By DAVID ROSS
Latest in the “anything you can do, I can do better” sweepstakes among local Indian casinos is Harrah’s Rincon Casino, soon to expand again. This time straight up!
Several newspapers reported this week that, for the second time since opening a little more than a year ago, Rincon will begin a new expansion with the addition of a 500-room, 22 story hotel tower, to replace the existing 200-room hotel.
This is the latest in a competitive merry-go-round that began when Pechanga Casino, in Temecula, opened up its 500+ room casino, resort and hotel. Earlier this summer, Pala Casino opened a 200-room hotel, resort and spa. A few weeks ago Park Place, Inc., the parent company of Caesar’s Palace, announced a partnership with the Pauma Indians to build a humongous Caesar’s Pauma.
John Currier, tribal chairman of Rincon, said that any announcement is actually premature. The tribe is not yet ready to formally announce the expansion. NOTE: This is true, however a County environmental impact report has been issued on the project, and is available to the public in the VC library.
“It’s not an official deal. Things have to be done before we know it’s the real deal,” he told The Roadrunner.
“We are looking advancing an expansion of our hotel and there are a few various approvals that we have to work out prior to saying it’s a go,” he said.
Asked if these include environmental concerns, Currier said, “There is no off reservation impacts that we are aware of. We will be putting out for review very soon documents to review.”
Although several reports said the height of the hotel would be 22 stories, Currier said, “The height of the hotel really will depend on other components. We’ll be looking at the land we have to work with. Whether the hotel will be 10, 15, or whatever stories, depends on the engineering.”
The tribe has been conducting soil tests to determine the compactability of the land .
“Soil tests will help us to know from an engineering standpoint what will work,” said Currier.
A final decision will be made by the tribe and Harrah’s, he said.
According to Currier, hotel occupancy has been very high since it opened over a year ago.
“There’s a strong demand for more hotel rooms and that drives our business decision. If we were running at 65 percent occupancy we wouldn’t even be studying the idea. But we have thousands of turn always per month,” he said.
The expansion wouldn’t involve more slot machines. More hotel rooms will enable the casino to create more play during the week, driving up revenue without the need for more machines, he explained.
Profits Help Tribe
So far, casino profits have helped uplift many tribal members, according to the chairman. There are about 500 tribal members over the age of 21.
“I don’t know individually the actual cases, but I can say that we have tribal members getting off welfare and are able to get to work, when just a year ago, when their cars broke down they couldn’t get to work.
“They can pay off debts that they weren’t able to before. Tribal members can do things from an economic standpoint that they weren’t able to do. Maybe now they can look at not staying at the same old job and go after a job that they want.”
• The tribal government plans to introduce a program soon that will enable tribal members to buy health and safety products.
• A senior nutrition program was incorporated recently using casino profits.
• These same profits will also be used to throw a big Christmas party for the tribe’s seniors.
“The seniors don’t have as much time to benefit from gaming as the rest, so we are trying to find things that benefit them now, such as trips to the zoo, to The Price is Right, to Laughlin or more elaborate trips,” said Currier.
“We are also looking at purchasing a 25 passenger bus with a handicap access in the next few months,” he said.
Children of the reservation are given $400 at the start of the school year for clothes, etc.; $400 just before Christmas and $200 just prior to summer.
When a tribal member graduates from high school he is given $1000 as a reward for finishing school.
Every tribal member gets a $7,500 burial allowance.
Each tribal member also gets a certain amount of money each month.
“We’re trying to go slow, be careful and conservative, and not let this thing go away from us,” said Currier.
It’s a misconception that tribal members don’t pay taxes, he said.
“It’s a big fallacy that gaming is not paying taxes. That’s completely untrue. Taxes go back to the community. Individuals who may have been on AFDC won’t be on it anymore.
“They pay federal tax on their monthly stipends, as well as state tax if they don’t live on the reservation. So this money from gaming does create tax money.”
The tribe also sets aside money for economic development.
“We want to be a strong tribal government that can sustain itself for years and years to come.
“You can create jobs to create jobs or spend money to spend money, but that’s not responsible. Even gaming takes continuous reinvestment,” he said.
By DAVID ROSS
Although directors had to discuss and vote on the item a second time in the space of a month, the results of the fire board’s Thursday meeting were the same: approval to negotiate a paramedic contract with Mariposa county-based Mercy Medical Transport, Inc.
The board room was packed, although only few were VC residents. Some wore “I Love Mercy” buttons, while many were supporters of Escondido-based Americare.
The second vote was required after County Counsel, the district’s attorney, determined that the first discussion of the contract was illegal because it was held behind closed doors.
Fire Chief Kevin O’Leary read a statement describing how the Source Selection Committee made its recommendation to the fire board.
The committee, consisting of Mike McDonald, of VC; Darrel Jobes, fire chief, East County Fire Protection District; Ron Piritz, private citizen; Gary Buchholz, division chief, El Cajon Fire Dept.; Dori Vroman, RN BSN, Base Hospital Nurse Coordinator, Tri-City Medical Center; Pamela Steen, RN MSN, Mercy Air Services, had recommended that the contract go to Mercy.
The group met Sept. 16 with Steen as chairman (Mercy Air Services is not connected to Mercy Medical Transport, Inc) and awarded points to each of the bidders.
The committee reviewed the experience of each bidder, the fee scheduled, what it would cost residents in the service area, and the quality assurance plan to ensure that all patients were provided the best care possible.
Out of a possible 400 points it awarded 297 points to Americare, 320 pts. to San Diego Medical Services Enterprises and 375 pts. to Mercy Medical Transport, Inc.
Of the six committee members, four gave Mercy the highest scores. One scored Americare highest, while one member felt that the two were about even. All felt that San Diego Medical Services could not provide the level of service required in the RFP without more funding.
Director Dan Thornton commented, “We’re under this situation because the current provider can no longer provide service. One of our concerns was that we had a lot of people show up at the pre-meeting, but only three provided bids and one of those was found unable to provide the service.”
The main problem he said, is the limited profit margin. San Diego Medical’s budget was realistic, yet they were shown that they couldn’t provide the service.
Director Mel Schuler added, “When the County is merely offering $60,000 as a subsidy it makes it difficult for all concerned, not only those who bid but those who didn’t. I’ve been told that $135,000 goes into east county. We have voiced our concern to the county before about the low level of funding.”
Not ‘Fly by Night’
Director Stan Johnson commented, “I was quite impressed by the manner and professionalism that was evidenced by all members of the committee. This was not a fly by night, throw a dart against the wall process. It was very professional. Each area of concern was thoroughly discussed on the basis of past experience. I was quite impressed and I feel very confident on their selection.”
Director Mike Pacheco reiterated that he was recusing himself from the selection process because, as a San Diego firefighter, he works with one of the bidders, San Diego Medical Services Enterprises.
Americare’s director of operations, Mark Ewing, made an appeal for the board to reverse its previous decision to hire Mercy.
He argued that Mercy might come and go if they get a better offer, like many other companies.
“Who’s to say that in a month, a year, or two years, that the company you select will still be here?” said Ewing. “This company doesn’t know this county, or the financial problems it has. They don’t know that much of the money won’t be here because many of their patients will be tribal members.”
Ewing said his company has been around for eight years, and has grown from two ambulances to 40. “Americare is strong and we are growing. We have a proven track record of success in three counties.”
Ewing claimed that it was only last week that Mercy applied for permits to operate an ambulance in San Diego County.
He added that if Americare were hired, that it would most likely hire the paramedics already serving VC. “There would be no service interruption, most of your personnel would keep their jobs, just with a different patch on their shirts.”
From a rural county
Rich Roesch, president of Mercy, gave his history of providing medical service in Mariposa county, which includes Yosemite National Park, and which is a very rural county.
“We feel that the opportunity exists in Valley Center that the people who should be dialing 911 will be doing so.”
His company increased 911 calls in Mariposa County 30% by conducting a publicity campaign that encouraged people to dial 911 when they needed it, instead of putting it off, or transporting themselves to the doctor.
Everyone like them
A woman who worked with Americare, who identified herself only as Joyce, told the board “Everyone who uses Americare really likes them. I think you ought to give a company that’s already established in Escondido a chance instead of bringing in another company.”
Another woman who worked for Americare stated, “We know the county like the back of our hand. The number one thing we hear is how well-trained and polite our EMTs are."
Schuler replied, “The board is not suggesting to anyone that all of these companies don’t have good reputations. But we have appointed a source selection committee to go through a process for which company is the best company. For us simply to ignore their recommendation would mean that we would have awfully good information to the contrary. I have not heard anything that has been presented that would suggest that they have not done a complete job.
Obligation to committee
Weaver Simonsen, the contracts division manager for the County, and a VC resident, told the board, “You asked a very distinguished group of citizens to invest the time to go through proposals. Everybody had an opportunity to present those proposals. You selected a group you figured you could trust to bring a recommendation to you. There is somewhat of an obligation to the group that you asked to take on the task.”
The vote to select Mercy was 4-0.
“Recipe for Disaster”
Director Thornton called the County’s plans to do road widening on the grade next year without a median divider a “recipe for disaster.”
The so-called “luge” will be gone during construction.
He said he was “shocked” to hear that the median that prevents two-way collisions is going to be gone, during the 18 months of construction.
“I guess the rationale is that it is a construction zone and they are only going to drive 25 mph,” he said. “The fire department should be fully aware of the plans and develop contingency plans for if there is a head on with both lanes blocked. Eighteen months is a long time up and down separated by a line of plastic cones.”
Fire Prevention Specialist
Mark Viero, this year’s firefighter of the year, has been hired as the district’s first Fire Prevention Specialist.
Viero is now attending a fire prevention academy in preparation for his new job.
“He was going to go somewhere else and we wanted to keep him here,” commented Johnson.
Laurel Nicholson of Hidden Meadows is running for the Democratic nomination of what is considered a “safe” Republican assembly district, the 66th. But she thinks that the incumbent, Ray Haynes, is so far to the right that she might have a chance to unseat him, even in a conservative area like North County.
Nicholson calls herself moderate. She appeals to voters to restore balance in Sacramento which, she says, is divided between extremists of the right and left.
“People are so busy defending their ideologies that they don’t work for the best interests of the state,” she says.
She owns her own business, which works with large employers to communicate pay and benefit plans to employees in a way that employees appreciate.
This is her first run for office, although she has been involved in the Democratic Central Committee for several years.
“I’m definitely a newcomer to the political process,” she says.
You might think it’s a bit early to be campaigning for an election in March. Nicholson doesn’t see it that way. “The primary is only five months away and when you run against a long term incumbent it takes longer to get your name out. Particularly if you don’t have financial resources.”
The plus of that is that she’s getting out to meet her potential constituents. She has discovered that most of them don’t know who represents them.
“I have not met anyone who knows who their representative is. They may tell you what political party they are in but if you ask who represents them, they have no idea,” she says.
In the 66th Assembly District’s case, that may be because Ray Haynes’s district is centered in Riverside County.
As a result, says Nicholson, “San Diego is treated as the poor stepchild of the district.”
An example, she says, was the Mexican fruit fly quarantine. The state didn’t act fast enough to fight that threat, she says.
“We should have set rules in place. They didn’t have the chemicals down here. Part of it is that this ag region is ignored by the state because we don’t have good representation.”
Before she decided to run, Nicholson found herself increasingly frustrated by “politics as usual in Sacramento, and particularly our representation. Instead of complaining I thought I would try to make a difference.”
The incumbent is a go-it-alone politician who has no political allies in Sacramento, and doesn’t make much impact, she says.
An example is the privacy bill that prevents banks from selling customers’ information without their consent.
“That passed 76-1 in the Assembly. The one vote was Haynes. Why he would vote against that, I have no idea.”
Haynes also abstained in voting to restore Megan’s Law “because it didn’t go far enough, and effectively killed the bill. They should be able to work together to come up with solutions,” she says.
Haynes has not voted in favor of a budget any of the 11 years he has been in office, she says.
“That includes the time that he served on the budget committee and during the time that he served under a GOP governor. I think if we want someone to protest he should take a sign around the capitol. But when we have public officials we want people that are engaged in the political process.”
“If you don’t vote for a budget, you don’t get any money for your district,” she says. “It shows a pattern of arrogance or dissociation from the needs of the district.”
How does she feel about the current budget crisis?
“I agree that we have a problem, and we have overspent, and we’re going to have to cut somewhere. I don’t know where. I don’t have the budget in front of me. We do have to live within our means. I also agree that we don’t want to raise taxes. But I would say that’s where our agreement [with Republicans] ends.”
Although she opposed the recall, the candidate thinks she can work with the new governor.
“He’s a moderate, and I’m a moderate so we probably agree on many issues aside from party affiliation.”
She considers herself pro-business. “My life has been in business, small and large. The only way we can support the social programs I’d like to see is with a healthy business environment,” she says.
“Businesses are feeling very put upon and reasonably so with workers compensation premiums and the idea of the universal health plan. You can’t force businesses in California to support health care for individuals where other states don’t.
“We need to reduce workers compensation premiums. It’s killing business. Davis helped by signing the recent legislation, but whether that will have a significant impact, I don’t know.”
Regarding driver’s licenses for illegal aliens, she says, “It is the responsibility of the federal government to protect and close our borders. However, since the federal government refuses to effectively close the borders and California does not have the resources to arrest illegal immigrants, we need to recognize that many immigrants are in the US to stay. While I do not endorse allowing illegal immigrants to have an official California driver's license, I would like to see California implement a temporary worker's visa, requiring each immigrant to be photographed and fingerprinted. There’s simple and there’s fair, but you can’t have simple and fair.”
Although Valley Center is a bastion of conservatism, Nicholson says she has found “interest, open minds and, in a lot of cases, open arms.”
She adds, “I know I’m in a crazy uphill battle. People have told me that I can’t win this.”
Her job, she says, is to demonstrate to voters that if they look at Haynes’ voting record and words, “they will find out I’m a much closer fit to what they want.”
* * *
This November, join Herb Wesson, Speaker of the Assembly, as he honors Laurel Nicholson for her contribution to women in business. Check her website, www.nicholson4assembly.com to learn the date, location and time.
Several merchants of the “Southern Node” Monday asked the VC water board to move forward to connect them to be sewered by the Woods Valley Ranch treatment plant before Valley Center Road is widened.
Harlene Dodson of Rancho Valley Realty, representing the Southern node merchants group, spoke during the public comments segment of Monday’s board agenda.
She reported that at a recent meeting of the merchants that there was “a definite interest in sewers,” for that end of town.
“You’ll be expanding the plant. Now’s the time to start an assessment district. All of us on the southern node can hook onto that plant. We are asking for your help and in forming an assessment district. If we can get this done and get sewer lines in prior to putting in the road, it would be wonderful,” said Dodson.
According to Dodson, about 40 people have expressed an interest in hooking up to a small, localized sewer that would be connected to the Woods Valley plant.
“What I’d like to see happen is for you to send a letter to every owner from Lilac to Woods Valley Road, including some of the homes on Woods Valley and Charlan that need that sewer.
“Now is the time for us to go ahead and do this. We’ve all had our downs over the last 20 years. Now it can happen,” she said.
Her request was seconded by Allen Olson of Olson Town and Country Realty.
He urged the board to put in a sewer before the road is widened. County regulations say that a road cannot be disturbed for two years after it is completed.
“If we try to do something later it would be five or six years from now,” said Olson. “Now is the time to put in a sewer line down the middle with laterals extending out from it.”
He added, “One problem we have is that some properties are very small, and will be even smaller once the road is finished. Each property will be reduced substantially. All the property owners have problems with parking and of not having sewers. I urge the water district to consider putting in the sewer. Most people would be amenable to forming an assessment district now. Now is the time to do it, not once the road is finished.”
Gen. Mgr. Gary Arant answered that the district is studying expanding the Woods Valley plant to serve more properties.
“We’re not sure that a sewer line down the middle of the road would be the best way to sewer the area,” he said. “We’d have to look at that. It’s good to hear some definite interest from the community.”
Preliminary discussions have centered around two overlapping assessment districts. One to fund the collection system (pipes in the road), the other to expand the plant’s sewer capacity.
Arant said putting in collection lines before the road is completed, “would be very difficult,” because the water district doesn’t yet have the County’s completed road plans in its hands.
“Until I have that I would have a real difficult time knowing where to put that sewer line and even more difficult time knowing where to put the laterals. You can’t make the assumption that everyone could be served by a line down VC`Road,” said Arant.
Once the district has the County’s final plans it will take four months to develop its own plans. VCMWD has always intended to replace its old water mains down VC Road during the widening.
It has designed its water mains “two and a half times,” to changing County designs, said Arant.
According to district Engineer Patric Jewell, “The County is behind and hasn’t met any of its deadlines. Yes, we have some dates, but whether they are going to meet them we don’t know.”
Not everyone who wants to be connected to the Woods Valley plant will be able to, said Arant.
“There’s a finite amount that can be treated,” he said. “We’re going to have to look at that service area to see what a reasonable assessment district would be. I would see a really compact service area right around the plant.”
A sewer could turn out to be too expensive for most people to connect to. That was the case the last time the County looked at an assessment district, said Arant.
“The same issues are there: Is it going to be too expensive and where are the funds for design going to come from?” he said.
The next step is to send letters to the property owners to determine who is interested, he said.
“We’ll make a judgment of what a reasonable service area would be. If we have Swiss cheese out there it’s going to difficult.”
The Valley Roadrunner
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