A California Indian tribe is mired in political turmoil and internal dissent over its leaders' attempts to build a Las Vegas-style casino in the East Bay.
Members of the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians will vote next week on whether to remove a majority of their governing council. Tribal officials say the impending vote violates the tribe's constitution because the dissatisfied group failed to follow appropriate recall procedures.

"This rule by kangaroo court can't be permitted by any government," said Tribal Attorney Pauline Girvin. "We can't tinker around with due process."
At issue are aggressive efforts to bring a casino to Contra Costa. The tribal council is wasting time and money with its East Bay maneuverings, said former Tribal Chairman Les Miller.

Last month, Florida-based investors working with the tribe purchased 30 acres in North Richmond, an unincorporated part of the county, for gaming purposes. The tribe also has explored purchasing land in Richmond and East County.
Federal officials will never allow the Scotts Valley Band to open a casino so far from its former Lake County reservation, Miller said. The council, he said, is in the pocket of developers intent on tapping into the Bay Area market.
"It's not going to happen," Miller said. "We're fed up with them playing games with the public and the members."

Miller's group collected 27 signatures, or 30 percent of the tribe's voting members, on a petition outlining their complaints. Moreover, they have more than the 42 votes required for a recall, Miller said.
The controversy will reach a boiling point Saturday when members hold a special meeting to vote. If the recall succeeds, the tribal council will ultimately decide its legitimacy, Girvin said.

Congress terminated the tribe's federal status and de-certified its reservation in 1964, according to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The federal government reinstated the landless tribe in 1991.

The group's frustration stems from the bureaucratic process involved in opening a casino. A tribe must have its land placed into trust by the Department of the Interior.

That certifies the property as a reservation and allows the tribe to apply to the state for a casino operating agreement, called a compact.
Federal officials look more favorably on Indian land close to the tribe's last reservation, said I. Nelson Rose, a Whittier Law School professor and expert on gambling law.

"It's not a flat rule," he said. "But it's just about near impossible if the property is in a different county."

At that point, Rose said, a tribe's only hope would be to muster broad community support. Tribal Chairman Don Arnold, who is targeted in the recall, said that would be easy to generate.

"Cities and counties are in financial dire straits today," he said. "I don't think we'll have any problems if we're polite and organized and show people the benefits."
At this point, the tribe faces an uphill public relations battle. The Scotts Valley Band's investors made a bad first impression by purchasing land without talking to neighbors, said Contra Costa Supervisor John Gioia.

The tribe, Gioia said, seems to be imposing its will on mostly low-income, minority North Richmond communities.

"To me that's an environmental justice issue," he said. "I would not be heartbroken if the casino plans were derailed."