NEW 'TRIBES' SHOPPING FOR CASINO SITES.

Byline: Jill Stewart Capitol Punishment

SAN Pablo has long been a sad little town ignored by the East Bay. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's deal to let the Lytton Band of Indians open a giant casino there, though cheered by city leaders, means San Pablo now faces the prospect of becoming a sad, malevolent little town - the sort of place the East Bay can't ignore.

When California voters in 2000 handed the state's Indian tribes monopoly rights to build huge, Las Vegas-like, slot-machine casinos, we were assured there would be no urban casinos. The measure was titled the Gambling on Tribal Lands Act. The League of Women Voters insisted it applied to ``tribal lands only,'' and Indian leaders publicly agreed.

Voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 1A, not knowing that, along with federal law, it created trapdoors allowing the tribes to pry open urban areas and put ``reservations'' in cities.

Today, of California's 107 federally recognized tribes, 56 tribes, mostly tiny ones, earn perhaps $8 billion - nobody knows precisely how much, since they needn't say. Exploding expansion long ago eclipsed the old figure of $5 billion earned in 2002. Thunder Valley, near Sacramento, just netted $300 million its first year.

Of the 107 tribes, 30 sued for recognition, largely to open casinos. Now, 54 more groups - including highly questionable ``tribes'' cobbled together by slick lawyers - insist the feds designate them tribes, too. Since new tribes don't have land situated for profitable casinos, two dozen are ``reservation shopping'' near or inside cities, according to tribal gaming critic Cheryl Schmit.

If Schwarzenegger's deal is consummated, San Pablo's will be the first ``reservation'' in the urban core. Schmit says Schwarzenegger had no choice because Congress awarded the Lytton Band that reservation - a sneaky move by Rep. George Miller, D-Concord, inside a big, omnibus bill.

State Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally, D-Compton, wants a state-designated reservation in Compton. Casinos are only allowed on federal reservations. Step 2 would be to change the California Constitution to allow casinos on ``state reservations'' - an angle another legislator is quietly working.

California voters didn't want this. They wanted American Indians to succeed because of past U.S. treatment of them. Now, the arrogance of rich tribes is wiping out that enormous goodwill.

Two years ago, Time Magazine reported the San Manuel Band was grossing the equivalent of $900,000 per year for each of its 70 members - before things really took off. Santa Barbara-area papers reported the Santa Ynez Band's roughly 160 adults get paid $27,500 monthly.

Tribes now coldly eject members, sometimes so that fewer members can split the dough. Schmit points out the Redding Rancheria ``disenrolled'' a family that actually exhumed its mother and grandmother to prove its members belonged to the tribe. The Pechangas kicked out more than 100 people. The Enterprise Rancheria kicked out 75 members during struggle for control of the government. The Buena Vista Band erupted in a battle over control of government - and thus of casino profits.

California is undergoing the biggest legal expansion of gambling in U.S. history; yet it's driven less by support for gaming than by desperation for development - and by greed.

Desperation and greed make people do bad things. Organized crime, as seen in Las Vegas and New Jersey, won't be far off if troubled cities end up with secretive tribal government and staggeringly lucrative casinos.

Each new ``reservation'' introduces government in direct conflict with California notions of healthy civic life. Indian gaming writer Jan Golab notes that tribal governments need not assure a free press, there's no right to inspect government records, and whistle-blowers aren't protected.

Under such conditions, Dymally's choice of Compton for a ``reservation'' is almost humorously bad. For years, Compton has been steeped in corruption, and several officials have gone to jail.

And tattered San Pablo is likely to learn an unfortunate lesson when its rich ``reservation'' morphs into a closed-door, replacement government.

Schwarzenegger should stop embracing Indian gaming in the cities. Indian gaming is the only industry whose politicians and politicians' families get rich from that industry. It's the only industry operated within a government jurisdiction that is not open. In our troubled urban cores, that's a setup for disaster.