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Parker Confident that Casino will Open by 2012

Posted on April 21st, 2011

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Despite the myriad problems facing the Bay Mills Indian Community, its leader, Jeff Parker remains confident about opening a casino in Port Huron, estimating the opening date between the spring and summer of 2012. Parker has big plans for the proposed Port Huron casino. Through it, he plans to revive the city’s once lively downtown. The casino would have its own offshoots such as a hotel, aquarium, events place, restaurants, shops and more. While the tribe will manage the casino, investors found by Malik and Ilitch, will run its spin-offs. Economic benefits of the venture include giving Port Huron’s residents hundreds of new jobs.

The Bay Mills Indian Community is a Native American reservation in Chippewa County located in Northeast Michigan. The tribe currently runs Bay Mills Resort and Casinos, Michigan’s only waterfront casino. In the 1990s, Bay Mills together with entrepreneur couple, Mike Malik and Marian Ilitch proposed a Port Huron Casino in the city’s Fort Street, intending it to be Michigan’s first Vegas-style casino. However, the plan is yet to take place as it continually faces several challenges from land disputes to lobbyists.

Aside from the tribe’s support, the casino plans has also been approved by Port Huron’s officials and voters. It’s not difficult to understand why. The city has been hit hard by the globalizing economy and the state’s suffering automotive industry. Thousands of workers lost their jobs when factories closed down. Unfortunately, it seems like more jobs are about to disappear if the city cannot find enough investors, thus worsening the city’s already high unemployment rate of around 20%. However, according to Parker, if the casino opens, then Port Huron’s residents will be given an opportunity to resurrect their economy and create an animated city center, unlike its nearly empty downtown today. Yet aside from the support of the tribe and the local community, Bay Mills also needs backing from the state government. The casino has already gained the approval of previous governors, John Engler and Jennifer Granholm, respectively signing and amending the casino compact. Still, the incumbent governor Rick Snyder’s position remains unknown. No meeting has yet occurred between Snyder and Parker, who has already spoken with the governor’s aides.

For many, it would indeed seem reasonable if Snyder gives his support to the casino. First of all, the casino’s existing contract provides a resolution to the Charlotte Beach land dispute. Next, the investments and profits from a casino would greatly help the state’s current economic difficulties. Lastly, because it would be just. It would seem very unfair for Port Huron to not benefit from a casino, especially with its unhealthy economy, while many other communities in Michigan have benefited from having casinos built in their towns.

Nonetheless, getting support is only one of the many challenges the Native American tribe has to face.
Late in 2010, Bay Mills opened its mini-casino at Vanderbilt, Michigan. The Vanderbilt casino was meant to be a test run for the planned Port Huron gaming operation. On the day of its opening, Bay Mills bought Acheson Ventures property to build a Port Huron casino. The tribe has taken a major hit when federal court ordered the shutdown of the Vanderbilt casino on the grounds that it was not operating legally, because the casino was not on Indian land. Bay Mills has also filed an appeal, only to have it denied by U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney. Maloney’s basis comes from the Michigan Indian Land Claims Settlement Act, which the Bay Mills tribe agreed to last 1997. The act states that the tribe can use the Land Trust’s earnings only for the improvements of their tribal land or for the “consolidation and enhancement” of their land either through “purchase or exchange.”

According to Maloney, because of the use of the word “and” between “consolidation” and “enhancement,” it means that any land bought by the tribe has to be both a consolidation and enhancement. This means that Bay Mills can only purchase property that is either adjacent or nearby. Since Port Huron and Vanderbilt do not fit any of these requirements, Bay Mills cannot buy property in these places. Thus, Maloney remains adamant with the court’s decision.
Apparently, Bay Mills’ battle is far from over. It seems like it could only hope that Parker’s optimism would be justified in the long run.