CALEXICO — Come on down.

That's the message Calexico-based officials are sending to the Manzanita Tribe of Kumeyaay Indians, a casino-less tribe located in the mountains near Boulevard and looking to build a slot palace in the Imperial Valley.

Manzanita tribal leaders talked last year about building a casino on county land near El Centro. They went so far as to bounce the idea off of county supervisors Hank Kuiper and Victor Carrillo. The response from the county supervisors was positive but there hasn't been any formal follow-up on the El Centro plans since then.
Enter Calexico.

Carrillo and Calexico City Councilman John Renison have been bending the ear of tribal Chairman Leroy Elliott, according to Renison, who spoke about the negotiations last week.

While it's a big "if" due to the complicated issues involved with an off-reservation casino, if Calexico is successful, a casino would be a huge boon to the local economy.

Carrillo has said Manzanita officials want to build a casino/ resort complex on par with the Viejas spread east of San Diego. Such a complex could provide up to 1,000 jobs and a large boost to the local tax base.

When interviewed last year, Carrillo said, "We have to have smart growth to offset the people who are opposed to any growth. We need to make sure everyone pays. .... If it was going to benefit my district and the other districts I'd have a take a positive look at it."

Rob Rosette, a lawyer for the Fort Mojave tribe near Needles, helped the tribe build an off-reservation casino in California, the first in the state. Manzanita officials have said the tribe wants to buy parcels of land in Imperial County and put that land in trust for gaming purposes, just as the Fort Mojave tribe did.

Before the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs will approve an off-reservation casino, it has to make a two-part determination, according to Rosette: would an off-reservation casino benefit the tribe and, if it does, would it harm the surrounding community?

In the case of the Fort Mojave tribe, it built a casino off-reservation for practical reasons — the land was near an access road and it was removed from the city, a concern for Needles residents.

It will be tough — but not impossible — for the Manzanita tribe to follow that example.

Dave Palermo of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association told this newspaper the road in front of the Manzanitas is a rough one. Developing land in trust off a tribal reservation for gaming is an extremely complex, legally vexing process. It is an extremely rare occurrence and there are procedures that must be followed, he said.

Manzanita official John Elliott has said some of the tribe's ancestors lived near Calexico before moving to the mountains east of San Diego.

>> Staff Writer Aaron Claverie can be reached at aclaverie@ivpressonline.com or 337-3419.