Anchorage mayor supports proposed tribal gaming hall

Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance has submitted a statement of support for a proposed tribal gaming hall in Birchwood, citing potential economic benefits. The statement has led to some dissension among other Anchorage city leaders.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs is weighing issuing a permit that would allow the Native Village of Eklutna to build the casino, a project it has long pursued. The federal agency has studied the tribe’s proposal for a 58,000-square-foot facility. Public comment for an environmental assessment ended Thursday.

Supporters of the casino have described it as a modest gaming hall that could bring in much-needed revenue for the Native Village of Eklutna. But a group of Birchwood residents have sued to stop it. Birchwood is about 20 miles northeast of Anchorage.

LaFrance’s statement of support to the federal agency said the Native Village of Eklutna’s goal of developing the gaming facility is within its rights under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act,

“We’d like to formally share our support for the Native Village of Eklutna as it exercises its sovereignty and pursues economic development,” she said.

The environmental assessment raised no significant concerns, she said.

The project will create economic benefits such as more than 450 jobs during construction, adding $45.8 million to the local economy and supporting other businesses such as hotels, she wrote. Once operating, it will support 419 workers and generate $67.6 million in economic value, she wrote.

The mayor’s office shared the comment on an email thread consisting of Assembly members and key city staff.

Assembly Chair Chris Constant also shared a letter of support he sent to the federal agency.

In the letter, made on municipal letterhead, Constant clarified that he was speaking from his personal view as chair, and not for the Assembly. Assembly members say the decision for the project rests in the hands of the federal government. The Assembly as a whole has not taken a position on the issue.

“This initiative has the potential to improve historic environmental justice harms by bringing much-needed revenue to the Tribe and generating significant economic opportunities for its members and the Municipality of Anchorage,” Constant wrote in the letter.

Assembly member Daniel Volland, who represents North Anchorage, responded on the email thread, after reading about the mayor’s position. He shared two articles that raise concerns about the downsides of addictive gambling to public health, such as high suicide rates and problems for family relations and work.

Volland asked: Did anyone in the LaFrance administration do “any research internally, whatsoever, on the potential public health impacts of new casinos or gambling centers in the Anchorage area before commenting” on the gaming hall?

LaFrance replied that she appreciates different views on the project and expects the Assembly to have “a robust community conversation if/as the project advances.”

Volland, in an interview Friday, said it “boggles” his mind that the mayor weighed in before better understanding the impacts of a casino.

“I question how responsible it is for the mayor to weigh in in support of casino gambling in Anchorage, if the analysis of public safety and health impacts have not been done,” Volland said.

Volland said on Friday he believes the project’s risks outweigh its benefits. He has not submitted a comment to the federal agency. He has not decided whether he is for or against it, he said.

Assembly chair weighs in

Constant said in his letter that one of his Assembly colleagues raised reasonable public health concerns.

“These social concerns are important to grapple with,” Constant said in the letter. “As a municipal government, we certainly do face challenges relating to addiction, mental health, and crime, head on.”

But the village of Eklutna has been confronting these issues with “improvements in healthcare and substance use treatment infrastructure,” he said.

Constant said studies have shown that when tribes operate gaming facilities, tribal members live longer.

“The people of the Native Village of Eklutna don’t need lectures about the social ills tied to poverty —they live it, generation after generation,” he said.

Aaron Leggett, president of the tribal government, declined to discuss the proposal as it awaits a decision from the federal agency.

“We appreciate the mayor and the Assembly chair weighing in as an individual,” he said.

Volland said on Friday he appreciates the city’s government-to-government relationship with Eklutna.

“However we won’t necessarily agree on all things at all times,” he said.

“And for me, I think the potential harms and the risks outweigh the benefits when it comes to this project,” he said.

An Assembly member whose district includes Birchwood, Mark Littlefield, said he doesn’t have a position on the project.

“I believe in development as long as it’s done right and it’s correct and everyone has dotted the I’s and crossed the T’s and it’s legal,” he said.

Assembly member Scott Myers, who also represents the district that includes Birchwood, could not be reached for comment.