SACRAMENTO -- A high-stakes political battle may be coming to a shopping center near you.
On one side are a union and a racetrack owner asking people to sign petitions that would undo Indian gambling deals. On the other are Southern California tribes hoping to thwart them by persuading people not to sign -- or to withdraw their names.
The unusual duel could trigger sidewalk confrontations, cause headaches for election officials and heighten tensions as the tribes fight to keep deals worth billions of dollars.
"Someone's going to get hurt," said Mike Arno, a consultant hired by the union and the racetrack firm. "I have seen . . . near-fisticuffs as people argue over these things."
Jacob Mejia, spokesman for the four tribes, said, "We're not looking for confrontation, we're just looking to inform the voters of California. . . . People should have the option to withdraw their names."
The union and the racetrack company are trying to torpedo agreements that four tribes in Riverside and San Diego counties signed with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last year. The 23-year deals allow the groups to add 17,000 slot machines to the 8,000 they now operate, in exchange for payments to the state of 15% to 25% of their profits from the additional machines -- possibly hundreds of millions of dollars a year. The Legislature ratified the pacts last month.
The compacts are with the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, which owns casinos in Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage; the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians in Temecula; the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, which has a casino along Interstate 10 near Banning; and the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation near El Cajon.
Leading the fight to repeal their pacts are Unite-Here, a hotel workers' union, and Bay Meadows Land Co., owner of two of California's five thoroughbred racetracks. The union says the compacts hinder organizing and don't include enough worker protections. Bay Meadows, which owns Hollywood Park in Inglewood and a track near San Francisco, says it has lost customers to tribal casinos.
Their petition drive would put measures on the February presidential primary ballot asking voters to nullify the compacts. Last month they hired Arno Political Consultants of Sacramento to gather nearly 3 million signatures by Oct. 8. in hopes of qualifying four referendums, one per compact. Arno said he pays his petition workers $3 to $5 for a set of four signatures.
