Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2003 | 9:01 a.m.
WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- Gov. Gray Davis defended his offer allowing Indian tribes that operate casinos a key role in selecting members for a commission that regulates tribal gambling.
Davis made the proposal last week in a meeting with tribal leaders. He said it was no different from past practices he has used to find the most qualified people for state boards and commissions.
"We are looking for good people with regulatory experience," Davis told reporters Saturday after recording a Labor Day radio address in West Hollywood. "I think it's perfectly appropriate."
He offered tribes with casinos the lead role in selecting two of the five members of the California Gambling Control Commission. But he denied the offer was an attempt to get help from a key constituency in his fight to save his job.
Davis stressed he would make the final decision on any candidates nominated by the tribes.
He and Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, the only prominent Democrat on the Oct. 7 recall ballot, have received more than $1 million in donations from tribes since 1999.
When asked whether he was doing the bidding of some of the state's largest campaign contributors, Davis said, "You guys have this all wrong. We need people with regulatory experience, people used to regulating gaming."
Arnold Schwarzenegger, the top Republican in the race to replace Davis if the governor is recalled, called the offer "unfortunate and misguided.
"It puts both the commission and the gaming tribes in a very bad position, creating potential questions of conflict and undermining the vital credibility of the commission itself," he said Saturday in a written statement.
"The California Gambling Control Commission should be completely independent of any perceived control of the very interests it is supposed to regulate. This is yet another example of Davis putting his own political interest ahead of the public interest."
Bustamante, during a rally in the San Joaquin Valley, said he could not respond directly because he didn't know the extent of Davis' offer to the tribes.
But of those appointed to commissions, he said, "It's going to be people that are independent and thoughtful and do the right (thing) for the citizens of California."
Bustamante recently received $500,000 from the Pechanga Band of Mission Indians, which operates a casino in Riverside County.
The state's largest tribal gambling organization said Davis had only asked for recommendations during the meeting last week.
"He did not promise to hire one of those (candidates)," said Susan Jensen, spokeswoman for the California Nations Indian Gaming Association. "I think he's trying to find a qualified person to fill these posts, and the tribes are people who deal with regulators every day."
Jensen doubted Davis was seeking the association's advice in exchange for campaign donations.
"I don't think the two are related, not at all," she said.
The organization does not make campaign contributions on its own, Executive Director Jacob Coin said.
Davis angered tribal leaders earlier this year when he called for gambling tribes to contribute $1.5 billion to the state as a way to address California's then-$38 billion budget deficit.
The two sides are renegotiating the compacts that allow tribal gambling and may settle on a smaller contribution, in exchange for the state allowing tribes to operate more slot machines.
Tribes are sovereign governments that cannot be taxed by the state. Some gambling tribes contribute to two separate funds, one designed to help tribes that do not operate casinos and another to address casinos' social and environmental effects.
Tribes don't contribute money to the state general fund.
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