Regional leaders say they will work in unity to determine
what
’s best for the area if two proposed Indian projects go
through.
Regional leaders say they will work in unity to determine what’s best for the area if two proposed Indian projects go through.
In a closed meeting, 15 leaders from different South County government agencies – including Gilroy, Morgan Hill, Hollister, San Martin, San Juan Bautista and Santa Clara and San Benito counties – met to discuss a casino proposed just south of Gilroy by the California Valley Miwoks, as well as the possible development of Sargent Ranch by a group of Amah Mutsuns.
“Most of all,” said Gilroy Mayor Al Pinheiro, “is the unified word that we will talk as a group about how we’ll be impacted, as this will impact all the communities around us for years.”
Wednesday’s two-hour meeting at Gilroy City Hall gathered city managers and mayors from Gilroy, Morgan Hill and Hollister, as well as a San Juan Bautista councilman, supervisors from Santa Clara and San Benito counties and San Martin Neighborhood Alliance President Sylvia Hamilton. Gavilan College President Steve Kinsella, Gilroy Unified School District Superintendent Edwin Diaz and San Benito County Superintendent of Schools Tim Foley also attended, as did a representative for Congressman Mike Honda, whose district covers both projects.
Three primary areas of concern were identified in the coalition’s meeting: the social impacts, impacts on infrastructure such as roads, and impacts on locally shared resources such as schools and fire and police staff.
The group is not taking a formal position on either project at this point. District 1 Supervisor Don Gage and aide Rachel Gibson both attended the meeting, and Gibson, who described the meeting as “very constructive and very beneficial,” said it would be premature to take a formal stance now.
“Right now, we’re in an information gathering stage,” she said. “There are so many unknowns, and it’s all so preliminary. First and foremost, we want to get more information.”
The next step will be getting a clear understanding of what exactly is being proposed, Pinheiro said. Regional leaders will hold at least one more closed meeting, perhaps with representatives from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the governor’s office who are knowledgeable about tribal compacts and what is and is not allowed in terms of tribal land development.
Coming together in one place to discuss the projects was and will continue to be necessary as they unfold, Gibson said.
“There’s been a lot of talk back and forth, and we’ve all been seeing various things in the newspapers and reading each other’s comments, but we had never gathered around one table to discuss things together,” she said. “These two issues are just emerging, and we definitely need to stay on top of them.”
