PROVIDENCE -- The Narragansett Indian tribe is back at the political table, renewing its push to win approval to build a casino in West Warwick, after 10 years of going bust in state politics.
The push was on in earnest last night, as invited members of the media shuffled into The Westin Providence hotel's Newport Room to meet the tribe's new backer, Harrah's Entertainment, the Las Vegas casino giant, and a former tribal rival.
The partners will meet with state Senate leadership this afternoon, and plan to give testimony tonight to the Special House Commission to Study Gaming, which is halfway through a nine-month study on the pros and cons of allowing additional gambling in Rhode Island.
Matthew Thomas, the tribe's chief sachem, acknowledged yesterday that Harrah's was "a fierce competitor" earlier this year, when the tribe was paired with Boyd Gaming. The tribe hesitated at first, when Harrah's called after Boyd dropped out, but found no advantage in holding a grudge, Thomas said.
"It wasn't a decision based on emotion," he said. "Harrah's proposed the best deal for the tribe. It was strictly business -- what needed to be done. We believe they have the wherewithal to get it done."
Harrah's runs 26 casinos nationwide, including several Indian facilities, racetracks and riverboats.
Jan L. Jones is Harrah's public face in Rhode Island.
Jones knows gambling. She was mayor of Las Vegas from 1991-99, during a period of heavy casino and hotel development. Jones has been with Harrah's three years; she holds the title of senior vice president of communications and government relations.
Jones will speak to the House gaming commission tonight about "models of gaming," and which model would bring the best return to Rhode Island.
"There are a number of different models of gaming," she said. "You can put slot machines in a room -- it doesn't create jobs, it isn't going to create capital investment, and quite frankly it's not going to effectively compete with Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun," the billion-dollar tribal casinos of Connecticut.
What Rhode Island needs, she said, is a destination resort.
"You're trying to bring people in who are looking to spend money on a variety of different entertainment options," she said. "That's what Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods have done. They understand it's not all about gambling. That's just one choice.
"If [state officials] are thoughtful in the process, they are going to allow an environment where we're going to build an entertainment complex that can effectively compete with Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun," she said.
Such a destination complex "is best for job creation, it's best for the state because it's going to bring revenues in from surrounding states, it's certainly best for the elected officials because it's going to create tax revenue," she said.
Jones contends that a casino in West Warwick can coexist with Lincoln Park and Newport Grand Jai Alai, two heavily taxed gambling parlors that offer video-poker machines.
And she plans to tell the House study commission tonight about "the impact of gaming; the social impact, both real and imagined, and how you can most effectively partner, so everybody wins."
Harrah's will use local lobbyists to "educate" lawmakers on the benefits of its proposal, she said. "I've learned that it's more important to go in and understand a state's politics rather than go in and try to tell them how the politics should be."
CHASING THE DREAM of a tribal casino has led Thomas on a decade-long political odyssey. Hopes have fallen and risen and fallen again, often amid allegations of discrimination.
After a federal law opened the door for Indian gaming in 1988, the tribe contemplated a Las Vegas-style casino on its reservation in Charlestown. In 1993, it found a financial backer: Capital Gaming International, of Phoenix, Ariz. But much of Capital's capital ended up going toward a legal battle in federal court, not plans for a casino.
A 1996 amendment to a federal spending bill, proposed by the late Sen. John H. Chafee, means that -- unlike other tribes -- the Narragansetts do not have gaming rights under federal law, and do not have a free hand to build a casino on their own land.
As the tribe and Capital challenged the amendment in court, the proposed casino site shifted to West Greenwich, then to the Providence-Cranston waterfront, then to the industrial park in West Warwick.
Things looked promising in 1999, when West Warwick voters overwhelmingly favored a casino in their town in a non-binding referendum. The only ward to oppose the casino was the Ward 5, where the casino would be built.
Not long after, the tribe divorced itself from Capital, which was ailing financially, and joined with Boyd, which proposed building a $500-million gaming complex, about twice the size of what Capital had envisioned.
Now, the tribe has again picked a bigger partner -- Harrah's runs about twice as many casinos as Boyd. If it succeeds, the tribe must repay debts to its former partners. According to Thomas, his tribe owes Capital $10 million, and Boyd $1.6 million, that the companies spent on the tribe's behalf.
Ten years of losing at what they suspect has been a rigged game has made the Narragansetts wary about the political process.
How does Thomas feel as the charge begins again?
He laughed. "In Rhode Island? I feel like I always do in this state -- I'm hoping for a fastball, and they throw a curve. We're just cautiously optimistic. . . . We're hoping that it works and people finally have an opportunity to vote on this issue after 10 years."
