La Center council again rejects casino talks

LA CENTER — Despite pressure from Mayor Jim Irish's staff and city residents, three city council members remained firm Wednesday on not wanting to talk about a casino deal with the Cowlitz Indian Tribe.

Council members Bob Smith, Linda Tracy and Troy Van Dinter voted not to negotiate with the tribe, with council members Bill Birdwell and Mike Nolan favoring talking with the tribe.

Council members also rejected by an identical 3-2 vote holding an advisory vote on the negotiation issue.

Almost 100 people turned out for Wednesday's meeting on what has been the biggest issue in this small city for most of the decade: the tribe's plans to build a $510 million casino complex two miles west of the city limits.

Testimony, including comments offered by the spouses of three council members, initially ran heavily in favor of brokering a deal with the tribe, although it evened out when people who don't live in La Center or own property here were allowed to speak.

Tracy said council members are elected to make decisions for the community.

"You don't even know half of the story," she said. "You don't know half the facts I know, and I have been working at it since 2003, and I still don't know everything."

Tracy said she can't be sure the casino won't be built.

"If it comes, it's going to suck us all up," she said. "And it's going to grow into a massive, huge enterprise that is not going to give the city of La Center anything."

Van Dinter said the Cowlitz casino is far from "a done deal," in light of frozen credit markets and a February U.S. Supreme Court decision that raises questions about the federal government's ability to take the land into trust, a necessary step for operating a casino.

Even the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut, the Cowlitz Tribe's high-powered partner, pointed out in its most recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing that the Cowlitz casino might never get built, Van Dinter said.

Smith at one point compared the casino project to a cancer, saying the city couldn't negotiate regarding one piece of the project and ignore the rest.

"I said I would negotiate when the time is right," Smith said. "It's still not right."

Birdwell said he agrees the city doesn't need a large casino nearby, but that might not be the city's choice.

"I think we need to protect our citizens somewhat," Birdwell said. "I don't think there is any shame in asking you what you think."

Nolan said all the experts, as well as people who testified, agree that the casino poses a threat to the community.

"All of you agree there are going to be negative impacts to this city if this monstrosity is built," Nolan said. "And without mitigation, what do we have?"

Wednesday was the fourth time in as many years the council has spurned any talk of a negotiating a deal with the tribe.

In 2006, the council declined to accept the tribe's proposed agreement or to negotiate a different deal, out of fear that it would be interpreted as tacit approval or mere acquiescence to the casino.

In 2007, the council killed a separate agreement that focused solely on sewer and called for the tribe to spend more than $16 million to extend sewer lines west to the 152-acre casino site and to upgrade La Center's sewage plant.

In 2008, the council rejected putting two advisory measures before city voters: one on negotiating a sewer deal; the second on whether there should be a broader deal that covers other expected effects of the proposed Cowlitz casino.

With Wednesday's decision, it seems the only way La Center will come to the negotiating table is through a change in the city council itself.

Three members — Birdwell, Smith and Van Dinter — are up for re-election. Smith is the only one of those three who did not file for re-election last week.

In February 2006, the Cowlitz Tribe presented the city with a proposed memorandum of understanding that includes provisions to help pay for sewer expansion and to compensate the city a maximum of $3 million annually for 10 years for lost tax revenues from its four nontribal cardrooms.

Last July, the Cowlitz Tribal Council voted 17-3 to reconfirm that offer and promised not to reduce its provisions for one year while it waits for an answer. The one year will be up on July 14.

Mayor Irish started Wednesday's discussion by saying the issue is not whether to approve the casino.

"This is only about whether or not we should talk with the tribe," Irish said. "If I were to sit back and let the deadline pass without bringing this matter to the attention of the citizens, I would be derelict in my duties."

City officials proceeded to offer a mini-avalanche of information Wednesday about city finances, sewer rates and legal issues, all designed to support why La Center should finally cut a deal with the Cowlitz Indian Tribe.