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Former Yreka resident Windy Condit knows first-hand the benefits of a tribal casino in a small town.
by Brenda DawsonCANYONVILLE, Ore. - Condit, who lived in Yreka for more than 20 years, has now worked at the Seven Feathers Casino and Hotel Resort in Canyonville, Ore., for several months, and is currently employed in the casino's new sports bar. "I love it," she says, and describes the benefits as "awesome," including "medical benefits and regular pay raises."
Condit may not be the only person from Yreka working at a casino in the future; plans for a casino near Yreka could soon have Siskiyou County residents working at an Indian gaming resort. As a casino employee, what does Condit think about casino plans for her old hometown? "It would bring in a lot of jobs, and upgrade the quality of jobs available in Siskiyou County," she speculates.
The plans for a casino near Yreka are being developed by the Karuk tribe and members of the tribe's governing council have called the Seven Feathers casino "a good model" for their endeavors. And what a model.
The casino owned and operated by the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians is not only considered an overwhelming success, but is credited by many for "saving the town" of Canyonville. Located just off Interstate 5 north of Grants Pass, the casino attracts passing motorists to stop in the tiny town with billboards and a large flashing sign.
For a town that had made its living from mining and timber -industries now considered dead in the area, and no longer yielding profits -the casino was a shock to its system.
"It saved our lives," said Gloria McGinnis, former mayor of Canyonville. "We were a dying town. We had nothing going here." She explained that the younger generations were having to move out of the area to find jobs, but "now they've got jobs here, and we can see our grandkids."
Canyonville is a small town, population 1,430, bordered by forested hillsides and the interstate. The town traces its heritage back to hardy pioneers on the Applegate Trail during the gold rush era. But since the timber industry has become shaky, and the nearby Hannah Nickel Mine closed, the tiny population of Canyonville has fallen on hard times.
In 1992, the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians opened a bingo parlor in Canyonville, and expanded the business to include "Las Vegas" style gaming in 1994. Initially, citizens of Canyonville were seriously concerned about the nearby casino, and its possible negative effects on the community. But these concerns have largely subsided with the close cooperation between the tribe and the city. As the casino grew in size, Canyonville was increasingly affected by the casino's successes.
Javelin Ormond, president of Canyonville's chamber of commerce, said, "the tribe has done wonderful things working with the city and the chamber of commerce, and getting things done." Ormond is also the owner of the Promise Natural Foods and Bakery in Canyonville and reports that the casino's growth has helped his business. "The customer base has increased because there is so much more employment in the area." Ormond explains that the biggest change affecting the city has been the increase in employment. "Anybody (in Canyonville) that's available to work already has a job," he said, explaining that now the casino is going south to Grants Pass and north to Roseburg to find more employees.
The Cow Creek tribe's relationship with the community is highlighted with charitable donations to community causes and philanthropic endeavors. According to its state gaming compact, the tribe is required to donate 6 percent of its net gaming revenues to non-profit organizations. In 2003, the Cow Creeks reported that their foundation -the Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation, established to maintain the legally required donations -had provided about $974,441 in grants for the year. The foundation reports that since its inception in 1997, it has funded 383 grants, a total of $4,253,119.
These grants go to non-profit organizations within a seven-county area in Oregon, usually to programs that help youth, education and families. However, stories abound of the tribe making donations to the community and to local events that go above and beyond the legal requirements.
Canyonville Mayor Chuck Spindel explained that the tribe actively participates in many city-sponsored events, and has made many charitable donations to city projects, including a veteran's memorial and city park upgrades. Chamber president and businessman Ormond told about the tribe donating $3,000 to the local school's softball team which he coaches -one of the donations not included among the legally required grants. Sue Shaffer, the tribal chair, explained the Cow Creek's charity as "a matter of giving back, sharing and helpfulness tribal values."
But even beyond the impact of the almighty dollar, the casino and the tribe are important assets to the community.
There is almost no governing board in the town that doesn't include the white-haired, sharp-witted tribal chairwoman, and almost no one can comment on the casino without praising her hard work. At the local museum, where Shaffer is the president of the Pioneer Historical Society, the curator praised the chairwoman as "not afraid of work" and "a real lady," noting that "you can't say that about many nowadays."
Mayor Spindel believes that Canyonville's rapport with the tribal community is a boon. "We're very fortunate because I don't think too many tribal casinos have such a close relationship with their towns." The tribe's close relationship with the town is a long-standing part of the history of the local community. The chairwoman herself explains that "our people coexisted with those wagon-train families, and they're some of our biggest supporters."
This cooperation was publicly noted in 1982, when the tribe was seeking to gain federal recognition. Former Sen. Mark Hatfield, R-Ore., in addressing the president, remarked that "one of the most impressive aspects" of the tribe was the extent to which "the local communities who live and work with the Cow Creeks have rallied behind the tribe."
Tribal economics
Since the tribe is considered a sovereign nation, it does not have to make any of its finances public. The only numbers that the tribe releases are the amounts of grants that the foundation funds each year. If these grants did not exceed the 6 percent required by the state compact, then the Cow Creek tribe's net gaming revenue for 2003 was close to $16.2 million, and its total gaming revenue since 1997 could be about $70.8 million.
Yet the Cow Creek tribe owns and operates much more than just a gaming operation. What began as a bingo hall 12 years ago has developed into a full-blown casino and resort, complete with three restaurants, a convention center, a lounge, a sports bar, a 156-room hotel, an indoor pool, a fitness center and a gift gallery. For travelers driving down the interstate, the casino must appear as a modern Las-Vegas style oasis in the middle of timber country. As the freeway curves, views of heavily wooded hills give way to a towering, flashing sign above bright, crisp buildings. But the Seven Feathers Casino and Hotel Resort is not just a stop for travelers along the interstate highway, or even a local hotspot; it is now a destination.
Beyond the casino, and beyond the resort, the tribe also owns several other businesses, opened or purchased since the casino. These other businesses include three nearby motels, the Seven Feather Truck and Travel Center, Bear Ranch Agriculture, Rio Communications, Umpqua Indian Foods, Creative Images, and Canyonville Cubbyholes, along with rental properties, an insurance company, and an electrical cooperative.
According to Susan Ferris, the public affairs representative for the tribe, these companies are just part of the tribe's efforts to be self-sufficient. She says that the tribe's leaders believe that they have to have a diversified business base because Indian gaming may not last forever.
Overcoming fears
There are so many people lining up to praise the Cow Creek tribe and its business ventures, that it is quite difficult to find a naysayer. As Mayor Spindel pointed out, there is "very little dissension."
But that was not always the case. The mayor explained that the locals' biggest fear was that the casino would bring in "a bad element of people," but said that the reality is just the opposite, with casino patrons mostly driving nice cars and RVs. He reported "not one instance of problems with someone from the casino." Other residents admitted that there was no rise in crime, contrary to what they had expected.
The most popular lingering complaint is over the tribe's trust land, which is not subject to Oregon's high rate of property taxes. But as Spindel explained, "the city lost about $310 per year in taxes," from the tribe's land, a deficit which he believes the tribe has "more than made up" for in charitable acts in the community. However, the Cow Creek tribe owns only one small business that is actually within the city limits.
Near and around
Canyonville, there are 1,233 acres that the tribe owns, acres which are within the county's tax base. It is estimated that Douglas County, where Canyonville is located, loses between $60,000 to $67,000 per year in lost property taxes from the tribe's trust land. Chief Deputy Assessor Dave Matheny considered that "a very small amount for the tax base," because he estimates the county's taxes amount to about $60 million per year. That would make the loss from the tribe about one-thousandth, or 0.1 percent, of the county's tax base.
Michelle Muir, owner of the Feed Lot restaurant and rumored to be the last bastion of local casino opponents, maintained that the "whole area is depressed," but said that she didn't give the tribe "a lot of credit," either positive or negative, for the state of the local economy. Asked if she noticed an increase of crime, she said, "I don't see that at all," and described the casino as having "wonderful security."
Jake Young, owner of Jake's Auto Center, reports that the casino has been good for his business, and says he knew a lot of the tribe's members before the casino opened. "We've still got a good caliber of people here," he explains. "Our problems were here long before that casino was."
Promise Bakery's owner Ormond, a friendly supporter of the tribe, found the only negative aspect to the casino to be that "some of the small-town mystique may have been lost," but he still believes that "on the whole, it's a plus."
Expecting the best
Going beyond basic requirements seems to be the standard with this tribe. "Expect the Best" is a tribe motto not only plastered on billboards, but lived up to in its business ventures. Tribal employees, managers, and executives describe the standards the tribe sets for itself, which go beyond what is mandated to what is the best possible, with no corners cut.
As Carl Salter - executive director of the Cow Creek Gaming and Regulatory Commission - sees it, the reality of the Seven Feathers Casino is that it's "more regulated than any place out there." He explains that Nevada casinos are regulated by a state gaming board, but Seven Feathers is regulated by the tribe's gaming commission, the state compact and internal regulations.
Don Baglien, general manager for the Seven Feathers Truck and Travel Center, also emphasized the tribe's eagerness to cooperate with regulations. Because of the tribe's sovereignty, it is often "not necessary to have state inspectors, but we will invite them in." He chalks such cooperation up to the idea that "if we build goodwill, it will come back to us."
Baglien also described the Cow Creeks' attention to detail in business ventures, from good angles in the parking lot to improved truck stop food menus. "This is the Cadillac of travel centers," he said. "I've had a permanent smile on my face since I moved to Canyonville."
On a tour through the casino, gaming director Salter pointed out the new non-smoking gaming area and also explained that the there is no alcohol on the casino floor. In most other casinos, free alcoholic drinks are served to gaming patrons.
He explained that non-alcoholic gaming is a part of most Oregon tribal state gaming compacts, but that the tribe doesn't want that to change, and is successful without it.
Working for the tribe
The tribe also "expects the best" from its employees, and in turn, provides some of the best support for them. The casino and resort are estimated to employ nearly 900 people, and the tribe employs a total of about 1,200.
The tribe views itself as being in the business of "building people." This, of course, applies to the tribal community and its members, as the Cow Creeks seek to maintain a high level of self-sufficiency, prepared even to support themselves off their other business ventures should Indian gaming legislation ever fall on hard times.
The tribal chair is vehemently against per capita distribution (the practice of paying allowances out to individual tribal members from the tribe's business profits), citing the "social ills of public welfare." She lists being independent and self-sufficient as among the highest goals of the tribe, and emphasizes the importance of not creating dependency: "It discourages children from education, and from becoming self-sufficient on their own."
Instead, the tribe provides much-needed services to its members, including help with education, training, housing, nutrition, medical care and insurance, according to Shaffer. Many of these services are housed in the tribe's government offices in Roseburg, including a library for students which includes tribal information and literature, and a health care clinic with two doctors, a psychologist, a dietitian, and visiting specialists.
But the concept of building people also applies to the rest of the community, outside of the tribe.
As Yreka native Condit can attest, the tribe's employees receive competitive benefits, regular pay raises, and annual bonuses.
Baglien, the general manager for the tribe's truck and travel center, described working with the tribe as a privilege: "I couldn't think of anyone else I'd rather work for than the Cow Creeks."
While the tribal chair describes the tribe's businesses as "fortunate in having enough moxie to select good people," the tribe is also recognized for hiring the disabled and impaired. Local restaurant owner Muir praised the casino because it "employs a lot of people who would never find a job - I'm impressed."
According to public affairs representative Ferris, some people even view the casino as helping to break the local welfare cycle.
An individual tribe
But as tribal and community members like to point out, this tribe and its government simply do a good job at what they do, and the success of any other Indian casino is up to the individual tribe. Since each tribe is an individual sovereign nation, each one has a different story. Shaffer, the Cow Creek tribe's chair, related what she called the "brutal truth," that any tribe is "only as strong as the strength of its government."
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