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Governor is weighing casino-appeal request
Wednesday, July 09, 2003 | No comments posted.
FLORENCE (AP) - With contradictory decisions by the federal court and the Florence City Council, a tribal casino on Highway 126 is far from a done deal.
Last week, U.S. District Judge Tom Coffin upheld the right of the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians to put a casino on a 98-acre stretch of land called the Hatch Tract. It was the second time a federal court has done so.
But on Monday night, the Florence City Council voted to ask Gov. Ted Kulongoski to take Coffin's decision to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The council also voted to exclude the tract from the city's urban growth boundary, preventing the tribes from hooking into city water and sewer services.
The tribes are trying to set up a meeting with the governor. A group opposed to the casino want to do the same.
Kulongoski said Tuesday he will decide whether an appeal is warranted and plans to meet with both sides.
"I view an appeal solely as a legal issue. I will not take an appeal merely as a delaying tactic ," said Kulongoski, a former Oregon Supreme Court justice and attorney general.
The decision to take the case to federal court was made by former Gov. John Kitzhaber.
On the streets of Florence, a battle of the billboards is taking shape. There are now three "No casino" billboards up in and out of city limits, and two "Yes casino signs."
One "No Casino" sign was vandalized on Saturday, when a graffiti artist spray-painted a "Y" before the "No" and a "T" after it. Now the sign reads "Y not casino."
Locals say the propaganda assault has gotten ugly. One man said he disassembled a "No Casino" sign planted on the property he rents, only to be confronted by casino opponents and the Florence Police.
The council's letter to Kulongoski implies that the tribes misled this community when it asked that the Hatch Tract be taken into trust in 1998.
Tribal Chairman Greg Norton has described the land as "a significant part of the Indian cultural history, and stressed it would be used for cultural and historical purposes."
"Florence was lulled into accepting the trust status," Mayor Alan Burns writes in the letter, adding that construction of a casino will hurt the city, its economy and community life.
If the governor contests the casino, tribal officials say he would violate the tribe's gaming compact with the state.
Last week, U.S. District Judge Tom Coffin upheld the right of the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians to put a casino on a 98-acre stretch of land called the Hatch Tract. It was the second time a federal court has done so.
But on Monday night, the Florence City Council voted to ask Gov. Ted Kulongoski to take Coffin's decision to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The council also voted to exclude the tract from the city's urban growth boundary, preventing the tribes from hooking into city water and sewer services.
The tribes are trying to set up a meeting with the governor. A group opposed to the casino want to do the same.
Kulongoski said Tuesday he will decide whether an appeal is warranted and plans to meet with both sides.
"I view an appeal solely as a legal issue. I will not take an appeal merely as a delaying tactic ," said Kulongoski, a former Oregon Supreme Court justice and attorney general.
The decision to take the case to federal court was made by former Gov. John Kitzhaber.
On the streets of Florence, a battle of the billboards is taking shape. There are now three "No casino" billboards up in and out of city limits, and two "Yes casino signs."
One "No Casino" sign was vandalized on Saturday, when a graffiti artist spray-painted a "Y" before the "No" and a "T" after it. Now the sign reads "Y not casino."
Locals say the propaganda assault has gotten ugly. One man said he disassembled a "No Casino" sign planted on the property he rents, only to be confronted by casino opponents and the Florence Police.
The council's letter to Kulongoski implies that the tribes misled this community when it asked that the Hatch Tract be taken into trust in 1998.
Tribal Chairman Greg Norton has described the land as "a significant part of the Indian cultural history, and stressed it would be used for cultural and historical purposes."
"Florence was lulled into accepting the trust status," Mayor Alan Burns writes in the letter, adding that construction of a casino will hurt the city, its economy and community life.
If the governor contests the casino, tribal officials say he would violate the tribe's gaming compact with the state.
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