Editorial: Stop fighting Mechoopda casino bid

Friday, May 15, 2009  

"Butte County keeps spending taxpayer money on a losing bet. It's time to stop fighting and start talking.

Butte County supervisors decided to gamble with taxpayer money. So far they are more than $300,000 in the hole. Wise gamblers would stop. The county, instead, is digging into its pockets and throwing more money on the table. It looks like a bad gamble from here.

It's not as if the county has play money sitting around. At next week's supervisors meeting, they'll be talking about a multimillion-dollar deficit, on top of millions in cuts the county has already made.

So why spend another undisclosed sum to pay the county's hired guns in Washington to file an appeal in federal court? The county has already allowed two casinos to be built in Oroville. Why would the Mechoopda be treated differently? Are supervisors trying to protect the existing casinos from competition? Is the county tired of gambling's drain on county resources?

The true reasons for the fight remain elusive. County leaders have tossed about many concerns. A casino would harm the environment, they say. Or it would endanger an underground aquifer. Or it would create traffic problems. Or it would encourage development in a place that's now entirely open space. And the newest argument is, well, the county likes the tribe but doesn't like Las Vegas casinos."

Get the Story:
Editorial: County gamble not paying off (The Chico Enterprise-Record 5/15)