SENATE COMMITTEE on GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION

Informational Hearing on:
Tribal-State Compacts between the State of California and the Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake and the Pinoleville Pomo Nation

December 16, 2009
California State Capitol

Senator Roderick Wright, Chair

SENATOR WRIGHT:  We’re going to get started.  This is an informational hearing so I will dispense with having to call the roll because I don’t have to.  But in a normal setting if we were going to vote, we’d have a roll call and it would be a requirement that we have members of the opposite party.  Again, in this instance, it’s an informational hearing and we’re not going to be voting today.  But we are going to be hearing the issues related to two tribal state compacts between Pinoleville and the Upper Lake Tribes, both of whom are seeking gaming on their property that’s in trust.
Let me welcome, and I forgot his name, our new—Russell Holder is our new Leg Counsel guy.  Welcome aboard.  We’re going to baptize Russell by fire.  This is his first day.  And for the record, Russell, we actually killed the last guy.  I mean, he tried real hard but he didn’t make it.  No.  He was good.  Welcome aboard and thank you for joining us today.
As well, let me thank the representatives, today, who are here from the two tribes in question.  The Upper Lake Tribe, I see the tribal chairwoman.  And I don’t know the tribal leader from Pinoleville, but if you would…
UNIDENTIFIED:  _________(inaudible)
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Okay, well welcome aboard.  I know the guy sitting next to you.  That’s probably bad for you, but—just something about those San Jose guys.  I was actually all the way in Rwanda last week and I ran into a guy with a San Jose tee-shirt on.  I just said, “I can’t get away from them.”  
So with that, again, in the discussions that we’ve had thus far, there are kind of, sort of, three issues on the table.  I’m not aware of significant opposition.  I did receive a communication from the Mendocino Board of Supervisors.  But essentially, we’ll be looking today at, kind of, three things:  
1.  Are the lands on which the gaming is to occur, eligible Indian land?  That’s always one of the considerations that we have.  That it’s in trust and that it was in trust by the respective date.  
2.  Have the respective tribes obtained local support through intergovernmental agreements with the local governments?  One could argue that the letter from Mendocino would say that’s not 100 percent true, at least for one.  
3.  And are the execution of intergovernmental agreements between the tribes and local governments’ requirement that must be in place before the Legislature can ratify a compact?
Those are kind of, sort of, the three things that we’re looking at today.  I’m not trying to make it particularly complicated and looking for a good discussion.  Remember, we’re not voting today, so you don’t have to feel that this is your persuasive voice, per se, because this is an informational hearing.  This hearing is a part of the process that the Legislature does for advancing a compact, but we are essentially hearing the information.  
So, I forgot who’s first.  And if I pulled out my own agenda and looked at it.  Okay.  Kirstin Kolpitcke, Deputy Director of Legislation, Governor’s Office of Planning and Research.  And you were involved in these compacts in the Governor’s office.
KIRSTIN KOLPITCKE:  Yes.  Would you like me to start with the Pinoleville or Upper Lake?
SENATOR WRIGHT:  You know what, make it easy on yourself.  I mean, I guess considering where we are I should say flip a coin.
MS. KOLPITCKE:  Well, thank you for the opportunity to address the committee and answer any questions that you might have regarding the Tribal State Compact with the Upper Lake Tribe.  This compact is a tribal state gaming compact that provides the Tribe with an opportunity to build and operate a class 3 gaming facility while also providing the State with additional needed revenues and protections for the environment, the public, and the casino employees.  
Specifically, this compact authorizes the Tribe to establish one casino on an 11.34 acre parcel located in Lake County.  The Tribe may operate up to 750 slot machines.  The Tribe has also agreed to make payments to the Revenue Sharing Trust Fund when it operates over 349 slot machines.  For every slot machine starting at 350 to 750, the Tribe will pay $900 per slot machine.  As you know, the RSTF is a fund that provides an annual distribution of 
1.1 million to eligible tribes; those tribes operating fewer than 350 slot machines.
The Administration believes this compact is good for the State and good for the Tribe.  It affords protections to the Californians who will visit and work at the casino and provides for mitigation of impacts of new projects on the surrounding community; it provides for substantial revenues to the State while affording the Tribe increased economic opportunities as envisioned by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  And that would be true for both of them I understand.
MS. KOLPITCHKE:  That would be true for both of them.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  I was just checking, because you’ve started with Upper Lake.  But okay.
MS. KOLPITCHKE:  Yes.  There are specific provisions to each and I can actually just differentiate Pinoleville if you’d like me to do that.
The Pinoleville compact authorizes the Tribe to establish one casino on eligible Indian lands located within the boundaries of the Tribe’s rancheria as those boundaries existed as of March 10, 2009; the date of the execution of the compact.  The Rancheria is located in the County of Mendocino, off Highway 101; about one mile north of the city of Ukiah.  The Tribe may operate up to 900 slot machines.  The Tribe has also agreed to make payments to the Revenue Sharing Trust Fund when it operates over 700 slot machines.  For every slot machine starting at 701 to 900, the Tribe will pay $900 per slot machine.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Okay.  Any questions from the Committee?  
Mr. Price, we understand that it’s your birthday today.  We’re not trying to get into which one this is, but when you’re as old as we are any one you get is a good one.
I’m sorry, people in the audience, it’s Senator Price’s birthday today, and true commitment to his work, he’s here on the job.
Let me ask, for these two tribes, they’re limited to one casino on their property, is that specifically a limitation as a part of the compact?
MS. KOLPITCHKE:  That’s a limitation that’s part of the compact, yes.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Why was that done?
MS. KOLPITCHKE:  Typically, my understanding is that it’s a negotiated term as part of the compact.  However, it is consistent with previous compacts.. So if they wanted to seek an expansion, they would have to redo it.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  And how did you arrive at the number of slot machines at each—the 750 and 9?
MS. KOLPITCHKE:  It’s a specifically negotiated portion of the compact based upon the Tribe’s desires.  And the State, I believe in the case of Upper Lake, they specifically requested the 750.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Once we do this, let’s say that they’re doing exceptionally well and they want to go to 900 or 1,000, what would they have to do to achieve that, or would that require a new compact?
MS. KOLPITCHKE:  I think it would require a new compact.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Okay.  Any other questions from the Committee?
SENATOR CURREN PRICE:  One question, Mr. Chairman.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Senator Price.
SENATOR PRICE:  You mentioned this is going to be on an 11.3 parcel acre of land?
MS. KOLPITCHKE:  In the Upper Lake compact, they can establish one casino on an 11.34 acre parcel of land.  I believe that’s the area of their Indian land.  So anywhere within that, they’re entitled to place their casino.  That doesn’t mean the casino itself.
SENATOR PRICE:  I understand.  I’m sure we’ll hear a little bit more, perhaps, about the location.  Thank you.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Any other questions from the Committee?  The compacts themselves, after we do what we do, what happens after that?
MS. KOLPITCHKE:  Once they’re ratified—it depends upon the individual compact and Tribe.  For example, Upper Lake has—I believe for the most part they’re “shovel ready” to begin their project.  They’ve completed their TEIR.  They’ve entered into their intergovernmental agreements.  Assuming that it would be ratified by the Legislature, they could go forth with their project.
Pinoleville has submitted a “Notice of Preparation” for their TEIR, but from there, they would still have to do a “Notice of Completion,” a final draft TEIR.  They have not entered into their intergovernmental agreement as far as I know yet.  Those all would have to be done prior to beginning the project.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Okay.  Does the federal government review after we submit the compact?
MS. KOLPITCHKE:  Yes.  The Interior has to review it as well and approve it.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Okay.  Was there a time sequence for them or do they get a…
MS. KOLPITCHKE:  That I am not sure of.  I can get back to the Committee on that.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Then they have to publish it in the Register, right, in 20 days or something like that?
MS. KOLPITCHKE:  Yes.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Okay.  Again, are there any questions of the Governor’s Office in the person of Ms. Kolpitchke?
MS. KOLPITCHKE:  Thank you.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Thank you much.  Hold on.  We may have a question for you later on, if you can.
MS. KOLPITCHKE:  Sure.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  I’m going to call Sherry Treppa, Richard Armstrong, and David Quintana.  Welcome aboard.  Again, this being a gaming issue, we can flip a coin to see who goes first, or I can flip, or since they work for you, Madam Chair, you can go first, whichever is easier.
DAVID QUINTANA:  I think the Chairwoman and I agreed.  I’m not quite sure what I’d—I’m up here.  But I would just like to say that I’m David Quintana, in support of the Upper Lake Compact.  And I think that’s all I have to say.
SHERRY TREPPA:  Would you like me to proceed?  I’m Sherry Treppa.  I’m the Chairperson of Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake.  I know that’s a tongue twister so…
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Right.  That’s why I just kept saying, “Upper Lake.”
MS. TREPPA:  Upper Lake.  I don’t blame you.  
SENATOR WRIGHT:  I’ve actually been there, too.
MS. TREPPA:  Well, we would like for you to be there opening day as well.  Hopefully, that will be before Memorial Day.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  It is beautiful country.
MS. TREPPA:  It is beautiful.  We love it up there.  I’d like to begin by giving you a little bit of historical perspective on our Tribe, and then, kind of summarize the efforts that we have made within the County, and then, close with some specific aspects of the compact and why it’s an urgent matter that the compact gets ratified as soon as possible.
The Tribe is a federally recognized tribe.  We went through termination in the fifties during the California Rancheria Act.  The Tribe sued the federal government to restore its Indian status in the seventies and won that in the eighties.  Pursuant to IGRA, we were entitled, or are entitled, to restore our land base.  And to begin that, we entered into an agreement with our current investor.  
The Tribe, since 2005, has made every effort within the County to be very forthright in discussing what our intent was for the casino.  As soon as we found the piece of land and closed on that deal, we went to the County and let them know that we intended to put up a small gaming project.  And because we were interested in being a good neighbor and being a responsible part of the community, we entered into an agreement with the County.  
The Tribe has 205 current members.  The acreage is just a little bit over 11; it’s actually 11.24 acres.  The Tribe historically had had over 500 acres before the termination process.  So in the scheme of things, the site is considerably small but it will accommodate a very small modest project.  This project, however, is critical to the Tribe getting to the point of being economically self-sufficient.  Currently, the Tribe depends upon federal grants to keep its administration going and to provide very, very small amounts of funding for housing, education, and EPA.  
So the Tribe, as I mentioned, went to the County and negotiated an MOU.  And with that, we also negotiated a fire MOU to mitigate any of the possible issues that may occur on the site.  We entered into a wastewater agreement.  
And I believe we have several county representatives here to speak on our behalf as well.
The Tribe has made every effort to cooperate with the County prior to even beginning negotiations of a compact, purely because we are responsible and want to be a good neighbor.  The Tribe also—during the negotiations with the County, the Tribe became aware that the intended amount of land that we were going to be putting into trust (which was 60 acres to begin with) would detrimentally impact the County in its Middle Creek Restoration Project.  The Tribe agreed to limit our trust acquisition to just a little over 11 acres so that the County could move forward with the Middle Creek Restoration Project and basically restore and help, I guess, preserve the health of the lake.  So in every way, this Tribe has been very, very responsible to the County.  Not only are we looking to provide jobs for our own community, we are going to be providing jobs for the County. 
The County currently has about 18 percent unemployment.  Recently, there was a closure of one of their largest facilities in Konocti Harbor Resort that let go 700 employees.  Our project will provide about 140 jobs.  It’s not 700, but it’s something in a community that is detrimentally impacted by this economy.  There are a lot of folks that don’t have work; a lot of folks that need jobs.  Our tribal membership needs jobs.  The County will benefit from MOU payments.  The County will benefit from some marketing payments that we have negotiated in the MOU.  The County will benefit from just providing the jobs.  
So with that said, the Tribe is in a position that it needs the compact to be ratified immediately.  The Tribe has been working on this for several years. And with that, it’s very expensive to go through the trust acquisition process.  We owe some money and the interest is accruing.  It’s accruing to the point that the Tribe’s project is in jeopardy if it does not move forward immediately.  So we respectively ask that the Senate look at us as an individual tribal government.  
We have negotiated a compact with the State on a government-to-government basis.  We negotiated an MOU with the County on a government-to-government basis.  We ask that you do not delay in looking at our compact and ratifying it.  I know we have considerable support within the community and other tribal governments as well.  There is no reason not to move it along.
Oh, by the way, the Tribe went through the fee to trust process.  I’ve got the federal registered notice here if you need it to assert that.  The land is determined to be Indian lands and it is restored for the purposes of a gaming project, so there are no issues within the County, within the federal government, and within the State.  We have got the compact, we just need to get moving or our Tribe is going to suffer and the County is going to suffer.
RICHARD ARMSTRONG:  Good morning, Chairman, Senators, staff.  I’m Richard Armstrong with the law firm of Rosette and Associates.  We’re the legal counsel to the Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake.  And we thank you for taking the time to hear about our compact this morning.
Just to punctuate a couple of the items that the Chairwoman just spoke of in relation to your questions earlier.  The 11.24 acres is in trust, eligible for gaming under federal law.  As you referenced, the Federal Register identifies that, so with respect to the land issues, there are none.  
In terms of quantity of land; as she said, the Tribe carved out a specific 11.24 acre parcel for the purpose of the gaming project.  There’s other land for other projects.  It’s not as if the Tribe has all of its governmental assets on this one piece of land.  This is just their gaming parcel that they’re dealing with.  And they have the ability, if they wanted, to get other lands that would not be eligible for gaming for other purposes.  That’s always there.  So in terms of quantity, that’s certainly not an issue here and it’s something that they work very closely with the County.
The number of machines, the Tribe specifically requested 750.  It would be great if we had the opportunity to operate 750, but given the current market studies, we’re probably looking at a facility of 350 machines for quite some time.  The 750 number gives us some expansion room within this document so that we don’t have to come here and go through this process again to get additional machines if the market turns a certain positive way and we can go that route.
In terms of timing, timing is critical.  The Tribe has several MOUs that once compact ratification occurs and there’s an effective date threshold that we pass, the County will certainly prosper from the Tribe’s compact in terms of MOU payments.
The North Shore Fire Protection District, a special state fire district that’s been impacted by budgetary cuts, will receive $80,000 annually from this Tribe for the services that it will be providing the Tribe’s gaming facility.  
UNIDENTIFIED:  ___________
MR. ARMSTRONG:  The North Shore Fire Protection District; it’s a special state fire district in Lake County that will be providing emergency and fire services to the gaming facility.  Eighty thousand dollars is huge to Chief Robbins and his fire department in that area.  And as soon as ratification occurs, the Tribe will pay a pro rata amount for the current year.  And we only have a few days left in 2009 but I’m sure they would appreciate that money if that could happen.  Beyond that, it’s $80,000 a year that they will garner.
The Lake County Special Districts, the wastewater service provider to the Tribe, has already received over $385,000 from the Tribe in terms of capacity and mitigation elements.  They were able to replace a much needed and dilapidated pumping station that’s literally 20 feet from the boundary of the trust parcel as a result of this Tribe’s gaming project.  Once ratification of their compact occurs, there are other payments that will come to them.  And again, in our reduced budget era that we’re in, those are much needed dollars for that.  And Mark Dellinger, the administrator of the Lake County Special Districts, is here and can probably punctuate that more eloquently than I can.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  He’s next.
MR. ARMSTRONG:  And most importantly, jobs.  The shovels are ready.  Ratification means construction in a county where construction jobs are few and far between.  And beyond the construction jobs, during the building phase, we’re talking about 100 to 200 fulltime good jobs with benefits in a county that’s experiencing a 17 percent unemployment rate.  So this compact is good for the State, the revenue sharing funds are fair (the Tribe negotiated that with the Governor’s Office), the State will benefit immediately, the County will benefit immediately, and the Tribe and the population of Lake County will benefit immediately.  And we ask for your swift approval of their compact. 
Thank you very much.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Okay.  Any questions from the Committee?  
SENATOR PRICE:  Mr. Chairman?
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Senator Price.
SENATOR PRICE:  How many members are—First of all, thanks for the presentation.  It sounds like it’s going to be an exciting project; a real economic boost to the area—to Tribal members and the area.  How many Tribal members are there at the present time?
MS. TREPPA:  Two hundred and five, I believe.  I’m only saying that because we’re enrolling, so it’s increasing.
SENATOR PRICE:  Is that about the number you expect or do you think it spike up dramatically?
MS. TREPPA:  No, we’re still enrolling.  It just depends on births and that sort of thing.  It’s a lineal descendantcy requirement.  The enrollment ordinance requires that you have a lineal descendantcy to a base role.
SENATOR PRICE:  Okay.  And you mentioned the geography, I guess, the Middle Crest Lake…
MS. TREPPA:  Middle Creek?
SENATOR PRICE:  Middle Creek Lake, I guess, that is adjacent to the property that’s being…
MS. TREPPA:  Middle Creek runs into Clear Lake.  The lake is actually Clear Lake, but the project that I referenced is called “Middle Creek Restoration.”
SENATOR PRICE:  And you mentioned that it’s just short of the project area, so it doesn’t interfere with that restoration project that the County is already engaged in?
MS. TREPPA:  Right.  It does not interfere with it whatsoever.  Basically, it’s a parcel that would be lakefront, eventually, if the restoration project goes through.  Now, they’re dependent upon funding by the federal government.  So to the extent that that’s going to be occurring any time soon, is doubtful.  The key was that the land did not go into trust, so that they would have to put some kind of berm around it to protect it.  You cannot impact trust parcels with a project like that.
SENATOR PRICE:  So was it envisioned, at least, that the project will have a site, to be able to view the lake?  Is that part of the plan?
MS. TREPPA:  Possibly.  Possibly.  It’s a wetland.  It would be a wetland’s restoration.
MR. ARMSTRONG:  If I could.  Richard Armstrong again.  What we did was we worked with the County and saw the 100-year flood plain line as a real good line to define where their project would need to be to be effective.  And so, all of our parcel is above the 100-year flood plain.  And what that does, is it eliminated any hamstringing in terms of the County effectively getting rid of the archaic levy system that currently is there.  It’s expensive; it’s not effective; and it doesn’t provide the flood protection and wetlands protection that truly need to be in place given the impurities that are coming down Middle Creek and into the Clearlake area.
The County is looking at, in the future, having an interpretive center and trail system through this area connecting the Rodman Slough area to the Middle Creek facility, or the Tribe’s gaming facility area, and the Tribe would partner with them in creating that interpretive center and trail system.  So it’s a win/win situation.  We carved out land.  Those issues that would be there if the land was in trust aren’t there.  And, hopefully, at one point in time we will be able to exchange that land with the County either for fair market value, or a land swap; something.  We haven’t gotten that far but eventually there will be an interpretive center and more elements that the County can prosper from.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Okay.  You might have said it and I missed it.  And I apologize, Madam Chair.  How much revenue from your compact operations if fully operational, because, obviously, you can’t give money that you don’t have, on a projection what would you say the State return would be?
MS. TREPPA:  It’s 15 percent in the compact, of revenues.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Okay.  And I think it’s scaled, I mean, because we shouldn’t try to get 15 percent and you didn’t make but a dollar.  So it hopefully has some scaling on it so that it allows you to grow into your…
MS. TREPPA:  It depends on how much revenue there is and they get 
15 percent.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Okay. 
MS. TREPPA:  Yeah, I mean, it’s a fair compact.  We would, you know—we negotiated a pretty good compact.  We were excited to actually have that before you for ratification.  And to the extent that we’re an individual government, we would appreciate that always being taken into account; that we are an individual tribe that is asking you for ratification of our compact.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Okay.  Any further questions from the Committee?  Thank you all very much.
MS. TREPPA:  Thank you.  We greatly appreciate it.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  I’m going to continue.  Debra Sommerfield and Mark Dellinger.  Welcome aboard.  Ms. Sommerfield, you’re up first.
DEBRA SOMMERFIELD:  Well, good morning, Chairman Wright and Committee Members.  My name is Debra Sommerfield.  I’m Deputy Administrative Officer with the County of Lake.  I’m here today on behalf of Supervisor Denise Rushing, Chair of the Lake County Board of Supervisors, and Kelly Cox, Lake County Administrative Officer, to express their support for the Tribal Compact with the Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake.  Although Supervisor Rushing and Mr. Cox are unable to be here today, they have asked that I read into the Committee record their letter of support submitted, dated, December 14th.  So if I may?
“We are writing to express our strong support of the efforts of the Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake to conclude a fair and equitable tribal state gaming compact between the Tribe and the State of California.  The County of Lake has established an exemplary government-to-government relationship with the Tribe as a result of the Upper Lake Area Gaming Project.  The cooperative working relationship we have enjoyed with this Tribe from day one has set a new standard in Lake County and is truly a model for others to emulate.  
The Tribe has gone well beyond the County’s expectations in its extraordinary efforts to include county officials and the community at large in the preparation and planning of its gaming project over a period of several years.  The County, through its agencies and officers, continues to meet regularly with the Tribe to ensure the local community interests are adequately accounted for within the project.  Foremost in these planning efforts is the existing Memorandum of Understanding between the County and the Tribe that ensures the County’s interests are taken into consideration throughout the Tribe’s project.  The MOU sufficiently provides for many mitigation measures including:
•	Payment by the Tribe to the County ofa payment in lieu of property tax,
•	Wastewater mitigation measures, water mitigation measures,
•	Health and safety mitigation measures,
•	Fire and safety mitigation measures,
•	Security and law enforcement mitigation measures, 
•	Traffic mitigation measures,
•	County tourism marketing,
•	And Middle Creek Restoration Project consideration.  
To date, the Tribe continues to comply with the MOU by taking action to preserve over 44 acres for consideration of the Middle Creek Restoration Project, providing over $378,000 to the County for improvements to the Lake County Sanitation District’s wastewater system and establishing an agreement with the North Shore Fire Protection District to provide $80,000 annually for fire and safety mitigation.  The County supports the Tribe in its efforts to conclude a fair compact with the State of California in order to see the Tribe’s project to fruition.  
In addition to the funding the Tribe will provide to local agencies pursuant to the MOU, completion of the Tribe’s project will result in much needed new jobs, important Highway 20 safety corridor improvements, and a general overall stimulus to the County’s struggling economy.  On the other hand, if the Tribe is unable to proceed with its project many of the efforts by the Tribe and County will be lost and the local community will suffer the consequences.  
This Tribe has done everything possible to ensure that its gaming project will benefit our community and that there will be a longstanding positive working relationship between the Tribe and the County of Lake.  If the project cannot move forward because of unreasonable delay in the ratification process it would benefit no one as this economic development opportunity could be lost to the Tribe, to our county, to the community, and to the State of California.
Swift ratification by the State Legislature of the Tribe’s compact is critically important.  Your support of the Habematolel Tribe’s efforts to bring this matter to a positive outcome without further delay would be very sincerely appreciated by everyone involved.  Many urgently needed new jobs in Lake County are dependent upon this and we are very hopeful that the Tribe will be able to move forward at the earliest possible date.
Thank you very much for any assistance and consideration you can provide to this exemplary Tribe, the Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake.
Sincerely, 
Denise Rushing, County Supervisor, District 3 and Board Chair.  And, Kelly Cox, County Administrator.
MARK DELLINGER:  Thank you.  Again, my name is Mark Dellinger.  Our agency manages the Lake County Sanitation District.
From the inception of this project and our involvement with the Tribe they have been exceptionally cooperative and proactive.  Through the entire process they negotiated in good faith.  Their performance, in my opinion, has been exemplary.
This Tribe paid the costs of performing a hydraulic analysis in the amount of $20,000 of the collection system by our district’s engineer.  The analysis identified hydraulic impacts from the proposed casino and recommended mitigation measures.  The Tribe paid for these mitigation measures in the amount of over $378,000.  Most of these measures have already been implemented.  Richard Armstrong alluded to some of those.  The Tribe has committed to pay system capacity fees upon their connection to the system.
The Habematolel Tribe has been an absolute pleasure for us to work with as an applicant for wastewater service.  I would be happy to answer any questions the Committee Members may have regarding this positive working relationship.
And I did bring copies of my testimony.  Thank you.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Any questions of these witnesses from the Committee?
MS. SOMMERFIELD:  And, Chairman, I also would like to deliver a letter of support from the Lake County Chamber of Commerce as well.  She could not be here, but if I could submit that?
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Okay.  Well, if you could stick around.  If we think of a question we’ll come back to you.
MR. DELLINGER:  Thank you.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Thank you so much.  We’re going to keep moving.  Ms. Kolpitchke, I’m going to assume that much of what you did in your earlier presentation is the same here for?  Okay, so without objection I’ll just say, “ditto.” 
Let me have the Tribal Perspective.  Chairwoman Leona Williams, 
Ms. Angela James, John Maier, and Manny Diaz, if you guys would all come forward.
LEONA WILLIAMS:  Good morning, Honorable Chairman Wright and Members.  Thank you for being here today.
I’d like to take a few minutes to tell you about the Pinoleville Pomo Nation.  My name is Leona Williams and I am the elected chairperson for our nation.  I’ve been elected many times in the last 16 years.  
My ancestors, the Pinoleville Pomo people have lived in the region known as Mendocino County, for thousands of years.  My great-great grandfather was a leader of the Tribe.  My grandfather was a leader, my father, and now, I’ve been the leader for the last 16 years.
Our relationship with the United States government officially started in the 1900s, when the U.S. government purchased land for the Pinoleville Tribe and officially recognized Pinoleville Pomo Nation as a sovereign nation.  The original purchase was the Pinoleville Rancheria, and today the same borders exist as our nation’s reservation.
Pinoleville Pomo Nation was terminated in the sixties and our rancheria parceled out to individual Indians then living on the land.  Hardships caused many of these Indians to sell their land to non Pinoleville citizens.
In 1983, Pinoleville fought back to reclaim their federal recognition in a class action lawsuit.  We, along with sixteen other tribes, had our recognition restored and the original boundaries of our reservation restored.
Today, the Pinoleville Pomo Nation is governed by the elected council of seven officials.  Our government is strong and stable.  When I was elected, Pinoleville was in a serious deficit.  The tribal council worked very hard and put long hours in to build the solid foundation we have today.  Sixteen years of dedicated service and our leadership has resulted in a stable, successful, and financially sound tribal government.
After several years of planning for a casino, I am here today to ask you for your support for this ratification of this compact.  
We have approximately 250 citizens in our nation and our government now runs around 8 programs and we have 33 employees.  
Just to mention a few of our programs we have:  We have a Head Start, we have a vocational rehabilitation program, and we have environmental social services.  And the one that I’m most proud of is the Head Start, because like I said, termination.  I’m a product of termination.  I’m 60-years-old, so I was there when our reservation was terminated and I was assimilated into the dominant society.  And I found out later in my years that that doesn’t work.  So I had to go back and relearn my culture and also trying to learn my language now (which our Head Start is providing for our young kids now).  And we also serve the other nine tribes in our area.  And we also provide space for another tribe, Yokayo Tribe that isn’t federally recognized.  But they have limited funding, and so, we provide them a tribal office also.
Our tribal unemployment rate is high, much higher than the County average and State average.  Our people need jobs, like most people know.  They need housing.  We are ready and willing to do whatever we must to support our citizens.  Our children need scholarships.  Our elders need housing and support.  We already collaborate with our social service agencies. 
Pinoleville Pomo Nation has many goals to build up in our community.  Not just Pinoleville’s community, but our Mendocino County, home, and community.
We are not developers and do not have the expertise.  We have entered into a development contract with the Kanalis(?) Group to help us develop this casino.  The Kanalis(?) Group has been working with the Tribe for over nine years.  We need their expertise to make this happen.  Our development contract will be reviewed and certified by the National Indian Gaming Commission.  Every gaming tribe has to go through this process.
I, on behalf of the Pinoleville Pomo Nation, invite all of you to come to our reservation.  See for yourself that our people need housing, medical programs, elder care, drug and alcohol facilities.  Our administrative offices and Head Start buildings are modular offices.  They must be replaced with permanent structures.  Our kids need money for scholarships.  As a tribe and nation, we want to provide these services to our people.  That is why I’m here today.  I’m here to ask for your support so that we’ll be able to provide more programs for our people.
Our revised chairperson, Angela James, would like to take a few minutes to tell you a little bit more about our Tribe.  And again, I thank you.  And I also thank the Creator for being here today.  Thank you.
ANGELA JAMES:  Good morning everyone.  My name is Angela James.  And I want to just tell you a little bit about myself.  I was born and raised in Ukiah, California, on the Pinoleville Reservation all of my life.  I had the opportunity, wonderful opportunity, to be raised with my Grandfather Smith.  He was born in 1911 and he shared a lot of the history of the valley and our Tribe with me, and through his encouragement, introduced me to the tribal government.  And through the years he would talk to me about different issues and stuff with the Tribe.  And I couldn’t wait to turn—according to our old constitution, you had to be 21 to run for office and I remember back then I couldn’t wait to turn 21.  Most kids are waiting to turn 21 to go into a bar, but I was waiting to turn 21 to be on the council.  And so, with that I carried all of my grandfather’s values and that’s what brings me here today.
And I just want to share with you our vision that our Tribal Council worked on.  
Our vision:  We see our community being healthy spiritually, physically, emotionally, and mentally.  We will become independent and self-sufficient through economic development.  Self-governance will be carried out through leadership focused on cultural and traditional values, taking actions needed to bring our people into balance.  We see ourselves passing on the knowledge and wisdom of our ancestors to future generations and encouraging understanding with communities outside of our own.
Our mission statement:  The Pinoleville Pomo Nation secures tribal government, affirms and protects tribal sovereignty, and maintains government-to-government relationships.  The Nation is dedicated to developing and maintaining cooperative alliances that benefit the Nation and local community.  
The Nation is committed to the preservation of its history, culture, and traditions.  The Nation provides for the health, safety, and general welfare of its citizens while promoting economic self-sufficiency and personal independence. 
And I just wanted to also share the importance of our culture.  To me, being raised by my grandfather, I participate and helped bring back one of our oldest—our traditional dance.  It was actually documented 100 years in our local newspaper to be—it’s called “Our Big Time,” and it’s a gathering where we do our cultural dancing and singing and I’m very proud of that.  We’re on our 14th annual.
So that’s all I wanted to share with you today.  Thank you. 
JOHN MAIER:  Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee.  My name is John Maier.  I’m an attorney for Maier, Peffer, Kim and Geary.  Chairwoman Williams has asked me to discuss the Pinoleville land situation and how it has impacted the timing of the MOU negotiations with Mendocino County.
The compact authorizes Pinoleville to conduct class 3 gaming at a single gaming facility located within the boundaries of the Pinoleville Rancheria as they exist today.  As Chairwoman Williams mentioned a few moments ago, those boundaries are the same as those established nearly a century ago in 1911, when the United States purchased approximately 100 acres of land for the Pomo Indians in the Pinoleville area.
Like Upper Lake and 39 other California tribes, the boundaries of the Pinoleville Rancheria were dissolved or terminated in the early 1960s as part of a broader federal policy to assimilate Indians and terminate the federal relationship with dozens of tribes in California and elsewhere.  However, unlike the situation for Upper Lake and some other tribes, those same Pinoleville Rancheria boundaries were restored two decades later in 1985 under a stipulated judgment with the federal government and Mendocino County.  As a result, everybody’s been on notice for years that this reservation exists and the Tribe has always had the right to engage in class 2 gaming on that reservation.  It has this right because lands within the boundaries of a restored rancheria, like Pinoleville’s, are defined as (quote) “Indian lands” (unquote) and are eligible for gaming under federal law.  Therefore, the compact before you would simply extend Pinoleville’s right to game on its reservation and extend it to the operation of a single class 3 gaming facility.
Members are familiar with class 2 and class 3, the main difference is to the user; the user has to push.  If they’re playing a slot machine they have to push a button three times for class 2 and one time for class 3.  The difference technically, is that class 2 are playing—customers are playing against one another…
SENATOR WRIGHT:  We got that.
MR. MAIER:  Okay.  Alright.  The Nation has proposed building the gaming facility on a nine acre parcel within the Rancheria boundaries.  The property at 2150 North State Street, lies immediately east of Highway 101, which divides the Rancheria in two.  The Nation considers the parcel to be an appropriate site for a gaming facility.  It’s zoned commercial.  It’s already developed as the former site of a car dealership.  It’s at a higher elevation than lands to the west.  The surrounding area is blighted.  It’s redevelopment by the Nation would occur without taxpayer dollars.  Local residents, including citizens of the Nation, very much need the jobs that this project would generate.
Now as part of the sad legacy of the earlier termination, Pinoleville does not currently own the proposed gaming site even though it is located within the Rancheria boundaries.  However, Pinoleville has a lease and purchase agreement for the property with the current land owner and intends to exercise the option and own the land outright prior to issuing a gaming license for the facility.
Because the proposed gaming parcel is part of the reservation it’s eligible for gaming regardless of whether it is held in fee or in trust.  This is very different from Upper Lake’s and other tribes’ lands situation.  Until a few years ago, Upper Lake was landless and its former rancheria boundaries were not formally restored as part of that Tribe’s restoration.  In order to engage in gaming, Upper Lake eventually had to file an “Off Reservation Trust” application, and to qualify the newly acquired “Trust Lands for Gaming,” a “Restored Lands Request” under Section 20 of the Indian Regulatory Act.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  May I ask you a question?
MR. MAIER:  Sure.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Why do you care how they acquired their land?
MR. MAIER:  We don’t.  But there has been some comparison…
SENATOR WRIGHT:  All I’m saying is that you would do well to just talk about yours.  They didn’t talk about yours, so…
MR. MAIER:  And, look, Chairman, I mean no disservice whatsoever.  I’m an advocate of Indian people, okay?  I’ve worked for California Indian Legal Services for many years.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  My concern is you’re here to talk about Pinoleville.
MR. MAIER:  What I need to explain, though, is there is a difference in the reason that the Tribe with—Pinoleville does not have an MOU yet, and the reason is the timing of its land situation.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Okay.  But again, I mean, it’s your time and you handle it how you want.  My suggestion would be that you do yourself better to talk about how you get your MOU and not necessarily about what their land situation is.
MR. MAIER:  Okay.  I appreciate that.  
SENATOR WRIGHT:  I mean, you can proceed how you want, but if I were you, I’d talk more about mine than theirs.
MR. MAIER:  In Pinoleville’s situation there is not a Tribal Environmental Impact Report.  The need to prepare an environmental document doesn’t arise until the compact is in place.  In other situations, tribes have to prepare an environmental document prior to that because they have to get their land into trust.  When you have an environmental document a county is able to negotiate with you because you have all the—it identifies the mitigation that needs to occur.  We are in the process of preparing a TEIR and we’ve been doing that for the last four or five months with the expectation that the compact will be ratified.  But the only reason we are doing that is because of the obligation under the compact, which is not yet legally effective.  We have been working in that process with the county, sharing the administrative drafts of the sewer and water, of the traffic and other portions of the TEIR, and then working with them to amend those sections so when the draft publication comes out (which should occur this week) the draft should be in pretty good place and we will continue our negotiations which we have commenced with the county.
I think that wraps it up, Mr. Chairman.  Thank you.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Mr. Diaz.
MANNY DIAZ:  Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Members.  Manny Diaz, Diaz and Associates on behalf of Pinoleville.
Members, I’ve visited the Rancheria several times already in the last few months and I can tell you that this is an area that is in major need of redevelopment; this whole area here.  This would be an economic boon for the entire region.  Obviously, it would be a major boon for the Tribe.  But it would also benefit many people here in the County of Mendocino.  
Back when this was ratified, well, not ratified, but when the compact was approved by the Governor back in March, the Tribe and their leadership approached the County of Mendocino asking them to formally start the process for negotiations.  This was back in April of 2009.  The County of Mendocino, from my understanding, created an Ad Hoc Committee consisting of two other board of supervisors including, the CEO and the legal counsel there, to be part of the negotiation team to negotiate this MOU with the Tribe.  
The actual start of the negotiations started last month, the early part of November.  It was a very good start.  I was there at that first negotiation meeting.  There were significant discussions about the impacts on traffic and water and everything.  And we believe that we are going to be able to work out most of that mitigation.
One of the things that you should be aware of, Mr. Chairman and Members, is that there was a big unknown here in the County until the first Tuesday of November.  There was a local measure that was in front of the voters that, well, was proposing to have a major development near this site.  The County of Mendocino wasn’t quite sure what the level of mitigation was going to be from this major development.  The voters did not approve that measure.  Consequently it simplified the type of level of mitigation that would be required with our development, and so, I think that really helped kind of clear the hurdles here for us in having more speedy negotiations.  So we do fully intend, obviously, to work an agreement with the County of Mendocino.  We’re going to continue negotiating with them.  
The draft EIR, I believe is out now for review.  It should be coming back fairly soon.  It will be up, I believe, for 45 days for review, so we intend to go through that.  So we fully intend to do that.  
We’ve also had two informational hearings in the last few weeks with the community.  There is strong support from many of the business community because I think, obviously, they see it as an economic boon for themselves.
And so, I understand that you did receive this letter today from the County saying, you know, not to move forward on this thing.  But again, respectfully, we ask that you do ratify this compact as soon as possible.  We are very much trying to move forward as quickly as possible.  
Again, we’re looking at some financing here.  A major investment has already been made dealing with this site and all the environmental work and consulting work that’s required.  So a major investment has been made already at this site.  So I ask for your support.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Okay.  Mendocino County, this year, is in the second attempt to, in effect, stop your project.  I don’t know who you pissed off in Mendocino County, but I mean, the first attempt was to say that the County portion of a compact had to be concluded before the State ratified.  That was a resolution proposed, was that by Huffman?  Okay, that died here.  The second is the letter that we got today, essentially restating the premise of what was the Huffman resolution, and we’re less inclined to do that again.  
Obviously, the Legislature ratifying the compact doesn’t in and of itself give you license to build anything.  And in my brief conversation with the folk from Mendocino is that they’re kind of, sort of, looking for, as the old people used to say, “a belt and suspenders.”  The fact that we ratify the compact does not take away their right to still negotiate with you prior to you being able to put steel in the ground.  So I mean, I think there is a thing where they would like to have a dual leverage of negotiation against you.  And I mean, I’m concerned with that.  And the Committee has now rejected that idea and we are likely to do it again.  As near as I’m able to tell, the County of Mendocino is just not real keen on gaming, period.  I don’t know that they don’t like you, Madam Chairwoman, but the County of Mendocino doesn’t appear to be gaming friendly.  Is that what you’re experiencing?
MR. MAIER:  In my conversations with the County Council, they’ve made very clear that they’re not opposed to gaming or the project.  I won’t speculate on as to why this has all arisen, but they have specifically stated, and I think Jeanine Nadel, the County Counsel, said at the last meeting that they weren’t opposed to the project.  I think there’s just a lot of politics going on.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Yeah, but, see again, it’s kind of, sort of, the question of what they say and what they do.  And what they say and do, don’t seem quite to correspond.  I mean, I have a letter from them saying, “Don’t ratify your compact.”  That doesn’t sound very supportive to me.  Maybe I don’t speak English properly, but if somebody bothered to write a letter and said “don’t ratify the compact,” that’s pretty definitive.  And then, they were the sponsors and testified relative to the other resolution that would have said, “Don’t ratify until we plan.”  Again, that’s—and I don’t know all of Mendocino.  I don’t know how many casinos are in the county.
MR. MAIER:  There are a number, actually.  And they’ve had experience.  They’ve been working with the Tribe for a hundred years.  Again, the letter—the Board has never taken a position.  The Board did vote for an Ad Hoc Committee to negotiate an MOU back in, was it, April?  And the issue of opposing the project has never arisen publicly or privately as far as I know.  
SENATOR WRIGHT:  What remains the sticking point for you to get their agreement, they, the County of Mendocino?
MR. MAIER:  I’m actually a little perplexed because we had a very good meeting with them recently.  And I was actually very surprised by the letter that went out yesterday, to be frank.  I think that we have—the traffic, we have been working with them, the Department of Transportation and have come up with a solution to their issue, which is basically one intersection where you either do a light or a roundabout of some sort.  
Water and sewer:  Sewer, there is plenty of capacity.  
Water:  There is a concern about getting water offsite because of a current moratorium, but there is a one-inch pipe that goes to the facility already—to this old car dealership.  And the Tribe has plenty of water on the reservation.  And certainly, the water issue is really the Tribe’s concern more than the County’s because the Tribe obviously needs, or the Nation needs, to have water in order to build its facility.  
So those issues; public services, we’ve been working with them.  In fact, the sub-report was presented to them yesterday and an initial proposal, the negotiations are confidential but an initial proposal was presented.  And I can say, the County recently (a couple of years ago) entered into an MOU with Coyote Valley and that is being used as somewhat of a model for our negotiations.
So to answer your question, I frankly cannot…
MR. DIAZ:  Mr. Chairman, I was at that first negotiation meeting with the Ad Hoc Committee with the County.  This was back in early November.  And it was two supervisors there, part of the committee, and also the CEO. There was Mitchell and Jeanine Nadel, the legal counsel there for the County, and to me, they seemed very supportive of Indian gaming.  It’s just that they wanted to start working on, as far as identifying the kind of mitigation that would be required to reach some kind of agreement with Pinoleville.  So for us, it was a very positive meeting, and so, that’s why we’re all so kind of perplexed here with this letter that, I guess, you just got yesterday.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  I didn’t write it so I don’t want you to think that it was me.
MR. DIAZ:  So I think what they’re saying, obviously, is they want to have the MOU before the ratification, basically and we understand that.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Well, and they didn’t appear today.  They did indicate that they had prior commitments and so they wouldn’t be here.  So we can’t ask them anything beyond what is in front of us right now.  I would certainly have said to the Counsel, if she were here, that the ratification of the compact does not preclude her ability to have negotiations with you prior to steel going into the ground.  So, I mean, unless she just prefers to have an additional negotiating point, the issues raised in her letter actually are just factually inaccurate and I would have said that, and would say that to her if she’d been here.  
Our passing a resolution does not preclude her from doing whatever negotiations she wishes to do after you get that.  I mean, that said, again, I would—this being informational and we’ll be taking actions probably in the next 24 hours—again, I would caution you as you proceed, you need to just handle your business and let other people handle theirs.  If you were into bible stories there’s a portion in Mark where the guy wanted to make somebody else stop doing something and the short story was that Jesus said to him, “If somebody is not against you, they’re for you.”  So you don’t need to go create enemies that you don’t have.  I mean, particularly in your case, since you have enough people throwing rocks at you already, the last thing you want to do is be in the middle of two or three people throwing rocks at you, because usually when you’re in the crossfire, you end up dead.  So just, again, you’re all grown, so you handle your business as you need to.
MR. DIAZ:  Mr. Chairman, good point.  I’ve had a rock thrown at my head before.  It hurts.  Thank you for that.
MR. MAIER:  Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  The Governor is looking, again, at binding arbitration which could occur to this process that you’re having with the County, and so, those issues work out.  And the other side becomes if we don’t ratify it I think the County should understand is that the fact if we don’t ratify doesn’t mean that the casino doesn’t go forward.  It moves, then, into a federal negotiation at which point neither we nor the County has any particular input.  So it is in our interest to play because we could end up completely out of the game and the County could end up with a far less, or far less advantageous, negotiating point than they currently have.  Because I bet that the Department of Interior would be a whole lot less favorable than would we or the County, to some of the issues that are being sought.  So there is risk that occurs even for the County of Mendocino in terms of their opposition.  But again, oftentimes in this, people are betting on time and they bet that over the time that it would take you to get to the federal side, that you’d be broke.  And if you are broke, then, I guess, this being a gaming issue, their bet is that they can break you before you get to the federal side and you end up with nothing.  But I would defer to you if you had some other issues that you wanted to raise.
MS. JAMES:  In talking here, a lot of issues have been raised.  And I may be out of line saying this (Madam Chairman I apologize), but being raised by my grandfather, like I said, he was born in 1911 and he’s seen the history of Mendocino County.  He told me the story of the signs and windows that said, “No dogs or Indians allowed,” that’s what we’re dealing with in that county.  And I’m not afraid to say it because anytime any article comes in our local newspaper, I go on there and I read the blogs, you know, and they’re really racist.  They might as well—ugh, anyways, it’s appalling.  
I was a single mother.  I raised two children, eighteen and nineteen.  They graduated Ukiah High School.  Both of my kids, when they graduated, there was probably—the number of native children that graduated that high school I could count on one hand.  And so, (witness clears throat) sorry, I get real emotional with this, but that’s what we’re dealing with.  And I don’t want to call anybody “racist,” but I’ve lived in that county all my life and I dealt with it; being called the “n” word in school all my life.  But that’s why we’re here today.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  They called you that too?
MS. JAMES:  Yeah, I didn’t even know what it was.  I went home and I asked my grandpa…
SENATOR WRIGHT:  I’m sorry.  I’m not trying to make light of…
MS. JAMES:  I went home and I asked my grandpa what that meant.  I had no idea what that word was until—because I went to a Catholic school in that county.  I was fortunate to be able to do that because no other native kids were in that school.  And so, that’s what I wanted to say.  I was sitting here, like, do I say it, or do I not say it, and I’m just taking the chance today.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  No, no, no.  I’ve been called the “n” word a whole bunch of times, so it’s okay.  I mean, there’s an author who wrote a book called Your Blues ain’t Like My Blues, that doesn’t mean that you don’t have them, it just simply means that yours aren’t like mine.  So, I mean, I grew up when they used to have signs that said, “Black people only.”  I mean, half of L.A. County’s property had restrictive covenants on deeds that said you couldn’t even sell it to a black person, an Indian, a Latino, an Asian, or a Jewish person.  It was actually written on the deeds.  So I mean, clearly, the history of discrimination and racism in this country and in this State is not beyond, certainly, the Chair and Members of this Committee.  As well, as I am aware, that this Legislature actually passed laws that authorized the expenditure of General Fund revenue for the extermination of Indians and no apology has yet been issued for that.  But they actually paid people to go out and commit murder on behalf of the State against Indians in the State of California.  So there clearly is some history.  I am, and I think the Committee, is very sympathetic.  
There are a few casinos in Mendocino.  As I indicated, Mendocino, this is the second attempt at—and since yours is the one that’s up I’m going to say it—this is the second attempt at you.  I would hope, again, that as a tribe, that you need, kind of, sort of, the coalition of all the tribes and work.  
The only reason that I raise the concern about how other people got their land and what they did—I’m not disputing the facts of what you say, but I’m just saying that you don’t necessarily need to cast dispersions on somebody else’s thing.  I mean, the object isn’t to try to break somebody else’s rice bowl to get yours.  I mean, everybody, I think, can be taken care of here.  I’m sure that I’ll hear from the people at Mendocino and they may or may not be more forthcoming with respect to their concerns about your project, you know, beyond the letter.  And I’m sure I’ll see some of the other representatives from the area that may talk about it as well.
As I indicated at the outset, this is an informational hearing so we’re not voting, and so, we’ll have to, again, make some determinations as to how to move forward, literally in the next 24 hours.  But I’ll let you close, 
Ms. Andrews.  Thank you for your testimony. 
MS. JAMES:  Can I say one last thing?
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Please.
MS. JAMES:  And I just feel, like, in reality, Pinoleville is just too close to Ukiah Town.  The other casinos in our area are in the hills.  They’re not close to town like we are—the Ukiah Town.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Well, clearly, if it was a car dealership, he wouldn’t have put a car dealership in an area where no one would visit him.
MR. MAIER:  Mr. Chairman, just for the record, I just want to clarify again, I did not mean to cast any dispersions.  Your point is well taken.  And it was very inartful of the way I was trying to explain the Reservation’s status, so I apologize.  But I just want to assure the Committee and you that my intent was not to disparage anyone.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Okay.  I just wanted to raise it just…
MR. MAIER:  I appreciate the comment.  Thank you.  It was 8:00 when I was preparing that and I guess I went on the wrong track.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Any questions from the Committee?  Okay.  Since the other witnesses from Mendocino are not here, then, thank you all for coming to this hearing.  We’ll be taking some actions in near term.  But that will adjourn the hearing for today.  Thank you all for coming.
I’m sorry.  My bad.  Is there public comment?  I forgot we have to do that.  Is there anyone here from the public who wanted to comment?  I’m sorry.  Please excuse me.
PAULIE FRAUMENI:  Paulie Fraumeni on behalf of the Shingle Springs Rancheria, in support of the Upper Lake compact.
SENATOR WRIGHT:  Okay.  Any other public comment?  With that, we’ll be adjourned.  Thank you.
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