and negotiate a compact with them," said Jerome Encinas, director of governmental affairs for the California Nations Indian Gaming Association.
Encinas wouldn't characterize the compact negotiations that have taken place with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, but he said: "Tribes have had a very rocky relationship with the current governor, but he's out of office now and we're looking forward not backward."
Huffman, who has spoken vigorously against the casino, said he will try to "influence" those negotiations.
"I'm certainly going to make sure that the next governor has a complete understanding of this project and the tremendous local opposition and controversy surrounding it," he said.
In August, Huffman and five other Democrat assembly members wrote to Schwarzenegger saying they would vote against any compact that emerged, citing the urban setting, traffic problems and environmental impacts among other issues.
The Legislature approves compacts on a majority vote.
Huffman on Tuesday said he didn't know whether he has the support necessary to torpedo a compact, but that, "This will be the most controversial one in a long time, maybe ever."
In 2005, the legislature rejected a compact Schwarzenegger negotiated with the Lytton Band of Pomo Indians that allowed it to expand a card room into a casino with 5,000 slot machines in San Pablo, about 15 miles north of Oakland.
The legislature also rejected a compromise compact that would have allowed up to 2,500 slot machines. The tribe now operates about 1,000 bingo gaming machines and some table games at the San Pablo Lytton Casino.
It is believed to be the only compact rejected by the legislature. The Lytton tribe makes payments to San Pablo reported to be about $1 million a month. The state, without a compact, receives no share of the casino revenues.
Cheryl Schmit, executive director Stand Up For California, a gambling watchdog group that pushes for stricter industry regulation, said that after 11 years of slow going, the Graton trine now has the wind is at its back and that the landscape has changed for foes of the project.
She urged casino opponents — in the community or the legislature — to negotiate with the tribe over labor and environmental requirements rather than continuing to fight it. That, she said, offers them the best chance of shaping the final project.
"I think it's to their benefit to their negotiate rather than to oppose, but it's kind of hard for groups to do that when they've been so entrenched in the opposition," she said. "Now we've got to negotiate with something we don't want."
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