The Interior Department today rejected Jemez Pueblo’s proposal to build a casino down in Anthony -- nearly 300 miles away from its tribal lands.
The government cited concerns about the pueblo 's ability to oversee a gaming site so far away. It declined the tribe’s request to acquire the land in trust.
Jemez Pueblo proposed a partnership with Santa Fe art dealer Gerald Peters to build a $55 million casino and hotel in southern New Mexico near the Texas border.
The Bush administration first shot down the plan in 2008, saying it was too far from the pueblo to generate jobs for the tribe. The Obama Administration reopened consideration of some off-reservation casino applications.
Responding to the rejection, Jemez Pueblo released a statement saying:
“On the very day when the headlines in major newspapers across the country are dismally reporting that job growth in the U.S. economy is at a halt and that the jobs report for the month of August is one of the worst showings in recent history, it is difficult to understand the Department’s decision to deny an application that will create thousands of jobs on such a technical basis.
“In addition to ignoring the need for jobs, the decision also ignores the express terms of the Agreement. The Pueblo expressly reserves the right to provide all the services, thereby, exercising total jurisdiction over the land. The Agreement does exactly what the letter says is lacking.”
The Pueblo is reviewing the rejection letter and “evaluating its options,” the statement said.
Other New Mexico Indian tribes were among those who opposing the Jemez plan. The project also was opposed by the nearby Sunland Park racetrack, which said the proposed Anthony casino would devastate its business.
UPDATE 4:15 pm I just got an email from Scott Scanland, a lobbyist for Sunland Park. Not surprisingly, it says “Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino is pleased with the action of the Department of Interior. Clearly Asst. Secretary Echo Hawk read the law, understood the law and made the only decision he could make based on the law.”
I have not one, but two stories in Sunday's paper.
First there's a piece on the possibility of the Department of Interior overturning Bush administration restrictions on off-reservation tribal casinos. (CLICK HERE) If that comes to pass it could revive the proposal by Jemez Pueblo (and Santa Fe businessman Gerald Peters) for that proposed casino/resort near Anthony, N.M. Those plans were rejected by the Interior Department early last year because the casino would be almost 300 miles from the pueblo.
However, nobody I talked to seemed to think this change is a sure deal.
The second article is about the Council of State Governments West annual meeting, which starts today in Santa Fe. The article says more than 500 people -- legislators, staffers, guests -- are coming. After I filed the story I got an e-mail from CSG West's Mary Lou Cooper saying the updated numbers are closer to 600.
A list of oil companies, pharmaceuticals, communication companies and others who are paying for the meals and parties can be found HERE.
The biggest surprise in this story for me was the fact that CNN pundit and former White House aide David Gergen is being paid $33,000 plus traveling expenses to speak to the conference on Wednesday.
Yikes! A lot of people in this town don't make $33,000 in a year and a lot of us have to work a few months to make that much.
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican July 16, 2009
As the state Republican Party continues to accumulate more and more candidates and possible candidates for governor, Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, the only announced Democrat running for governor, continues to accumulate more and more money.
According to a campaign finance report released Wednesday, in the past three months, Denish raised more than $512,000 for the 2010 race. That means she’s raised more than $2.2 million since the beginning of 2007. And, as of the end of June, more than $1.8 million of that still was in the bank. Her biggest contributors were unions: $25,000 from The Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters and $11,500 from the New Mexico Building and Construction Trades Council.
Denish’s campaign released the report voluntarily. Under current law, candidates are required to file just one report, in May, with the Secretary of State’s Office. Earlier this year, the Legislature passed and the governor signed a new law requiring more frequent reports, but that doesn’t go into effect until after the next election.
Therefore, there are no new reports for comparison from the Republican candidates. So far, former GOP state chairman Allen Weh and former Bernalillo County Republican chairman Greg Zanetti are campaigning actively for the position, while U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, state Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones and public-relations company owner Doug Turner have said they are thinking about it. Blogger Heath Haussamen reported Wednesday that longtime Doña Ana County District Attorney Susana Martinez will announce her GOP gubernatorial primary bid this week.
The Gamble: While Republicans can’t be happy with Denish’s fundraising successes, there were some contributions listed that are bound to lift their spirits. She received $10,000 from Sun Ray Gaming of New Mexico, which runs a racetrack in Farmington, plus $1,966 from Zia Park Racetrack in Hobbs and $1,500 from Sunland Park Racetrack. This money fits in well with the theme in a cable television ad from the state GOP last week lambasting Denish for casting tie-breaking votes on a bill to expand the hours of operations for nontribal casinos in the state while taking tens of thousands of dollars from gambling interests. The ads refer to statements Denish made prior to being elected that gambling was bad for the economy. The ad calls Denish’s votes “a pay-to-play jackpot.”
The state Democrats tried to dismiss the ad, pointing out that it only ran on cable stations, not broadcast TV. But there's lots of folks these days-- like me -- who watch almost exclusively the cable news networks (and Comedy Central), so I'm not sure that distinction is vital.
One thing the ad doesn’t mention is that out of the 19 senators who voted for the racetrack bill, nine were Republicans. In fact, a lopsided majority of Senate Republicans voted for the bill.
And some of the same gambling figures who have contributed to Denish also have given to the GOP. Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino owner Stan Fulton of Las Vegas, Nev. — who has given Denish $25,000 so far in her gubernatorial run as well as $10,000 for her last lieutenant governor run — gave the state Republican Party $10,000 in 2002 and $25,000 in 2000. (This information is from the National Institute of Money in State Government and Denish’s own reports.)
And in material sent to reporters to back up the ads, the Republicans guild the lily somewhat by referring to gambling contributions to “the Richardson/Denish ticket.” While candidates for governor and lieutenant governor do run together as a ticket, the candidates maintain separate campaign treasuries.
Still, there are plenty of gambling contributions to Denish herself to give her opponents ammo: $22,500 from Zia Park CEO Bruce Rimbo since 2006, $17,000 from Ruidoso Downs in 2006 and so forth.
But her political director, Steve Fitzer, said Wednesday that the campaign won’t shy away from taking more gambling money. “We’ll accept contributions from any legitimate business in New Mexico,” he said. He also defended Denish’s tie-breakers. The track in Denish’s hometown of Hobbs employs 650 people during racing season, he said. “Her vote helped create jobs,” he said.
But somehow I don’t think we’ve heard the last of the “pay-to-play jackpot” talk from the Republicans.
It was a closer vote than I expected, but the Senate approved Sen. Richard Martinez's bill (SB330) to allow racetrack casinos to have automatic teller machines on the gaming floor. The vote was 20-16.
The bill goes on to the House.
One reason gambling issues fascinate me is because both supporters and opponents cut across party lines.
The vote was a "show of hands," so I just got the names of those voting against the bill. Opponents included Republican Sens. Rod Adair, Sue Wilson-Beffort, Mark Boitano and Bill Payne.
Democrats opposed were Sens. Peter Wirth, John Arthur Smith, Tim Eichenberg, Jerry Ortiz y Pino, Howie Morales, Steve Fischmann, Linda Lopez, Bernadette Sanchez, Linda Lovejoy, Eric Griego, Dede Feldman and John Sapien.
Apparently the Senate has decided not to debate Senate Bill 330, sponsored by Sen. Richard Martinez, D-Española, which I wrote about in today's New Mexican.
That's the bill that would allow racetrack casinos to put automatic teller machines on the gambling floor.
Unfortunately the funniest part of the story got cut in the editing process.
It was when Guy Clark, executive director of the New Mexico Coalition Against Gambling told me there's been a rise in advertising for adult diapers in gambling magazines. (Clark argues that the gambling industry gets people addicted to slot machines and would do anything to keep compulsive gamblers at the machine. Adult diapers would help that purpose.)
Not being a big reader of gambling magazines, I can't verify if it's true that those ads are there. But what an image it conjures.
I'm a retired reporter and columnist, a public radio music host, a former music podcast creator (The Big Enchilada), a rock 'n' roll grandpappy and cat owner. This blog now is just a repository for my radio playlists. For new music writing please check my new Substack, Flaming Spud Rhapsodies, https://flamingspud.substack.com
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