40 Indian Gaming January 2011

POLITICAL FRONT

Haley Barbour, Governor of Mississippi and the longtimeRepublican powerhouse credited with the 1994

Republican Revolution, might have his year in 2012 with a bidfor theWhite House, but 2010 will be remembered as the yearhe picked a fight with the Mississippi Band of ChoctawIndians (MBCI) and lost.

Barbour v. MBCIIn the spring of 2010, the tribe’s Chief, Miko Beasley

Denson, proposed opening a gaming facility on trust land inthe Bogue Homa community in south central Mississippi,Bok Homa Casino. This satellite of the tribe’s flagship PearlRiver Resort would house more than 750 slot machines anda quick service restaurant in an approximately 27,000 sq. ft.building.

Even before the MBCI Tribal Council voted to approvethe project in June, Governor Barbour went public with hisdisapproval of the proposed casino. Joining Barbour inpublicly calling on the tribe to abandon the project wereSenator Roger Wicker, Congressman Gregg Harper and allbut one statewide elected official in Mississippi. Evencandidates in the 2010 midterm elections lined up againstthe project.

Barbour’s criticism of the project ran the gamut fromdismissing the casino as a “slot parlor” and raising healthand environmental concerns to claiming the tribe was inviolation of the State Gaming Compact signed in 1992.

Despite Barbour’s claims, Mississippi Attorney GeneralJim Hood concluded in a June memorandum, “Afterthorough review, staff has found no viable legal cause of actionwhich would halt the proposed development, either by challengingthe validity of the 1992 Gaming Compact between the State ofMississippi and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, or byotherwise challenging the proposed development itself.”

In a June 27 editorial for the Jackson Clarion-Ledger,Perspectives Editor Sid Salter ridiculed Barbour for hisopposition:

In Barbour’s letter last week to Choctaw Miko BeasleyDenson, the governor made every possible threat to theChoctaws – lawsuits, regulatory hurdles from environmentalchallenges, public health concerns, potential damages to stateand county roads and bridges – to stop the project. Barboureven lamented the dangers the development posed to“tortoises, fowl, snakes, and plants” in the Pine Belt region.Please...

All that flora and fauna aside, it’s clear why Barbour andother state officials want to stop the Choctaw’s project –to protect the profit margins of the state-regulated casinosfrom competition.

Mississippi Sovereignty Showdown

TribalMiko BeasleyDenson; Pearl River ResortCEOMajorGeneral PaulHarvey,USAF (ret.); and“Mr.LasVegas”Wayne Newtonwelcome thecrowd to the Bok Homa Casino.

January 2011 Indian Gaming 41

Denson’s Field of DreamsDespite the barrage of external criticism and some

internal opposition, Miko Beasley Denson pushed theproject forward with support from a majority of the TribalCouncil. Efforts to force a reservation-wide referendum onthe issue failed after the applications were deemed deficientby tribal courts.

Denson said, “A majority of the Tribal Council understoodthe magnitude of this project when they voted in favor of theauthorizing resolution. I commend the Tribal Council for theirsupport and for embracing my vision of what was possible inBogue Homa. Success here will help theMississippi Band fundand operate our tribal schools, our own tribal law enforce-ment department, fire department, security services, courtsand judicial system, Choctaw Health Center, water treatmentplants, housing and maintenance facilities, forestry, landmanagement, childcare services, social services, and manyother basic governmental programs. I believe the casino weopen here today serves the best interest of our tribe and willprove to be a catalyst for continued economic developmentin the region.”

The Bok Homa Casino is part of a larger realignment ofthe tribe’s largest business, the Choctaw Resort DevelopmentEnterprise (CRDE). CRDE operates Pearl River Resort, the

southern United States’ first comprehensive luxury gamingresort employing more than 2,500. The resort features over3,500 slot machines, 70 table games, 1,074 hotel rooms, 10restaurants and European spa facilities. Also featured is TheArena at Golden Moon Hotel & Casino, the region’s largestcasino event venue, The Dancing Rabbit Golf Club with twochampionship golf courses and Geyser Falls Water ThemePark, one of the region’s largest water park attractions.

In 2007, after Denson was sworn in as the Tribal Miko, hisadministration began a wholesale evaluation of the CRDE’soperations. The tribe’s second casino, the GoldenMoon, wasbuilt directly across the street from the Silver Star and left thetribe with more casino than the market could sustain.Denson made the decision to reduce the Golden Moon’soperating hours during the week throughout 2009 and 2010before converting it into the largest casino event venue in thesoutheast. According to Denson, “This conversion willtransform the GoldenMoon property into a driver of revenuerather than the drag on profit it has been for years.”

Citing efficiency and revenue provided through the right-sizing of casino operations in Choctaw, Denson believed thenext step was to tap into demand for gaming and entertain-ment options in the south central portion of the state. TheInnovation Group, a Colorado-based gaming consultancy,

January 2011 Indian Gaming 43

confirmed the demand and potential success of this projectthrough in-depth, independent market assessments. “Thetribe should have built the Bok Homa Casino years agoinstead of building the Golden Moon as a casino. In gamingas in real estate, location is critical. Bok Homa is located justoff a major interstate and convenient for visitors from acrossthe southeast.” Borrowing from the classic baseball movieField of Dreams, Denson stated, “if you build it, they willcome.”

Victory for Tribal SovereigntyThe Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians is the fourth

largest employer in Mississippi. The Bok Homa Casinoproject brought an $18 million investment in local construc-tion and generated over 300 new jobs. Despite all of this, amajority of theMississippi political establishment opposed theproject and Governor Barbour, despite the legal opinion ofhis own Attorney General, continued his efforts to stopconstruction, including appealing to the Environmental Protec-tion Agency and National Indian Gaming Commission.

In July 2010, the tribal government issued an “OpenLetter on Tribal Sovereignty” signed by Miko Denson andfourteen of the seventeen Tribal Council members. TheTribal Council members who did not sign the letter cited areluctance to challenge the state's non-tribal elected

officials and an unwillingness to incur more debt in order tobuild the Bok Homa Casino as reasons for not joining themajority of their colleagues. The letter stated:

The history of this country is littered with examples ofbroken agreements between the Indian tribes and the stateand federal governments. As representatives of the govern-ment of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, we standunited in our commitment to exercising our right topursue economic development through gaming under ourcompact as we determine to be in the best interest of ourTribe. We have a responsibility to provide for our tenthousand tribal members, which in so doing will alsobenefit the State of Mississippi and all its citizens.

Construction began on June 17, 2010 and the casino heldits grand opening on December 20, 2010. Amid the fanfareof “Mr. Las Vegas” Wayne Newton, The Flying Santas andthe more than 300 invited guests at Bok Homa’s GrandOpening, Miko Denson stated, “Despite humble beginnings,we are inheritors and protectors of a proud tradition andI remain committed to providing a prosperous future for ourpeople.” �

For more information about the Mississippi Band of ChoctawIndians, visit www.choctaw.org.

POLITICAL FRONT