New Mexico Showdown Looms Over Tribal Casinos

Casino Apache was hopping. People thronged into the cool, darkish den, illuminated with the dazzling lights of the slot machines--echoing with their dinging sounds and, once in a while, the satisfying clatter of coins dropping down the chute.

For several tense days in July, it looked as if this casino and 10 others run by New Mexico Indian tribes would be forced to close, the result of a long-running controversy about their right to exist.

Raising the stakes was Wendell Chino, the independent longtime leader of the Mescalero Apaches, who vowed that he would not shut down this gambling palace, no matter what the state threatened.

Only a last-minute stay by a federal judge of her July 12 ruling that the casinos were operating illegally cleared the way for the gambling parlors to stay open past their 12:01 a.m. deadline July 28--and perhaps kept the specter of unpleasantness at bay. No one here had looked forward to a showdown.

But no one here is surprised that the rift has grown so large and the controversy has gone so far.

“The tribes have long memories,” said Richard Hughes, the lead attorney for the nine tribes involved. “They have a very distinct sense that whenever they find something that looks too good to the white man--land, water, minerals, whatever it happens to be--there’s going to be a backlash, and somebody’s going to find a way to grab it.”

What is happening in New Mexico today is happening to a lesser degree in many states where economically strapped tribes are looking to high-stakes gambling as federal programs and other opportunities dwindle, and the states are seeking a share of the proceeds and regulatory powers.

The New Mexico tribes see themselves as victims of the worst kind of political games, but opponents of casino gambling are equally determined to press their case.

“I thought the stay was unbelievable,” said state Rep. George Buffett, a Republican who filed the first suit that set this legal battle in motion. “The idea of a judge saying, ‘What you’re doing is illegal and felonious, but I’m going to allow you to keep doing this’ just doesn’t make sense. It’s like telling a bank robber, ‘Well, it’s against the law to rob banks, but while you’re appealing this, since you’re from a low-income area, we’re going to let you keep on robbing banks.’ ”

For eight years, the controversy has simmered, through three governors, two state attorneys general and eight legislative sessions, as the tribes struggled for permission to expand their bingo parlors and other small operations into full-scale casinos.

But it began to come to a head two years ago with the election of Gov. Gary E. Johnson, a Republican and political newcomer who had promised to sign the compacts that would permit the casinos, and who reportedly received more than $200,000 in campaign contributions from the traditionally Democratic-voting tribes.

As soon as Johnson took office, he took steps to keep that commitment. The agreements were signed in February 1995, in accordance with federal law, and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt added his approval.

Then the legal challenges began in earnest. Eventually, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled that Johnson had no authority to negotiate with the tribes without input from the state Legislature, setting the stage for the closing deadline and near-crisis--and for differing opinions on the strength of the tribes’ position.

“There are those who would argue that the tribes went into this expansion knowing it was risky. They gambled and lost,” said Kay Roybal, spokeswoman for the state attorney general’s office. “There are things about the compacts. There’s virtually no state regulation. We’re concerned about the law enforcement, the auditing of the books, whatever needs to be done to prevent organized crime.”

But tribal leaders scoff at such arguments, contending that tribal gambling is governmental gambling, with the proceeds slated for public purposes, and not the sort of purely commercial enterprise that would attract organized crime. The real reason for the opposition, they believe, is not so noble.

“So much of this fight has to do with partisan politics in New Mexico, exploiting rather than looking out for the welfare of Indian gambling,” said Tom Teegarden, economic development director of the Taos Pueblo tribe near the arty resort town of Taos. “State legislators are, true to form, following their political agendas instead of doing the right thing for the tribal governments who represent the poorest citizens of the state.”

The tribal leaders argue that gambling has done more for their economic development in a matter of months than the last century of governmental programs, and at no cost to the taxpayer.

Already, the Sandia Pueblos, a tribe north of Albuquerque, have built a much-needed health clinic with their proceeds. The Taos Pueblos have been able to buy and preserve a large tract of mountain land adjoining their sacred Blue Lake, which had been slated for massive development.

The threat of having to close, and for an indeterminate period of time, was frightening to the tribes. Three thousand casino workers would have been laid off immediately, and tribal leaders were dreading having to send employees home and turn away the customers who have already spent more than $200 million in the casinos.

But all except Chino had agreed to comply with the deadline. Johnson’s announcement that he would call a special session of the Legislature only if all the tribes agreed to close seemed to tribal leaders an example of unfair manipulation. Chino’s stand, while admirable, seemed poised to hurt the others.

“We feel every tribal government can make independent decisions about what they can or cannot do--that is government sovereignty in action,” said Frank Chaves, co-chairman of the New Mexico Indian Gaming Assn. and a Sandia Pueblo. “We also feel the state cannot hold” one tribe “responsible for the actions of another.”

But once U.S. District Judge Martha Vazquez granted the stay, Johnson backed away from calling a special session, and tribal leaders were dismayed to discover that there would be no speedy resolution of the issue. Instead, they will be meeting with state officials to attempt to resolve the dispute.

Still, everyone agreed that a potentially nasty situation had been averted, at least for now.