Crowd in Broken Arrow denounces tribal casino
BROKEN ARROW — Before a standing-room-only crowd of residents and an overflow room that also was overflowing, the Broken Arrow City Council was unified in its decision Tuesday to tell the Kialegee Tribal Town to “cease and desist” in putting a casino in their city.
While the action itself is not legally binding, City Manager David Wooden said it sends a strong message that the councilors — and hundreds of residents, as well as the public school system — do not want the casino.
Wooden said the city also would demand to have a contract with the Kialegees before agreeing to provide water, sewer, police and fire services.
The council also plans to continue to press federal and state officials as well as the Muscogee (Creek) Nation to intervene.
The council also tabled any action on a utility easement on the property owned by Marcella Giles and Wynema Capps at the southwest corner of Olive Avenue and Florence Street, where the Kialegees plan to build.
The property is a Creek Indian allotment that Giles and Capps inherited from their father.
Wooden said that in late September the city received a draft site plan for the casino that consisted of a drawing of a parking lot, a building and a detention pond. Ground work started in December, although final plans have not been submitted.
Councilor Jill Norman said she learned about plans for the casino, which she opposes, on Sept. 10, and was told by city officials that there was nothing they could do because it was on Indian land.
Mayor Mike Lester said he is concerned about the possibility of having to take funds from another road project to accommodate the need to widen streets near the casino. But he stopped short of saying that the city should ultimately deny water and sewer services at the site.
“We don’t want to cause a lawsuit against the city that we have no chance of winning,” he said.
School officials react
Broken Arrow Public Schools Superintendent Jarod Mendenhall said he feels like he’s been “sideswiped” by the casino proposal.
Voters recently approved a bond issue that includes the construction of a new Indian Springs Elementary School and a Regional Pre-kindergarten Center about half a mile from the proposed casino. About 1,000 students will attend.
Mendenhall said school district officials knew nothing of the casino when they purchased the land in December 2010.
Kara Gae Neal, superintendent of Tulsa Technology Center, said 900 students from across the area, along with hundreds more in the evening programs, are at TTC’S Broken Arrow campus each day.
“To have a casino literally across the street is not the first impression we want them to have, either,” she said.
Rob Martinek, one of the founders of the newly formed Broken Arrow Citizens Against Neighborhood Gaming LLC, said more than 1,200 people have signed a petition against the casino.
More than 15 other Broken Arrow and Bixby residents spoke in opposition, as well as Tulsa County Commissioner Fred Perry and state Rep. David Brumbaugh, R-broken Arrow.
Residents cited studies showing increased crime associated with casinos and expressed concerns about its proximity to neighborhoods and schoolchildren.
State Sen. Mike Mazzei, R-tulsa, announced his opposition to the casino earlier Tuesday, calling on city leaders to do everything in their power to stop the casino from being completed.
“People in Broken Arrow are worried about how this will negatively impact their community, and I share those concerns,” Mazzei said.
The Kialegee Tribal Town has declined numerous requests for an interview.