Rincon, San Pasqual bands call the ruling a victory

More slots may be headed to two North County casinos due to a recent court ruling, but the governor says he will appeal the decision.

The Rincon and San Pasqual bands, which operate casinos near Valley Center, have been fighting the state in court to get more slot machines. But Gov. Arnold Schwarzenneger says there are no more machines available based on his interpretation of the 1999 gambling agreements, which set a statewide cap on the number of machines.

In a separate case, US District Court Judge Frank Damrell ruled earlier this month in favor of a Northern California tribe, saying that the state's interpretation of the agreements, or compacts, was wrong.

In his ruling, the judge ordered the state to make available an additional 10,549 slot machine licenses.

The Rincon and San Pasqual are pursuing separate but similar lawsuits against the state. Rincon chairman Bo Mazzetti called the ruling a victory for all tribes.

"From the tribe's perspective, the principles involved are more important than the number of machines," Mazzetti said. "It's a victory for everyone who has a contract with the state, whether it's Indians or non-Indians."

Attorneys for the governor have argued that the compacts, which were signed by about 60 tribes in 1999, set a statewide limit of 32,151 machines, not counting those that were already operating before the agreement was struck.

Jeff Macedo, a spokesman for the governor, said the state will appeal the decision and seek to stay the judge's order to distribute the additional licenses.

"What we're trying to do is enforce the terms of the 1999 compacts," Macedo said.

Under the vaguely worded 1999 agreement, each tribe is allowed to have up to 2,000 slots. But the statewide cap is preventing many of them from reaching the limit.

Rincon and San Pasqual each have about 1,600 slots and both want to bump that number to at least 2,000.

Joe Navarro, president of the San Pasqual Casino Development Group, which manages Valley View Casino, said he was pleased with the judge's decision.

"(We) are very excited about the opportunity of operating the 2,000 slot machines which we are entitled to consistent with the 1999 compact," Navarro said in a written statement.

Rincon attorney Scott Crowell said the state is keeping the cap low in order to force tribes into negotiations, where the governor hopes to get tribes to pay more money in exchange for the machines.

Some tribes, Pechanga and Pala among them, have renegotiated their deals with the state. In exchange for permission to exceed 2,000 slot machines, those tribes agreed to pay a premium price for that privilege. That money goes into the state's general fund.

Rincon, which wants 2,500 slots, balked at such a deal with the state and sued saying the money paid to the state would amount to an illegal tax against tribes.

"The governor manufactured this arbitrary shortage to coerce tribes into these unreasonable deals, and that's tragic," Crowell said.

Call staff writer Edward Sifuentes at 760-740-3511