Wilsonville Spokesman Online

Despite concerns, Maletis' say casino is still a 'no'

• By: Patrick Johnson  
• Published: 2/24/2010 2:46:47 PM

The city of Wilsonville continues its steps to protect French Prairie, with a flurry of activity that includes a letter-writing campaign and hiring an attorney who specializes in Indian law.

A day before the Klamath Tribes were signing a historic water rights agreement in Salem, the Wilsonville City Council discussed the recent news of the tribes trying to place 385 acres near the Langdon Farms Golf Course into trust.

Mark Ottenad, director of public and governmental affairs, brought the council up to speed on the letter writing campaign sparked by Tim Knapp’s letter to Sen. Jeff Merkley regarding the use of the Klamath Tribe Restoration Act. In addition Ottenad also said Chris and Tom Maletis has hired Portland-based public relations firm Hubbell Communications.

Ottenad pointed to recent reports in the Klamath’s Herald and News that there is a division in the Klamath Tribes, where some have tried to recall the existing council and replace them with new people. Calls to the tribe were not returned before deadline.

“We have heard, and I am seeking independent verification, that the Klamath Tribal Council there had  a request for an election that would replace the current council members that are currently in charge with one that was openly in favor of a casino at the Langdon Farms property rather than do industrial development,” Ottenad told the council last week. “The BIA determined the election was not held properly and has nullified the results, however it would appear there are some issues down there where some contingent of the tribe would actually prefer to go ahead with a casino rather than take the land into trust and then get a casino. So we are trying to verify that information at this time.”

Ward Hubbell, president of Hubbell Communication said Friday that the Maletis brothers have no intention of allowing a casino on the property.

“We have been real clear about what we are going to do,” Hubbell said. “All of that is internal goings on with the tribe. It doesn’t change with the plans we have already articulated.”

Those plans include what Hubbell calls an eco-industrial campus that would also have service buildings for the members of the Klamath Tribe that live in the Willamette Valley.

“That is where we are going, and it’s not really productive to entertain all of these hypotheticals,” he said.
Ottenad also said that once the land is put into trust, the tribe will have “more leeway in deciding how to utilize that land.”

City attorney Michael Kohlhoff confirmed last week the city of Wilsonville has hired Michael Mason, a Portland-based attorney who specializes in American Indian-related law and is also listed on the state’s lobbyist registration as a lobbyist for the Confederated Tribes of the Warms Springs Indian Reservation.
“We have not incurred much cost from his services at this point,” Kohlhoff said. In November, Kohlhoff said the city had paid Mason about $5,000.

Councilor Steve Hurst said there are many options for the property besides “a casino or concrete jungle.” Hurst also said the he isn’t interested in having the city extend services to the property at the intersections of Highway 551 and Interstate 5 near Charbonneau. Councilor Michelle Ripple said the city can’t afford it.

Hurst asked if staff had any idea how the idea of a casino would be marketed, based on “justice-based or benefit the Native Americans based.

“It’s kind of a heartbreaking exploitation and it’s using people who have already been damaged whose land has already been taken,” Hurst said. “It’s exploiting it for obvious economic reasons, if for nothing else there is that moral component to it too.”
 

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