Ledger-Dispatch

By Raheem Hosseini (editor@ledger-dispatch.com= )=20

Terri = Daly
After last week's=20 stunning reversal by the board of supervisors and the public pounding = she and=20 County Counsel Martha Shaver took at that meeting, Terri Daly, in her = second=20 year as county administrative officer, was ready to call it=20 quits.

According to several county officials, Daly tendered her=20 resignation during a closed session meeting Thursday, but was turned = back by a=20 4-0 vote from supervisors Rich Escamilla, Richard Forster, Ted Novelli = and Louis=20 Boitano. District 5's Brian Oneto wasn't part of the closed session = meeting=20 because he had abstained from any matters regarding a proposed casino=20 development roughly 5 miles east of the city of Ione.

It was the=20 controversial Indian gaming project that led to last week's = near-resignation.=20 Passions had been running high in recent weeks over a proposed = development=20 agreement with the Buena Vista Band of Me-Wuk Indians, which supervisors = deadlocked on last week despite several concessions from the = tribe.

The=20 Intergovernmental Services Agreement with the tribe would have traded = millions=20 in mitigation dollars for the rights to build a scaled-down gaming = project on 17=20 acres of tribal land east of Coal Mine Road. After seven months of = intense=20 negotiations with the county, the five-member tribe had agreed to reduce = the=20 number of slot machines from 2,000 to an initial 950, scrap plans for a = hotel,=20 restrict where alcohol was served and pay the county $7.7 million = annually to=20 address impacts to the environment, roads, law enforcement, fire = protection and=20 the surrounding community.

Along with an offered one-time payment = of $18=20 million, the deal was within the scope of what department heads said = they needed=20 to accommodate such a project. In a final concession last week, the = tribe even=20 agreed to let the county continue its efforts to stop the project = through the=20 federal court system, which it has so far been unable to do over a = period of=20 two-and-a-half years.

Until last week, a provision requiring the = county=20 to drop its lawsuit was the most controversial aspect of the proposed = agreement=20 and led to a deadlocked board on March 4. At that meeting, Forster, = chairman of=20 the board of supervisors, said he would sign the agreement if the legal=20 provision was dropped. But at the March 11 meeting, Forster, in whose = district=20 the opposed project would be built, changed his mind and again voted = against=20 taking the agreement. He and Boitano together blocked passage of the = ISA, which=20 triggered the tribe's immediate call for arbitration.

The = decision proved=20 surprising even to project opponents, who spent hours during the public = hearing=20 admonishing the board for accepting what they considered a done=20 deal.

Those who worked on the negotiations from the county's side = have=20 privately expressed their disappointment at the votes cast by Forster = and=20 Boitano, worrying that their hardline stance could cost the county = millions in=20 arbitration and continued legal fees. They also resented the public = attacks on=20 Daly and Shaver, which went unchallenged by board members.

In an = e-mail=20 to the Ledger Dispatch, Forster said he consciously gave the public = broad=20 discretion in making comments on what has become a divisive=20 project.

"This has brought out the best in some members of the = public,=20 and the worst in others," he said. "I expect people to be passionate = when an=20 outcome may forever change their lives. Whether they are courteous and=20 respectful is up to the person making comments."

It was this = perceived=20 lack of support that reportedly led to Daly's attempted resignation = Thursday,=20 which supervisors were able to defuse with a 4-0 vote of support. Daly = herself=20 didn't make that argument in an e-mail to the Ledger = Dispatch.

"During=20 the past week, impassioned discussions suggested possible conflicts for = me in=20 the implementation of my responsibilities," she said. "I submitted my=20 resignation to clarify those conflicts. My resignation was not accepted = by the=20 board."

The public response from board members has been one of = support.=20 Both Escamilla and Novelli said they didn't want to lose Daly, and = Forster=20 called her a "stellar county employee."

If accepted, Daly's = resignation=20 couldn't have come at a more difficult time for the county. Tomorrow is = the=20 deadline for the county and tribe to submit their arbitration proposals = for=20 review. It will take 60 to 90 days for an independently chosen = arbitrator to=20 pick one of the casino projects to move forward.

Before the = board's vote=20 last week, Forster acknowledged that the likely end result of any = decision would=20 be a second casino in Amador County. By defeating the ISA, the fear is = the=20 county could receive substantially less than what was offered and end up = with a=20 larger project with fewer concessions to the surrounding community. The=20 often-cited $4 million figure county officials say they might lose = annually is=20 an estimation based on other casino deals throughout the state, the = tribe's=20 original offer and the language of the compact.

Emotions among = county=20 officials and staff have been elevated as well, Forster = said.

Along with=20 District 1's Escamilla, Novelli, the freshman District 3 supervisor, = voted last=20 week to accept the agreement rather than enter arbitration with the=20 tribe.

"We would have had their money to even sue them," Novelli = said of=20 the tribe's offer. "I mean, what else can you ask for?"

Escamilla = reasoned last week that supervisors had a responsibility to county staff = already=20 beset by hiring and wage freezes.

Raheem = Hosseini