A self-described gambling watchdog group filed a referendum earlier this week that seeks to reverse the Legislature’s approval of a Native American casino near State Route 99.
Assembly Bill 277 is the ratified compact that gave the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians the state’s blessing to build a casino with around 2,000 slot machines, and has been criticized by opponents for several reasons. The most prominent concern is that the 305-acre site, slightly west of SR 99 and Avenue 17, sits some 35 miles away from the tribe’s reservation in North Fork.
Cheryl Schmit, director of Stand Up for California, said that she filed the referendum Tuesday because of that concern, and hopes that voters across the state will give her group a victory where state government did not.
“Stand Up for California is not anti-gambling,” Schmit said. “We are a gambling industry watchdog. So we are concerned about off-reservation gaming, which this is.” ...