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This letter is written in response to John Keyes letter to the editor, "Questionable tactics of anti-casino group," 12-10-03. If he is referring to Citizens for a Quality Environmental (CQE) as the "anti-casino" group, he made the first mistake. We voted for Prop. 1A to allow tribes to have casinos on established reservation, not off reservations. We still support them to have a casino on their reservation.

CQE asked that the Board of Supervisors put a referendum on the March ballot to let the people of Tulare County decide if the Eagle Mountain Casino should or should not be allowed to move off the reservation. This would not be a special election so it would not involve additional voting funds. Is allowing the citizens of a county the right to vote on whether or not they want a casino to impact their lives the definition of a dictatorship? I thought voting was a right guaranteed by our constitution. Additionally, why did he say "each new business?" This is not a new business. The casino opened in 1996 and the move will cost the taxpayers many more hundreds of thousands of dollars. Mr. Keyes obviously has not done his homework to discern that even the California State Association of Counties has estimated that the tribes already cost counties with casinos in excess of $180 million per year. We have never objected to legitimate businesses in the area. Mr. Keyes thinks a business that does not pay corporate taxes, or property taxes, or sales taxes, or even state income taxes for reservation residents is a good thing. I think Mr. Keyes' thinking is a bit skewed.
Not CQE, nor any of it's members, has ever even discussed suing anyone. What one citizen, not a member of CQE, has done is report the actions of Mr. Maze to the Fair Political Practices Committee.
Regarding Assemblyman Maze: A gentleman doesn't take office to represent all of the people and then take money from a special interest group and support an action that will cost the rest of his constituents a great deal of money. Two other areas are also filing charges against him for his blatant behavior. I hardly think dishonesty should be a source of inspiration.
We haven't used any tricks. We have presented only facts. It's too bad that Keyes doesn't deal in facts instead of innuendo and outright lies. We have only objected to the tribal casino move not progress in our community. Apparently Mr. Keyes' trick is to turn our concern for the casino move into an antibusiness issue that is neither accurate nor appropriate. I want Mr. Keyes to name just one project that we have objected to other than the move of the casino off the reservation. We have tried to present factual information to the public, not buy their support with dribs and drabs of donations. I would suggest that Mr. Keyes spend his time researching the cost of casinos to the public instead of writing inaccurate and fallacious letters to the editor.
Robert Inabinette, Springville