Council Blunders in Casino Debate

* Re “San Juan Council to Fight Juaneno Casino Proposal,” July 17:

We have broken hundreds of treaties with Native Americans, have stolen their land, forced them to live on the poorest lands, starved them into submission, and tortured and killed them.

Now I read that the San Juan Capistrano City Council has said of the Juaneno Band of Mission Indians that “their greed is despicable” in wanting to put a gambling casino in their ancestral home.

I don’t approve of gambling, but it is past time to try to make some reparations for our greed. I’m ashamed of San Juan Capistrano and the City Council.

F.C. STACY

Westminster

* Legal gambling may well be a fact of life in the entire state of California before the rather short-sighted San Juan Capistrano City Council members realize how important a casino might be in their future.

Whether the owner will be a group of Juaneno Indians or some other entrepreneurial types, it might be the wellspring of tax relief for citizens and a real survival plan for other cities.

City budgets are growing dramatically larger every year and sources for revenue are scarce. Increased taxation faces vigorous opposition from voters. Yet the demand for city services escalates.

I hope the City Council members have a good answer when they may be forced to ask taxpayers for money to pay for mandatory city services. I would guess that day might come soon.

BILL HENRIETTA

Huntington Beach