"In a welcome attempt to defend Sonoma County from the specter of a gargantuan Las-Vegas style casino complex proposed in Rohnert Park, North Bay Assemblyman Jared Huffman last week raised legitimate concerns in challenging Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who he suspects of engaging in secret negotiations to award a gaming compact to the Federated Indians of the Graton Rancheria.

Such negotiations would be premature, Huffman correctly notes in his letter to the governor, since the federal government has not yet ruled on whether the tribe can claim the Rohnert Park property as Indian land, a prerequisite for a state gaming compact.

The fact that neither the governor’s office nor Graton tribal chairman Greg Sarris denied having engaged in such talks lends credence to Huffman’s claim, and highlights the troubling process by which government officials can meet behind closed doors to secretly determine the fate of the people living nearby a proposed mega-casino.

Whereas many of his colleagues in Sacramento are happy to collect generous campaign donations from Las Vegas casino interests partnering with tribes throughout the state, Huffman has made it clear that he opposes the “reservation shopping” that has led to both the Rohnert Park casino proposal as well as another casino proposed for south of Petaluma by a competing tribe. Huffman has seen what Indian casino developments have done to other communities in California, so he is doing what he can to protect the residents of Sonoma County from a similar fate."

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Editorial: Huffman takes stand against casino plan (The Petaluma Argus-Courier 9/5)