OPINION & EDITORIAL
Referendum a tremendous opportunity
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by Steven Thein Singh and Danica Sorensen
Monday, February 9, 2004
Feb. 17, students will have the opportunity to approve the agreements negotiated in good faith between the City of Madison, Dane County and the Ho-Chunk Nation. These agreements, if approved by voters, will allow the Ho-Chunk to offer the same games at DeJope (on the Southeast part of town) that are offered at all of the 16 Indian casinos in the state of Wisconsin. In return, the Ho-Chunk will pay out a minimum of $91 million dollars to the city and the county over the next 13 years and millions more every year after that. This referendum is a tremendous opportunity for the city and the county to gain a huge new revenue stream.
We here in Madison and throughout Dane County are living on land that the Ho-Chunk involuntary surrendered to the U.S. government in the early 1800s. The Ho-Chunk were here long before European settlers arrived and were among the first traders with westward-moving Americans.
Over the past century, the Ho-Chunk people have established themselves as important contributors and loyal members of the community. These agreements represent the next step in that relationship.
The economic benefits are an obvious reason to vote “YES” Feb. 17. Recent state-budget cuts have affected everyone, as those of us who have recently turned in our tuition checks can attest. City and county governments have felt the pinch as well. Last year, Dane County made $7 million in budget cuts in order to balance its budget in this time of fiscal crisis. If the DeJope agreements go through, the county will receive an average of $3.5 million per year from the Ho-Chunk Nation. Just one annual payment equals HALF of these recent cuts. These new funds can be used for all sorts of things, including human services, property-tax relief, and police and fire protection.
Casino gaming at DeJope will also create over 1,300 new jobs for Dane County. Currently 6,000 county residents are unemployed, and 3,000 of those are in the city of Madison. The nearly 600 new jobs at DeJope will pay an average of $32,000 per year, with full benefits. This includes many service jobs. Gaming at DeJope will also create more than 700 new jobs at other businesses in the county that will serve the facility’s and its visitors’ increased need for goods and local services.
The social and environmental benefits are another clear reason to vote “YES.” The Ho-Chunk, along with many Indian tribes, have spent most of the past two centuries living in abject poverty. Since the establishment of their flagship casino in the Dells, the standard of living has dramatically increased for tribal members. The money from the DeJope facility will help pay for schools, clinics and community centers for tribal members and allow the Nation to continue on the path to economic self-sufficiency.
Approval of the agreements will also help support the Ho-Chunk’s continuing efforts in environmental conservation, historic and cultural preservation, and charitable giving. The Ho-Chunk tradition as stewards of the land is evident at the Kickapoo Valley Reserve, the restoration of the White Otter wetlands, and the bison prairie restoration in Muscoda. Under the agreements, the Ho-Chunk will further green-space preservation by working with local governments to protect the cultural and historical significance of Native American mounds here in Madison. As community partners, the Ho-Chunk give more than a half a million dollars a year to community groups and public services.
For all of these reasons, many of the area’s most prominent leaders — both liberals and conservatives alike — are supporting a “YES” vote. They include former City Alderman Bert Zipperer, Chairman of United Migrant Opportunity Services and Madison Board of Education member Juan José López, former County Supervisor Steve Braunginn, County Executive Kathleen Falk, former Governor Tony Earl, former Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources George Meyer, former Executive Director of the state Republican Party Brian Christianson and County Supervisor Mike Blaska.
A “YES” vote is endorsed by virtually every union in our area, including the Dane County Deputy Sheriff’s Association, the Madison area Firefighters, the Teamsters, and the South Central Federation of Labor. And, a “YES” vote is endorsed by service organizations, such as the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin and the Developmental Disabilities Coalition.
For all of these reasons, a coalition of more than 3,000 local citizens and organizations representing 30,000 local working people endorse a “YES” vote on the DeJope Revenue Sharing Agreements. We hope that students at UW-Madison will join us Feb. 17 in voting YES.
Steven Thein Singh (stsingh@wisc.edu) and Danica Sorensen (dlsorensen@wisc.edu) are seniors majoring in political science. They are the co-coordinators of the Students Coalition for the Fair Indian Gaming and Revenue and Sharing Agreements.
