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Published on June 5,
2006
© 2006- The Press Democrat
BYLINE: LORI A. CARTER
A lawsuit filed by four members of the Dry Creek
Rancheria says the tribe didn't live up to a
promise to relocate them when they left their
homes so the River Rock Casino could be built.
One plaintiff claims her home was demolished to
make way for a parking lot.
In a suit filed in Sonoma County Superior Court
last month, Melissa Russ, Karen Casillas,
Katherine Casillas Somersall and Yolanda
Casillas Somersall say the tribe breached
agreements to provide them permanent housing
after they agreed to move.
The suit seeks undisclosed monetary damages,
including punitive damages "sufficient to
punish (the) defendants.'' The tribe's response
to the allegations is due in July.
In addition to the tribe, the casino's parent
company, Dry Creek Casino, and its development
partner, Nevada Gold & Casinos, are named as
defendants.
Tribal leaders and their lawyers did not respond
to messages seeking comment Friday.
In the suit, the plaintiffs claim that in the
spring of 2002, they agreed to participate in
the tribe's housing relocation program as it
prepared to develop a casino on its land in
Alexander Valley.
They were told the property they were living on
was "designated for tribal economic
development,'' the suit says.
They said they signed contracts that conveyed
their land and homes to the tribe in exchange
for the tribe promising to help relocate them
into permanent housing, including costs up to
$400,000 each.
Karen Casillas said she was promised permanent
housing within two months and moved into a
temporary mobile home elsewhere on the
reservation.
But a year later, she said she was forced off
the reservation by Coyote Valley tribal police
and River Rock security, "while a construction
crew waited to demolish her home,'' according to
the suit.
She claims she was given three hours to move and
was forced to leave many of her possessions,
which were destroyed by the wrecking crew. She
said the site of her home became a casino
parking lot.
"The casino and gaming project, a
multimillion-dollar investment of the tribe, is
located directly on top of the land where the
homes of Melissa, Karen, Katherine and Yolanda
were located, leaving Yolanda and the other
plaintiffs homeless,'' the suit alleges.
When the women asked about potential homes
during the past three years, they were told, the
suit alleges, the tribe didn't have any money
for them, said their attorney, Richard Sax of
Santa Rosa.
"They're telling us they've run out of money,
which I don't understand,'' he said. "At the
same time, they're building a hotel and talking
about buying land in Petaluma.''
In December 2005, each of the women met with the
tribe's board of directors to discuss their
relocation status. They were notified, according
to letters filed with the suit, that their
three-year contracts were up and the tribe's
financial commitments would soon be completed.
According to the letters, Russ had received
$112,500, Karen Casillas $164,250, Katherine
Casillas Somersall $117,500 and Yolanda Casillas
Somersall $118,225 for temporary housing
expenses. Katherine Casillas Somersall and
Yolanda Casillas Somersall are Karen Casillas'
adult daughters.
Sax said the women primarily want the homes the
tribe promised.
The 900-member Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo
Indians opened River Rock, Sonoma County's only
casino, in September 2002 on the tribe's 75-acre
reservation on Highway 128 east of Geyserville.
It has grown into a 62,000-square-foot facility
with 1,600 slot and video poker machines, two
dozen table games, restaurants, lounges and
bars. The 24-hour, seven-day-a-week operation
employs more than 700 full- and part-time
workers.
Casino revenue hit a record $139 million in
2005, with $18 million in profits for its
operators. Of that, the tribe received $11.2
million for its own programs, according to a
report to investors last month.
You can reach Staff Writer Lori A. Carter at
568-5312 or
lcarter@pressdemocrat.com.
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