August 21, 2006
Gambling Action Alert
The Prairie Band Potawatomi Tribe of Kansas purchased 128 acres of land in Shabbona, Illinois--which they now refer to as a reservation--and they plan to build a Bingo Parlor on the property. (See story below) While bingo might sound harmless, the tribes offer high-stakes bingo and electronic gambling devices that look and play like slot machines. The National Indian Gaming Commission has ruled that these machines are a version of bingo. "That distinction means American Indian tribes can offer the slotlike machines to the public without state consent or oversight." (The Kansas City Star, 9/25/03) Note: 87% of the revenue at Illinois casinos comes from slot machines.
For Immediate Action
- Contact the Governor (800-642-3112) and your state Legislators (217-782-20000 and ask them to oppose this expansion of gambling.
- If you live within 35 miles of Shabbona, attend the Town Hall meeting or contact local officials to let them know this expansion of gambling will negatively impact your community.
http://www.daily-chronicle.com/articles/2006/08/16/news/news01.txt
Tribe says casino is not an option, but bingo parlor is
By Chris Rickert - City Editor
SHABBONA - A leader of a Kansas-based American Indian tribe said Tuesday that the tribe is planning a town-hall-style meeting next week in Shabbona to "dispel any myths" residents may have about the tribe's intentions for 128 acres it recently purchased outside of town.
Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Tribal Chairwoman Tracy Stanhoff also acknowledged that while a "Las Vegas-style" casino on the land is not one of the options being considered, a bingo parlor is.
Stanhoff said next week's meeting is likely to happen at the Indian Oaks Country Club in Shabbona, but she wasn't sure yet on what day. She also said the tribe was planning to buy an ad in the Chronicle as part of the effort to explain its intentions.
Anita O'Bryan, manager of the country club, said Tuesday the tribe had not reserved space for next week but had done so last week before backing out at the last minute.
The tribe had reserved a space from noon to 3 p.m. last Friday, she said, but canceled the reservation on Thursday to meet with county and local officials instead.
That meeting took place on Friday over lunch in DeKalb and included tribal members, DeKalb County Board Chairwoman Ruth Anne Tobias, DeKalb County State's Attorney Ron Matekaitis, Shabbona Village President Claudia Hicks and the tribe's attorneys and public relations consultant.
"The next step was for the tribe to make more contact in the community," Tobias said about the upshot of the meeting.
"We encouraged them that they needed to let people know what they plan to do," Hicks said. "There's so many rumors flying around."
In April, the Prairie Band purchased 128 acres at the southwest corner of University and Preserve roads for $8.84 million. It had purchased a home nearby for $275,000 in 2004.
The tribe has been largely noncommittal about what it plans to do with the land, which it claims it has rights to under a 177-year-old treaty. A plan for a $715 million resort-casino was floated among state and local officials three years ago, but Stanhoff said such a project is not among the possible developments for the property today.
"There was talk of a bingo parlor," Hicks said of discussion at the Friday meeting. Tobias also said that was "a plan under consideration."
In conjunction with Harrah's Entertainment, the tribe operates its only casino in Mayetta, Kan. But in Shabbona, to date, the only specific development proposed for the land has been a government center and office where tribal members in the Midwest could get information about tribal programs. The tribe canceled a tribal plan commission hearing on that development; that hearing also had been scheduled for Friday.
Stanhoff said she hopes the center can get built as soon as possible but that there is no timeline for other development of the land.
Two weeks before the date of the canceled plan commission hearing, the county's planning department issued a stop-work order at the property. Planning Director Paul Miller said the tribe had been doing some land grading and putting down silt fence. Miller said the tribe had not applied for a permit to do any work there.
On Tuesday afternoon, construction equipment bearing the tribe's name was parked at the rear of the property next door to the Chief Shabbona Forest Preserve. Some of the bean crop that had been planted there was gone, and a sign announcing the cancellation of the Aug. 11 plan commission hearing was still displayed.
Stanhoff said the tribe had been moving dirt for only a day or two.
Should the Prairie Band build a bingo parlor on the land, it would be the first American Indian gaming endeavor in Illinois, and there is uncertainty among local, state and federal government officials about what approval the tribe would need to move forward, and from whom.
Miller said that unless his office hears differently from an authority higher than the county, "The rules that have been adopted by the county board apply to all unincorporated land in DeKalb County," including the tribe's.
Asked if the tribe's decision to abide by the stop-work order indicated it recognized in the county some degree of control over what the tribe can do with its land, Stanhoff said: "We are good neighbors and that's why we're working with the county and town and the state."
She added that the tribe also is doing all it can to follow federal regulations that might apply.