KELSEYVILLE – On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors will discuss a proposed resolution against an Indian casino being located at Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa.
At the same time, Greg Bennett, the resort's president and chief executive officer, has reportedly been lobbying the individual supervisors against taking a stand until plans for the resort are explained.
District 5 Supervisor Rob Brown had the resolution against the casino deal placed on the Feb. 6 agenda. The item is scheduled for 11 a.m.
Brown's resolution specifically asks the board to take a stand in opposition to a casino plan that is reportedly being proposed by Darius Anderson and his firm, Kenwood Investments.
Anderson is in negotiations to purchase the resort from its owner since 1959, the UA Local Convalescent Fund.
Last month Brown said he had found out that Anderson had approached five American Indian tribes about locating a casino at the resort. Brown said he confronted Anderson's business partner, Jay Wallace, about such a plan, and he said Wallace didn't deny it.
Two tribes, the Elem Pomo of Clearlake Oaks and the Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake, both confirmed to Lakeconews.com that Anderson had discussed with them the casino plan.
In the case of the Elem Colony, Anderson reportedly told tribal members that he could have the plan fast-tracked because of his connections with the state Democratic Party.
Anderson is, in fact, extremely well connected. The Web site for his lobbying firm, Platinum Advisors, notes that he has advised Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Attorney General Jerry Brown, former State Treasurer Phil Angelides and served as Gray Davis' finance chair during the 1998 an 2002 elections.
Kenwood Investments, Anderson's real estate development firm that operates out of the same San Francisco building as Platinum Advisors, is the company behind the Treasure Island redevelopment project. It is also working on a casino project in Rohnert Park for the Graton Rancheria. Doug Boxer, Sen. Barbara Boxer's son, is a former Kenwood partner.
Since putting the resolution forward Brown said he has been approached by Bennett, who has asked him to put off making a decision about the plan until Kenwood has further outlined its proposal. Brown said he refused, and said that he has since found out that Bennett has been approaching other board members individually about delaying a decision.
District 1 Supervisor Ed Robey confirmed that Bennett contacted him as well, and that they spoke at Bennett's office recently.
Robey said that Bennett explained that Anderson and Kenwood have not actually opened escrow on the resort yet, and that they are in a due diligence phase of the purchase, which includes looking at how the property can be used.
In addition, Robey reported that Bennett explained he was asked by Kenwood to act as a spokesman for the plan, but that he didn't offer Robey any other details about the resort's sale.
Bennett could not be reached for comment about his efforts on behalf of Kenwood.
Anderson has been working to set up a private meeting Feb. 12 with several county representatives to discuss the plan, said Brown. Tentatively, the meeting would include Brown, county Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Cox, County Counsel Anita Grant and Board Chair Jeff Smith.
But Brown said he would rather hold any meetings about the casino plan in public, at a regularly scheduled board meeting.
Robey agrees, saying he has never spoken with any of Kenwood's partners and that he would like for them to come to a public board meeting, speak on the record and give board members a chance to ask them questions directly.
“We need to know what's going on, and we need to have good information, as much as possible,” said Robey.
In his district, Robey has the Twin Pine Casino, owned by the Middletown Rancheria. Robey said Jose Simon, Middletown Rancheria's tribal chair, has stated that he is against such a casino project at Konocti Harbor.
Brown said he is determined to make sure a casino isn't located at Konocti Harbor.
Last month he began circulating a petition around his district to gather signatures against the plan. He's scheduled a trip to Washington, D.C. next month to persuade lawmakers to help him prevent Kenwood's proposal.
Brown said he met recently with Cheryl Schmit, director of Stand Up For California, a group that studies gaming in California and its impacts on communities. During that meeting, he said, Schmit told him that had had “got on this at the right time.”
“If you wait too long, this stuff just happens. It grows legs,” he said.
The full text of Brown's proposed resolution is below.
RESOLUTION OPPOSING PROPOSAL TO DEVELOP A CASINO OR OTHER GAMING FACILITIES AT PROPERTY KNOWN AS KONOCTI HARBOR RESORT AND SPA IN KELSEYVILLE
WHEREAS, the Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa, in Kelseyville, CA. is located on privately owned property immediately adjacent to residential neighborhoods and is a destination resort attracting thousands of visitors to Lake County each year and has become an important part of Lake County's economy, providing employment to hundreds of Lake County residents; and
WHEREAS, for several years the Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa has operated a very successful series of headliner concert performances by many of the nation's most well known and popular recording artists; and
WHEREAS, the County and the Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa have worked diligently and successfully to ensure that the concerts and other activities occurring at the Resort do not conflict with neighboring properties, through Use Permit conditions issued by the County that provide a number of restrictions on the activities at the Resort, including a restriction on the number of outdoor concerts, the hours of operation, traffic control, the location and design of structures and other improvements at the Resort; and
WHEREAS, a group of out-of-County investors has expressed interest in purchasing the Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa and has recently contacted at least five Porno Indian Tribes tribes. two of which are tribes from outside of Lake County, to solicit their involvement in an effort to obtain approval by the federal government to place the property known as Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa into federal trust status in order to operate a casino and gaming facility at the Resort property; and
WHEREAS, the Board of Supervisors strongly opposes the concept of "reservation shopping" whereby tribal status is used to place lands within Lake County in trust for purposes of developing casino facilities, and particularly lands such as Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa where a significant land use conflict would exist with neighboring properties; and
WHEREAS gaming projects have significant environmental impacts and other effects on a community which County government would be powerless to mitigate if the property is placed in trust status; and
WHEREAS, Soda Bay Road, which provides the only land access to the Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa, is a narrow two-lane road that cannot safely accommodate the amount of continuous daily traffic that would generated by operation of a casino gaming facility at the Resort; and
WHEREAS, the Board of Supervisors is in receipt of petitions signed by hundreds of Lake County residents who strongly oppose the development of a casino at the Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Lake County Board of Supervisors adamantly opposes any proposal to place the property known as Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa, or any property adjacent to Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa in federal trust status and the Board adamantly opposes the development of a casino or similar gaming operation on this property; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Lake County Board of Supervisors calls upon Lake County's elected representatives at both the State and Federal revel of government, including Senators Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, Congressman Mike Thompson, State Senator Pat Wiggins, State Assemblywoman Patty Berg and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to join our Board in opposition to any such proposal and to do whatever is within their power to prevent the transfer to federal trust status of Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa, and properties adjacent to Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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