San Juan Council to Fight Juaneno Casino Proposal

In scathing language, the City Council has voted to oppose efforts by members of the Juaneno Band of Mission Indians to bring a Las Vegas-style casino here, saying it could do “irreparable damage” and that “their greed is despicable.”

The council denounced the Juanenos, who for centuries have called this city their ancestral home, accusing them during a Tuesday night meeting of acting with deception and in their own self-interest by signing an agreement with outside investors to build a gaming facility.

“We are very disappointed that certain members of our community who have presented themselves as the protectors of our community’s historic integrity have in reality been in a secret scheme with Las Vegas gambling interests to build a casino in San Juan Capistrano,” according to a statement by the council.

“Such hypocrisy is unconscionable, and this council will do everything in its power to ensure that a gambling casino never becomes a part of the city of San Juan Capistrano and hopefully nowhere in Orange County,” said the statement, read by Councilman John Greiner.

Mayor David M. Swerdlin joined the unanimous vote for a resolution opposing the casino but refused to endorse the council’s statement, saying he wanted more information about the Juanenos’ proposal.

Swerdlin said Wednesday that he hoped the council’s tough stand wouldn’t harm the Juanenos’ efforts to become Orange County’s first federally recognized tribe--a matter currently under review by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs.

“The resolution is a result of the fact that the casino is not part of our General Plan,” Swerdlin said, referring to the city’s guide for growth and development. “I still support the Juanenos’ quest for federal recognition.”

The resolution quoted a joint study by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and district attorney’s office in 1993 saying that “gambling casinos have been found to generate a pattern of crimes,” including burglaries, loan sharking, money laundering, bookmaking, extortion, gang influence, alcohol and drug abuse and prostitution.

In calling a casino “a public health and safety threat,” the council’s resolution also expressed concerns about the potential impact of a casino, including noise, traffic and fears that such a facility would compromise the city’s architecture and historic heritage.

Jean Frietze, chief of the Juaneno faction that entered into an agreement with outside investors in 1995, could not be reached for comment Wednesday, nor could David Belardes, an ousted member of that faction who initially supported the agreement with Las Vegas interests only to renounce it later.

But Sonia Johnston, tribal chairwoman of the other Juaneno faction, said Wednesday that she is the only properly elected authority for the entire tribe and that she adamantly opposes the other faction’s alliance with outside investors.

“I am very, very upset,” Johnston said. “How many years have we been building relationships in this city, only to have something like this destroy those relationships?”

Johnston said she had written to city officials in San Juan Capistrano, telling them that despite divisions among the Juanenos, she remains the “only duly elected” tribal authority.

Although both Juaneno factions remain finalists for federal recognition, Johnston said the other, pro-casino group--the one now headed by Frietze--is “not authorized to sign any contracts, and I want the world to know that.”

The Frietze faction, said Johnston, “is not the legally governing body of our tribe. I want the city of San Juan Capistrano to know that we, the duly elected members of this tribe, have nothing to do with this. [The other faction has] no idea what they’re getting themselves into. This is serious business. I’m completely stunned by what they’ve done and want no part of it.”

Officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs declined comment Wednesday on the council’s resolution but noted that if the Juanenos are tentatively recognized, there will be a period in which city or county officials can appeal the finding before a binding decision is made.

Holly Reckord, a top bureau official, said the Juanenos’ efforts to bring a casino here have no effect on the recognition process, nor would the council’s resolution.

“We try to maintain a somewhat neutral stance here,” Reckord said. “We’re like a judge making an evaluation. We’re just trying to determine whether they meet the criteria” for federal recognition, which primarily consider the tribe’s history and genealogy.

The resolution cited an article that appeared in The Times on July 6 detailing a confidential agreement entered into by members of the Juanenos in September 1995.

According to documents obtained by The Times, the Juanenos’ pro-casino faction has received at least $400,000 from a group of outside investors, including a Las Vegas-based corporation known as Brandcor, which is helping fund the recognition effort with the twin objective of opening a casino.

The documents detail the faction’s efforts to win recognition and then acquire 20 acres of land in San Juan Capistrano, the ancestral home of Acjachemen Nation--the original name of the 1,400 Juanenos nationwide, including 1,000 in Orange County--for a gambling and museum complex.

Federal recognition would give the Juanenos the right to operate their own casino. However, recognized tribes are required to obtain casino approval from state and local authorities.