{"id":842,"date":"2025-07-16T20:21:03","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T20:21:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/?p=842"},"modified":"2025-09-22T12:10:22","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T12:10:22","slug":"rival-tribal-operator-unlawfully-pressured-doi-to-block-scotts-valley-project-lawsuit-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/16\/rival-tribal-operator-unlawfully-pressured-doi-to-block-scotts-valley-project-lawsuit-claims\/","title":{"rendered":"Rival Tribal Operator \u2018Unlawfully\u2019 Pressured DOI to Block Scotts Valley Project, Lawsuit Claims"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><strong>Tribe accuses DOI of yielding to rival casino lobbyists<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Lawsuit says decision documents were written outside the agency<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>DOI paused approval of $700M casino project in Vallejo<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p>A rival casino operator hijacked internal government processes and devised a &#8220;roadmap&#8221; for federal officials to block the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians\u2019 proposed casino in Vallejo, Calif., according to newly filed court documents.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_357607\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-357607\" data-style=\"width: 858px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-post-thumbnail-858xAUTO wp-image-357607 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"Scotts Valley Band, Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, Vallejo casino project, Department of the Interior\" width=\"858\" height=\"536\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Scotts-Valley-858x536-1.jpg\"><figcaption>An artist\u2019s rendering of the proposed Scotts Valley casino, which is on hold pending a controversial DOI review. A new lawsuit filed by the tribe accuses a rival of underhand tactics. (Image: Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Scotts Valley Band is challenging the Department of the Interior\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/vallejo-casino-hits-snag-as-doi-to-reconsider-scotts-valley-decision\/\">March 27 move<\/a> to put a prior gaming eligibility decision on hold pending legal analysis of whether its land qualified for gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA).<\/p>\n<p>An amended complaint, filed by the Scotts Valley Band on July 15 in a federal court in Washington DC, cites internal DOI communications which it claims show that lobbyists for the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation allegedly drafted key decision documents and influenced White House and DOI officials to reconsider the Tribe\u2019s eligibility.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>\u2018Unlawful Campaign\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, which operates\u00a0Cache Creek Casino Resort in Brooks, Calif., <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/california-gov-newsom-opposes-koi-nation-scotts-valley-casinos\/\">has opposed<\/a> the Scotts Valley Band\u2019s near-decade-long ambition to build a $700 million casino in the region.<\/p>\n<p>The Scotts Valley Band believed the project was finally a go after the outgoing Biden administration <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/feds-approve-controversial-scotts-valley-pomo-coquille-tribal-casinos\/\">approved its trust land application<\/a>\u00a0on January 10, 2025.<\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p>But the tribe alleges the DOI March decision to reconsider its gaming eligibility was not a lawful administrative reconsideration, but \u201can unlawful and politically motivated campaign,\u201d engineered by Yocha Dehe Wintun lobbyists.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>These lobbyists drafted decision documents, coordinated with senior officials, and executed what the tribe claims was a \u201ctwo-step\u201d plan to derail the project without due process or valid legal grounds, according to the amended complaint. These documents were then circulated by the DOI\u2019s political appointees and senior staff.<\/p>\n<p>The tribe claims that DOI\u2019s acting leaders, such as the acting solicitor and Bureau of Indian Affairs director, advanced the documents without notifying Scotts Valley. The DOI\u2019s March action followed the lobbyists&#8217; playbook almost line by line, it claims.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>\u2018Law On Our Side\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>\u201cThe law and facts are absolutely on our side, so we are confident that the court will uphold our rights,\u201d Shawn Davis, Chairman of the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians, told the <em>Vallejo Times-Herald.<\/em> \u201cWe won\u2019t be deterred from\u00a0moving forward and building a better future for our Tribe and our neighbors in Vallejo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a statement to the <em>Times Herald<\/em> on Tuesday morning, Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation Chairman Anthony Roberts noted that the courts had endorsed the DOI\u2019s reconsideration process.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p>Look at the facts,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cFor years, the Department of the Interior excluded our tribe and others from its decision-making, ignoring our evidence and refusing our meeting requests. In March of this year, the Department realized its error and committed to a fair and open reconsideration process, which gave all parties an equal opportunity to submit evidence for review.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>A federal court <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/judge-vallejo-casino-halt-may-not-equal-harm-to-scotts-valley-band-yet\/\">confirmed in June<\/a> that the tribe\u2019s land remains in trust while the reconsideration process plays out. While the court allowed the process to proceed, it has not ruled on the merits of the DOI\u2019s action.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rival-tribal-operator-pressured-doi-to-block-scotts-valley-project-lawsuit-claims\/\">Rival Tribal Operator &#8216;Unlawfully&#8217; Pressured DOI to Block Scotts Valley Project, Lawsuit Claims<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\">Casino.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tribe accuses DOI of yielding to rival casino lobbyists Lawsuit says decision documents were written outside the agency DOI paused approval of $700M casino project in Vallejo A rival casino operator hijacked internal government processes and devised a &#8220;roadmap&#8221; for federal officials to block the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians\u2019 proposed casino in Vallejo, Calif., according to newly filed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=842"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":845,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842\/revisions\/845"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}