Chukchansi election unlikely to unite factions, reopen casino

Saturday’s tribal elections for the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians were supposed to mark another step forward toward tribal unity sought by state and federal regulators. But political wrangling has intensified, driving wedges even deeper between battling factions and likely further delaying the reopening of the tribe’s casino.

One-fourth of the candidates have withdrawn their names from Saturday’s election, while other tribal members say they won’t recognize the election, have established their own councils, and in the case of one faction, plan to hold their own election in December.

Bickering within the interim council triggered a meeting last week between tribal leaders and the National Indian Gaming Commission, which shuttered Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino a year ago. The federal commission and state Attorney General ordered the closure after a gaming office raid resulted in violent encounters leading to the evacuation of patrons and employees.

“Government stability is one of the significant factors in our decision-making process as to whether or not to enter into a settlement agreement for reopening the casino,” Michael Odle, a National Indian Gaming Commission spokesman in Washington, D.C., said last month. “We are looking for assurances that the gaming operation and tribal property can be safe from further conflict.”

The commission’s Sept. 17 letter and meeting came after the tribe’s three gaming commissioners and gaming commission executive director resigned over what was described as violations of the tribe’s gaming ordinance governing hiring and firing.

“The tribal council’s willingness to violate its own tribal gaming laws, particularly while negotiating the settlement of existing (gaming commission) enforcement actions, is alarming,” the commission letter said. “These concerns have a direct impact on the Division of Compliance’s recommendation to the chairman on whether a settlement agreement should be entered into with the tribe.”

Madera County Supervisor Tom Wheeler, whose area includes the rancheria, is anxious for jobs and economic vitality to return to eastern Madera County. He hopes the election can bring an end to the stalemates within the tribe and with state and federal officials. There were 32 candidates initially, but only about two dozen now consider themselves active candidates for one of the council’s seven seats.

“I’m glad the election is finally happening,” he said. “I think everybody is going to go by that result.”

Well, maybe not everybody.

“I want the casino to open, too, but even if we open up the casino, the problems aren’t going to go away,” said Monica Davis, who heads a tribal faction formerly led by Tex McDonald.

Not everybody was able to get their name on the ballot. Davis’ group said they weren’t told that an election had been scheduled and that they could declare their candidacies. They are holding their own election in December, she said.

Davis said that her council, which has been working in the tribe’s Road 417 business complex, doesn’t recognize the validity of Saturday’s election.

Reggie Lewis, chairman of the interim council and head of another faction, is no longer actively campaigning. He has even encouraged tribe members not to vote for him and says he will appeal the election results. After the tribal leadership splintered into factions, each claiming to be the tribe’s lawful council, the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs ordered the tribal leadership to revert to the council members elected in 2010 – the last undisputed election.

Lewis is concerned about a decision made by a majority of the interim council to allow voters from the 2010 election to participate in the upcoming election.

They include about 150 people who were disenrolled from the tribe before the 2012 election. Lewis and council members Nancy Ayala and Jennifer Stanley, both candidates in Saturday’s election, only want voters from the 2012 election to be eligible to cast ballots.

Council members Morris Reid, Dora Jones and Nokomis Hernandez, who also are candidates, agreed to allow voters from 2010 to participate in Saturday’s election. Council member Chance Alberta, who cast the deciding vote to include the 2010 voters, is no longer actively campaigning because of business and personal issues.

Since the 2010 tribe members participated in that election, those same members should participate in Saturday’s election, Reid and others say.

Meanwhile, members of the “distributees,” a group of fewer than 50 tribe members who claim they are descendants of the true Chukchansi tribe members, have established their own council.

Their council chairman, Luke Davis, described Saturday’s election as “bogus.” He also said he hasn’t received a ballot.

Laura Wass, Central California director of the American Indian Movement, said the tribe’s inability to set aside differences has set a shameful example that has become a national symbol for Indian government dysfunction.

“I see a lot of things all over the country, and this is right up there with the worst,” Wass said. There comes a time, she said, where the U.S. government “should tell them ‘you’re done or go in there and really handle it.’ ”

This story was originally published October 1, 2015 at 6:27 PM with the headline "Chukchansi election unlikely to unite factions, reopen casino."