Indian gaming, Clinton adviser to represent tribes

William A. Norris, special counsel for tribal affairs, told The Associated Press on Wednesday he had scheduled a meeting for May 13 with a tribal committee represented by Mickey Kantor.

Kantor, a former White House Cabinet member who also advised President Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal, was hired this week to advise a large contingent of tribes in negotiations with the state over gambling compacts.

"It's in everyone's best interest to move expeditiously as possible toward the completion of these negotiations so that we can have compacts executed," Norris said.

The California Nations Indian Gaming Association retained Kantor to help them finalize a compact with the governor under the conditions of Proposition 5, a ballot initiative that has been tied up in court since voters overwhelmingly approved it in November.

"I have a fair amount of experience in negotiations," Kantor, a former Commerce Secretary and U.S. Trade Representative, said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

The decision to hire the politically well-connected attorney came Tuesday as CNIGA voted to form the United Tribes Compact Steering Committee to represent some 40 gambling and nongambling tribes who supported Proposition 5.

"We are looking forward to a constructive, substantive and fair process with the new administration that will finally secure protection for the limited gaming we now have on our own tribal lands," said Mark Macarro, spokesman for the committee and tribal chairman for the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians.

Kantor, who served in Clinton's Cabinet from 1993 to 1997, will work with the committee's chairwoman and other members in negotiating with the state. The committee is chaired by Mary Ann Martin Andreas of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians.

Kantor is a partner with Mayer, Brown & Platt and advised Clinton after sexual allegations were made about the president and Lewinsky, a White House intern.

Proposition 5 creates a compact that allows tribes to operate the type and number of slot machines they wish, unlike compacts authored by former Gov. Pete Wilson and agreed to by several tribes. The measure's implementation has been halted until two lawsuits challenging the law's constitutionality are resolved in the state Supreme Court.

In the meantime, some tribes have been meeting with Norris to negotiate a new model compact and resolve debates about Indian casinos that have been going on since the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed in 1988.

Many tribes have been operating casinos without compacts as required by IGRA, contending that Wilson refused to negotiate with them. Federal prosecutors had tried to get some casinos shut down, arguing the tribes' slot machines were illegal.

Two groups of tribes have already met with Norris. One of those groups is made up of tribes who agreed to the compact model authored under Wilson known as the Pala compact.

Many of those who signed the Pala agreement are worried about a pending referendum that could nullify the deal. Additionally, they think a compact negotiated under Davis might better serve them.

The state has about 100 tribes -- both gambling and nongambling -- and Kantor said the majority were expected to join the committee formed this week.

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