Don’t bet on tribal sharing

Re “Tribe’s ad blitz pressures legislators,” April 24

Successful gaming tribes such as the Morongo Band employ blue-chip teams of lawyers and lobby against the non-gaming tribes. The spread of casinos is something these gaming tribes are against, yet they lobby for huge expansions for their own interests. Many non-gaming tribal members in this state are on welfare. The new compacts propose sharing revenue with the state, supposedly to convince legislators that the expansion is good for the financial well-being of state coffers.

Many people who live on desolate reservations suffer in poverty. Living on reservations with little or no running water, or where electricity is a luxury some do without, are the real issues that native people of this land are forced to deal with. As a member of a non-gaming tribe, I receive less than 1% a year of what Morongo tribal members receive through what the state calls “shared revenue.” How any group could lobby against its own people is shameful. Imagine trying to figure out how to give someone in need less than a penny of a dollar, and you will be in company with the five tribes trying to get their expansion.

GARY WATSON

San Jacinto

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If Indian tribes are “good, responsible neighbors that bring thousands of jobs,” why don’t they abide by California law and ban smoking in their casinos? Aren’t the workers in those casinos deserving of a workplace free of cancer-causing second-hand smoke? Any compact that allows more slot machines should include an agreement to make those casinos smoke-free.

MARY STARR

Del Mar, Calif.