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Editorial: Inslee should reject second casino in Airway Heights

Thu., July 9, 2015

Gov. Jay Inslee’s pending decision whether to approve or reject the Spokane Tribe’s casino application isn’t just about that project. It’s about the placement of tribal casinos throughout Washington and the possible impacts on nearby communities.

If tribes can place casinos on ancestral or aboriginal lands, rather than on reservations, then where does it end?

That’s why four Western Washington legislators fired off a letter to the governor blasting the U.S. Department of Interior’s green light for the Airway Heights casino, urging him to say no. It could “open the floodgates to gaming in every community in our state, whether the local community wants it or not,” wrote Sen. Brian Hatfield and Reps. Christopher Hurst, Brian Blake and Dean Takko.

In his letter of approval, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn wrote that “it would be deeply ironic to allow the Kalispel Tribe the opportunity to develop a casino within the Spokane Tribe’s aboriginal area, while denying the Spokane Tribe the opportunity.”

The Kalispel Tribe was allowed to build the Northern Quest Casino off its reservation, which is near Usk. At the time – the mid-1990s – that decision was considered an exception to the rule. The Kalispels have little land suitable for commercial development, so they were given a rare break.

But if the Spokanes are given the same consideration, then the exception becomes the rule, and that irony noted by Washburn would be cited in future applications by tribes throughout the state. On what basis could either the feds or the governor turn down a tribe if it could demonstrate that off-reservation land was once its homeland?

Casino proponents suggest this issue is a simple matter of equity. But in the grand scheme, the governor is between a Hard Rock and a hard place. The questions for him are much larger. How much gambling do we want in Washington? What are the overall impacts?

The Kalispels claim a second casino would cripple economic development efforts that have lifted the tribe out of poverty. The Spokanes say there is room for both to grow and thrive. That point of contention will probably land this dispute in court, with the governor’s decision determining who the plaintiffs will be. But that aspect of this controversy doesn’t address non-tribal impacts.

In Spokane County, the overriding concern is the future of nearby Fairchild Air Force Base, the county’s largest employer. Both sides have claimed U.S. Air Force support, but military officials have played it down the middle. It would not be right for the Air Force to wade into a local dispute, and its neutrality should not be read as approval or disapproval.

Whether the new casino has encroached on Fairchild’s operations won’t be known until the next round of base closings and force reductions. However, it would be a roll of the dice to assume a second casino won’t be a factor.

The governor has the final say, and we urge him not to gamble with the future of this community and others throughout the state. Please say no.