A proposed Enterprise Rancheria casino near Olivehurst would not be detrimental to surrounding areas, according to a letter from the Yuba County Board of Supervisors.

The letter, which would be sent to the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs pending approval at today's supervisors meeting, notes that the casino would bring 3,500 jobs to the region.

That figure includes 1,933 permanent jobs, which would provide about $32 million annually in payroll and benefits.

But Supervisor John Nicoletti said the letter shouldn't be taken as a county endorsement of the project, merely a required response to a federal inquiry in January of what the proposed casino's effects would be on the surrounding areas.

The responses from the county and other local government agencies will be used to help determine whether the tribe gets the okay to move ahead.

"In the local economy, discretionary dollars are a pie that local businesses share in," Nicoletti said. "In my view, the money being spent at the casino will shrink the pie that other businesses will share."

He noted that since Indian casinos were built in Oroville and Roseville, both cities have seen less spending and economic development in their downtowns.

Another supervisor, Mary Jane Griego, said she supports the casino because it provides jobs at a time when Yuba County people strongly need them.

"I've never seen it like this," she said of unemployment numbers topping 17 percent in the Yuba-Sutter area. "There is such a benefit to this project."

The casino wouldn't hurt area businesses, she said, because casinos cater more to busloads of people from elsewhere that stop at several casinos in one trip.

Enterprise Rancheria is backed by the Estom Yumeka Maidu Tribe, based in Oroville. The proposed casino would include an eight-story hotel and be on 40 acres near Sleep Train Amphitheatre, in southern Yuba County. Tribal chairwoman Glenda Nelson said the casino wouldn't hurt other area businesses, but help them.

She said local businesses would be building and supplying the casino, and that a memorandum of understanding between the casino and Yuba County stipulates preferential treatment in hiring locals for casino jobs.

The casino would also have facilities that could bring conventions and other events to the area, she said.

"To me, it's about jobs and economic development," she said. "People are going to gamble. I'd rather they come here and keep the dollars in our area."

Nelson said she hopes to get the final steps completed for the casino this year, but noted that the tribe started on the project seven years ago with hopes of being established in two years.

The letter also notes that the tribe has a 2002 memorandum of understanding with Yuba County over the casino, and that the city of Marysville, whose mayor also supports the project, will receive a direct payment of $4.8 million over 15 years if the casino is built.

Nicoletti said Yuba County will also receive a direct payment, but he'd be concerned about the county getting that money while local businesses were negatively affected by the casino.

In November 2005, Yuba County voters opposed building the Enterprise Rancheria casino with 51 percent of the vote in an advisory measure.

Assemblyman Dan Logue, R-Linda, was a Yuba County supervisor at the time who worked to defeat the measure. He said that result should be honored.

"Casinos do not create wealth, they just move it around," Logue said. "It would be disingenuous to back this plan when the people of Yuba County have spoken against it."

Yuba County made note of those results in its letter. Griego said her district, centered around Olivehurst, supported the casino in that measure.

And if the measure went before voters today, she added, it would have a majority of support, given the economic climate.

"In regards to the social and economic issues, I think we've mitigated those things," said Griego, who helped write the 2002 MOU with the Maidu tribe.

Supervisor Roger Abe, whose district opposed the casino, said he feels he should pay heed to that in his feelings about Enterprise Rancheria.

"I think when the voters expressed their opinion, they were aware of the potential jobs, and that's shown in how close it was," he said. "But I think overall, they saw more negatives than positives."

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, in his office's response to the Bureau of Indian Affairs request letter, has said he's opposed to the casino.

Both he and the federal government would have to sign off on the project for it to happen. Nelson said her tribe is in discussions with the governor to get his eventual concurrence.

Know and Go

• WHAT: Yuba County Board of Supervisors

• WHEN: Today, 9:30 a.m.

• WHERE: Board chambers, Yuba County Government Center, 915 Eighth St., Marysville

• AGENDA ITEM: Casino

Contact reporter Ben van der Meer at 749-4709 or bvandermeer@appealdemocrat.com.