HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 06142005 - C25 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ;� s ""''•••��
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HN SWEETEN COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
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DATE: June 14, 2005
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SUBJECT: Northern California Counties Tribal Matters Consortium „
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. ACKNOWLEDGE the invitation of the Northern California Counties Tribal Matters Consortium
for Contra Costa County to become a participating member.
2. AUTHORIZE the Chair, Board of Supervisors to respond with a letter thanking the Consortium
but not requesting membership at this time.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
There is no financial impact.
BACKGROUND/REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION
The Northern California Counties Tribal Matters Consortium ("Consortium") was formed in January,
2005 by the Boards of Supervisors of Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties to address mutual concerns
regarding Indian gaming impacts on local land use, environment, infrastructure and county services.
With three proposed casinos in Contra Costa County, the County is certainly very much engaged in the
issue of Indian gaming. It is to our advantage that more and more counties are taking up this issue
seriously and more public attention is being given to it. As such, the County could strongly support the
efforts of the Consortium. At this time, however, it seems more prudent to focus County resources on
the current casino proposals. The County can certainly maintain informal liaison with the Consortium
and work with it cooperatively as appropriate.
Staff recommends that the County express appreciation for the invitation but not request membership at
this time.
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: X YES SIGNATURE: �.
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COM EE
APPROVE OTHER
SIGNATURE(S):
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ACTION OF BOARD ON APPROVE AS RECOMMENDED OTHER
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
_ UNANIMOUS(ABSENT N096- ) AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE
AYES: NOES: SHOWN.
ABSENT: ABSTAIN:
ATTESTED 0 ��
CONTACT: Federal D.Glover JOHN SW ETEN,CLERK OF THE
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND
COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
CC: Cathy Christian,Nielsen Merksamer
Silvano Marchesi,County Counsel
CAO
BY ,DEPUTY
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Northern California Counties Tribal Matters Consortium
May 12, 2005
Ms. Gayle Uilkema
Chair of the Board
Contra Costa County
651 Pine Street, Room 108A
Martinez, CA 94553
Dear M5? a• a r�: t.Ay r � T� ��
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The Northern California Counties Tribal Matters Consortium (Consortium)would like to invite
your county to become a participating member of the Consortium. The Consortium was
officially formed in January, 2005,by the Boards of Supervisors of Napa, Solano and Sonoma
Counties to address our mutual concerns regarding tribal gaming impacts on local land use,
environment, infrastructure and county services.
The founding members of the Consortium, along with Yolo County Board members and staff,
developed a set of policy principles which were adopted by each County. The principles address
one of the key concerns that our counties have in regard to "reservation shopping"in which
tribes attempt to establish casinos in our region, despite the lack of historical connection to the
area. The Consortium is not opposed to all tribal gaming. The policy principles we have
adopted make a distinction between tribal land trust proposals sought by tribes with historic
connections to the county with projects that are consistent with the county's local ordinances,
versus those tribal development proposals that do not meet this criteria.
A Memorandum of Agreement between the counties provides the structure for the Consortium to
conduct business and to share both consultant costs as well as advocacy-related costs. Each
County has one Board member who serves on the Steering Committee of the Consortium. To
date the Steering Committee has met once to take positions on federal legislation and debrief
from a successful lobbying effort in Washington, DC.
The next meeting of the Consortium will be held on June 6, 2005, in Napa County. At that
meeting,we will be able to consider requests to add new members to the Consortium. At this
time, we are sending this invitation to all A.BAG counties as well as Amador, Lake and
Mendocino Counties.
NCCTMC
May 12, 2005
Page 2
A letter of interest from the Board Chair should be sent to the Consortium by May 27, 2005,
in order to be considered at the June meeting. Please refer to the attachment "Procedures for
Becoming a Party to the Consortium"for full information about the process. Correspondence
should be faxed or sent to:
Mr. Chris Thomas, Deputy CAO
Sonoma County Administrator's Office
575 Administration Drive,
Santa Rosa, CA 95403
Fax: (707) 565-3778
Sincerely,
Duane Kromm, Solano County Supervisor
Chairperson,NCCTMC
Enclosure
Procedures for Becoming a Party to
The Northern California Counties Tribal Matters Consortium
The Northern California Counties Tribal Matters Consortium Multi-County Agreement
includes provisions for adding parties (counties) to the Consortium, when approved by
the majority of the members of the Consortium's Steering Committee. The process for
becoming a party to the Consortium requires the following actions:
1) A County that is interested in becoming a party to the Consortium may send a letter
of interest from the Chairperson of the Board of Supervisors to the Consortium
through the Sonoma County Administrator's Office.
2) Once the Consortium receives a letter of interest, it will be considered by the Steering
Committee during a regular meeting of the Committee.
3) Following approval by the Steering Committee, the Consortium will send a
resolution packet to the interested County for possible action by that County Board of
Supervisors. Included in packet will be:
i) A Board resolution requesting to become a party to the Consortium;
ii) The current Memorandum of Understanding;
Hi) The Basic Principles of the Consortium;
iv) Any known Consortium costs.
4) In order to complete the process of becoming a parry to the consortium, a County
Board of Supervisors shall:
a) Adapt the resolution provided by the Consortium. Amendments to the resolution
will not be accepted,unless approved in writing by the Steering Committee;
bl Designate and provide the name of (two) appointees, one regular and one
alternate appointee from the Board of Supervisors to the Consortium;
c) Provide the name and address of the County Administrator or other designee for
the purpose of receiving communications and notices from the Consortium;
d) Remit the County's share of cost for Consortium financial commitments.
5) A County is deemed a member of the Consortium upon adoption of the resolution and
designation of Board of Supervisor appointees.
NCC Tribal Matters Agreement Exhibit S
Northern California Counties Tribal Matters Consortium
General Policy Principles
I. Introduction
California, more than any other state,has experienced an explosion of tribal
gaming and land development since the 1988 enactment of the Indian G
Regulatory Act("IGRA"). This development accelerated in California with the 1999
passage of Proposition lA, anal the 1998 passage of Proposition 5. The result is 54
operational casinos maintained by 53 tribal.governments in 34 counties,with at least,
25 additional tribal casinos in the planning stage. The scope of potential casino
development is also reflected in the over 100 federally recognized tribes in California,
with over 60 existing compacts, many of them providing for two casinos per tribe. As
these IGRA casinos have proliferated,.increased tribal gaming wealth, or its promise,
has provided capital for,still more gaming and non-gaming tribal development. All
levels of state government now face significant challenges raised by tribal
development initiatives. It is a key consideration that these tribal development
proposals are generally governed by federal.Indian law, which affords.little protection
to communities struggling to address the profound local.impacts that often accompany
gaming or other large tribal projects.
A. Purpose of the Consortium
Many tribal development initiatives,particularly gaming,have regional
impacts beyond any specific jurisdiction. The Northern California.Counties Tribal
Matters Consortium ("Consortium")is founded by county governments based on the
realization that they must work together to share expertise and..respond effectively to
the federal legal and policy decisions driving tribal development.
Along the legal pathway to any type of tribal development,there are a series of
federal decisions and procedural steps. These steps may include tribal
acknowledgment, land acquisition, fee-to-trust land conversion, approvals for gaming
uses of trust lands, and approvals for gaming itself. Most of the steps offer a role and
some measure of influence for the state and affected local governments. While this
role is not as strong as it should be, it does afford an opportunity to take action.
Proactive state and local participation is crucial as federal decisions are under
consideration, because once made,jurisdiction over the tribal entity and its members
is vitiated by the tribe's sovereign status, and key local regulatory powers are
preempted once the property becomes tribal land. Formation of the Consortium is
NCC Tribal Matters Agreement Exhibit A
proposals, to give advance noticeof county policies and standards to those who intend
to propose tribal development on such land, and to advise federal and state
decisionmakers of a county's position.
The Consortium approach explicitly recognizes the distinction between tribal entities
that have significant documented ties to specific locations in a county and those that
do not. While federal processes may also apply to this determination, Consortium
counties will make their own determination with respect to such ties. This will guide
county responses to tribal development proposals or development initiatives, and
assist the counties in taking positions in federal proceedings, The presumption is that
proposals by tribal entities without significant ties to specific locations in a county
will be generally opposed and therefore ineligible for agreements with the counties.
Those having significant documented ties will be eligible for government-to-
government discussions and potential agreements consistent with Consortium
principles.
II. Consortium Basic Principles
The following principles represent the Consortium's general policies toward
tribal trust land acquisitions and other development proposals on trust lands:
A. The Consortium is opposed to any federal fee-to-trust request on behalf
of any tribe that lacks significant, long-term and documented ties to the
specific location in the county where the trust land acquisition or
development is proposed.
The policy presumption is that each Consortium county will oppose any trust
land request, regardless of the developmental purpose, where the tribe on behalf of
which trust.status is proposed, lacks significant ties. Counties will make their own
determination on this issue and will beactive.participants in applicable federal
proceedings. Until the county in question is satisfied that such ties exist, or are
reasonably likely to be proven, no proposals for county-tribal agreements will be
entertained, and other agreements related to the trust land proposal, such as those
involving local governments or the State, will be disfavored.
Be Inf circumstances where a county is satisfied that a tribe, or an
whrecob 77ed group seeking federal acknowledgment as a tribal entity,
has significant ties to a specific location, Consortium member counties:
1. Will work with the Tribe on a government-to-government basis
to consider development proposals within the policy framework
of the Consortium;
NCC Tribal Matters Agreement -3- Exhibit A
B. Information Gathering. The counties affected by tribal development
proposals will obtain information needed to evaluate the unique
character of tribal status and the impacts of tribal development on the
community, and the well-being and economic self-sufficiency of the
tribal entity.
co, Education. The counties will develop, on an individual county or
cooperative basis, a public education program to promote informed
decisions on tribal proposals.
D. Active Participation. To protect local interests,the counties,through the
Consortium,will participate actively and appropriately in state and
federal policy and legislative processes to support the principles of the
Consortium.
E. Trust Land/Development Res-ponse. The counties will ensure that any
fee-to-trust transaction or other tribal development proposal by a
recognized tribe:
1. Is subject to a comprehensive agreement(e.g.,Memorandum of
Understanding) enforceable in federal or state court between the
tribal entity and the county;
2. Is consistent with the county's general plan;
3. Undergoes environmental review that is at least equivalent to the
level of environmental review applicable to any comparable non-
tribal proposal, including impacts, cumulative impacts,
mitigation requirements, and other factors;
4. Includes enforceable provisions between the tribal entity and the
county under which the tribal entity agrees to make paymer_ts to
compensate for the government services typically covered by
applicable tames,to provide a negotiated fair share for health,
welfare',, and safety services, and to offset impacts of whatever
developmental activity is proposed. This recognizes that such
costs include: a)processing and administrative costs (such as
permitting); b) impact mitigation; and c)the ongoing impacts of
the activity or development;
5. Provides for the payment or mitigation from tribal entities to
cover all public sector costs and economic impacts (police,.fire,
NCC Tribal Matters Agreement -5- Exhibit A
Consortium will cooperate in efforts that protect the public interest, and provide
information to tribal governments regarding the expectations that must be met to
proceed with development activities. The ultimate goal is to establish a foundation
upon which legitimate tribal development initiatives can proceed through a process of
mutual respect and cooperation while fully protecting local community and tribal
rights and interests.
NCC Tribal Matters Agreement -7- Exhibit A