News from Palm Springs

From: Residents Against Gambling Expansion

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Palm Springs, California
Birthplace of Indian Gambling

Monday May 13, 1996

It's back and it's still illegal.

Palm Springs, the internationally renown desert resort oasis, located 120 miles east of Los Angeles, seems destined once again to become a haven for gamblers, racketeers and their ilk. Before World War II, Palm Springs was the hideaway for the Hollywood crowd and shadowy underworld figures, and a haunt for the rich and famous. Part of the reason for this was its spectacular natural beauty, its exclusivity, its beneficial climate and of course, the illicit activities that were allowed to flourish in the area. These activities, including illegal gambling, were permitted by the authorities due to payoffs and other political corruption.

After World War II, the laws against gambling were enforced by the then California Attorney General, Earl Warren, and gambling was finally eradicated from the Palm Springs environment. In the years that followed, Palm Springs blossomed into a first-class international family resort, with annual tourism revenues exceeding $3 billion. Some of the Native American tribes in the area contributed to this growth and became wealthy through land development and lease holdings. The Cabazon tribe in Indio, located 25 miles east of Palm Springs, however, considered gambling an easy way to make money, and operated a makeshift bingo parlor on the outskirts of the developed areas. Allegations of organized crime, execution-style murders and racketeering plagued this establishment, often resulting in local law enforcement officials closing down its operations.

Indian Gambling

The US Supreme Court decision in a suit brought by the Cabazon and Morongo Indians against the. State of California over jurisdictional rights to operate a cardroom and high- stakes bingo, sparked a nationwide gambling expansion craze which has not been equaled in world history. As a consequence of the landmark Supreme Court decision in 1987, which led to the Las Vegas and Atlantic City supported Indian Gambling Regulatory Act of 1988 (IGRA), Indian and non-Indian gambling exploded across the country, rising from $8 billion wagered in 1988 to over $482 billion wagered in 1995.

Indian casino gambling is now thriving in Palm Springs once again. Following the passage of IGRA, in addition to the Cabazons, three other tribes in the Palm Springs area eagerly joined in creating gambling establishments. They are the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians and the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. Another Palm Springs area tribe, the Torres-Martinez Band of Cahuilla Indians, who were recently awarded a $14.2 million judgment against the federal government, recently announced its intentions, with help from legislation being introduced by Representative Sonny Bono (former mayor of Palm Springs), and Palm Springs district Assemblyman Jim Battin, to purchase non-Indian replacement land, where they too plan to construct a gambling casino near Rancho Mirage, an exclusive, upscale community 10 miles east of Palm Springs, whose residents include people like Walter Annenberg, former president Gerald and Betty Ford and Frank Sinatra.

Slot machines

Not content with revenues generated by the forms of gambling permitted under the State Constitution, Indian tribes in Palm Springs and throughout California are flaunting the law and have introduced over 10,000 illegal, unregulated video slot machines at over 22 casinos. The four Palm Springs area Indian tribes have dramatically increased the size of their casinos each year, adding more and more illegal slot machines. In fact, the Palm Springs area now has the highest concentration of Indian gambling in the nation.

Political Contributions

With the tremendous wealth that this illegal gambling has brought to the local tribes, the Indians are now buying off the politicians and California communities by making large political and charitable contributions. In 1994 alone, California tribes donated over $1.7 million to political campaigns. Last week, one tribe in Palm Springs donated $185,000 to 14 local charities, including the Police Officers Association, Fire Department Association, D.A.R.E., the senior center, the library center and various children's causes. The gambling activities of the Indian tribes are also seen as a major revenue source by the local media, including billboards, newspaper, television, radio and tourist magazines, who, not surprisingly, offer no balanced view of gambling's effects, and in fact, promote gambling by using their editorial powers.

Palm Springs Cardrooms

This lucrative Indian gambling has not gone unnoticed by non-Indian gambling interests. With support from local politicians, who see gambling as a painless way to raise revenue, gambling promoters have financed and won 3 of 4 cardroom initiatives in Desert Hot Springs, Coachella, and Palm Springs. The latest cardroom measure, passed on November 7, 1995 in Palm Springs, allows for 3 cardrooms in the city. Many of the local residents who are envious of the multi-millions of dollars being drained from the local economy by Indian gambling and are annoyed by the fact that Indians pay no taxes on these or any other income or revenues, have concluded that the expansion of gambling by non-Indians is the only way to compete with the tribes for revenue. They also feel it is unfair that Indians enjoy certain privileges which are denied to the average person.

Gambling Initiative

Therefore, capitalizing on the strong local sentiment in favor of expanded gambling, the Palm Springs' cardroom promoters, led by Mark Bragg, are pushing for the legalization of "Nevada-Style" (Class III) gambling at their 3 cardrooms proposed to be established in Palm Springs and, by extension, at the 104 Indian reservations throughout California. Bragg is currently gathering the 693,200 signatures needed to qualify the misnomered "Gaming Control Act of 1996" for the November 1996 ballot. The deadline for gathering the required signatures is June 19, 1996.

Since these non-Indian gambling interests, who also include Eddie DeBartolo, Jr., of Youngstown, Ohio, and Randall Hubbard, owner of Hollywood Park Racetrack and Hollywood Park Cardroom Casino, cannot get away with operating illegal gambling at their establishments like the Indians, they are intent on making Class III gambling legal in California. DeBartolo and Hubbard are also engaged in financing and lobbying for legislation to expand gambling in several other states, and were partners in several ill-fated attempts to legalize cardrooms in California cities in the fall of 1995. Despite large amounts of monies being spent by organized gambling promoters, voters in many California cities have rejected attempts to expand cardroom gambling. In the last 39 cardroom initiatives, 30 or 77% failed by large margins. Analysts see the passage of the cardroom measure in Palm Springs as an anomaly, largely due to misleading promises by the gambling promoters, greed by the local politicians and an apathetic electorate who came to the desert to relax and retire. Ironically, many long-time residents are now moving from the area, citing concerns over skyrocketing crime, and a dislike for the direction their once tranquil community has taken.

Enforce the Law

Many people feel that a better alternative would be to enforce the existing laws by eliminating the illegal activity being allowed to flourish in the Indian casinos. In April 1996, California Attorney General Dan Lungren took the initiative to enforce the California Constitution by filing suit against the National Indian Gambling Commission (NIGC), the federal agency responsible for regulation of Indian gambling, for failing to enforce gambling laws on Indian lands. California tribes and state officials are currently deadlocked in numerous court battles over the illegal, unregulated slot machines. Appeals courts have issued conflicting opinions. Governor Pete Wilson has repeatedly refused to negotiate gambling compacts with California tribes until they remove the illegal machines from Indian casinos. In a strategy designed to maintain their monopoly on gambling, California tribes are contributing heavily to local and state politicians to introduce legislation designed to by-pass the State Constitutions' ban on Class III gambling. Additionally, Indian tribes are engaging in slick, public relation campaigns designed to evoke sympathy from the public. The Indians also continue to contribute heavily to influential charities, thus buying support for their gambling activities.

Residents Against Gambling Expansion

In anticipation of a state-wide push to expand gambling, a local Palm Springs grassroots group, Residents Against Gambling Expansion, has been networking with other citizens and coalitions opposed to gambling expansion in California and around the US. We are pleased to report growing support from the business community, law enforcement agencies, religious groups, family groups, human rights activists, government watchdog groups, and others concerned with the negative ramifications gambling has on our economies, our families and our quality of life. We collectively feel it is important to stop the expansion of gambling before its too late.

We invite you to get involved in your local community by sharing the true facts about organized casino gambling and voicing your opposition to expanded gambling by contacting your local, state and federal government representatives.

Lungren Files Suit to Stop Slots

Date: Sun, 28 Apr 1996

California State Attorney General Dan Lungren filed suit in US District Court on Friday, April 19, 1996, against the National Indian Gambling Commission (NIGC) and its commissioner, to halt the use of illegal slot machines at Indian casinos throughout the state. Lungren stated that the NIGC had been contacted repeatedly over the past four years concerning the illegal operation of the video slot machines, but has refused to halt their operations at Indian casinos. The NIGC was created to enforce the statutes of the Indian Gambling Regulatory Act (IGRA) Indian tribes are only authorized under IGRA, to offer the types of gambling which are legal in the state where their reservation is located. Indian tribes in California contend their slot machines are the same as the state operating lottery machines. The State of California has consistently refused to negotiate gambling compacts with California tribes because the tribes flagrantly operate 10,000 illegal slot machines at 22 tribal casinos, in defiance of the California Constitution's ban on Class III gambling devices.