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July 8, 2002

Host: Michael Grant
Topics: The fate of Indian gaming in Arizona is before the 9th circuit Court of Appeals;
"Stories of Arizona" profiles Calvin Goode, long-time Phoenix city councilman
Guests:
Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services;
Mary Jo Pitzl, "The Arizona Republic"

>> Michael: Tonight on "Horizon," the fate of Indian gaming in Arizona is before the 9th circuit Court of Appeals. How the court rules could affect three competing gaming initiatives on the fall ballot. Plus the son of cotton pickers overcame segregation and discrimination to become a community leader in a long-time Phoenix city councilman. "Stories of Arizona" profiles Calvin Goode. Good evening, welcome to "Horizon." I'm Michael Grant. Attorneys for the state and dog and horse tracks presented oral arguments before the 9th circuit Court of Appeals today. A number of issues are before the three-judge panel. Joining us live via satellite from CNN's San Francisco bureau are two local reporters covering today's proceedings, Howard Fischer of capitol media services and Mary Jo Pitzl of "The Arizona Republic." I assume it is about 50 degrees cool inner San Francisco than it is here in Phoenix. Is that a safe assumption?

>>Fisher: Here's the deal. We recognize it was a court hearing in San Francisco. We're here. You're there. What does that tell you?

>> Michael: That's right. Listen, speaking of things hot, was it -- what is sometimes referred to as a hot been much, Mary Jo? Were there a lot of questions from the questions from the court on oral argument today or not?

>>Pitzl: There were a fair few questions, mostly centering around the question of does the governor have the authority to delegate, to sign Indian gaming compacts on his or her own, and also a couple of questions about how this might affect the election and why are they even here if Arizona's going to do its own election on Indian gaming.

>> Michael: Howie, I want to get to some of the issues specifically. Just a minute, but what about the questions the court asked, were there any surprises, any off-the-wall questions, unexpected developments for the attorneys for either the state or the tracks?

>>Fisher: I don't think anything was unexpected. I think the one question that kind of threw the attorneys was the presiding judge, Pamela Reimer, saying maybe they will send one of the questions back to the state supreme court, that is, the issue that we'll talk about in a minute, of what does the constitution allow the legislature to do in terms of delegating authority to the governor. The funny thing is neither side wanted that done. They thought the law is clear. And so I think it came as a surprise when the court said on its own, well, maybe we'll punt this one back to the state supreme court, at least for a while.

>> Michael: Howie, let's go to the first issue, which is the state's argument that the tribes should have been parties to the judge Broomfield litigation. Give us that argument and give us what developed on oral argument.

>>Fisher: Well, as you know, the essence of the issue was that the horse and dog tracks filed suit against the governor and the state and said that the gaming compacts signed under a 1992 law by Fife Symington were illegal. The issue there is, does the governor have the authority, and there are some related issues. The argument of the state is now, wait a second, yes, it is a state law we're challenging, but the real parties in interest in this are in the deny tribes. They're the ones with whom the state has a contract, albeit that contract is wrapping up next year, but that contract also provides a right automatic renewal, and that's a very important issue, because many of the tribes built these casinos under the assumption they would have more than just 10 years worth of gaming. The argument by Scott Bailes who was representing the state was that because they would be losing something, that right of automatic renewal, they needed to be joined as defendants in the lawsuit. Of course, Neil Wake, who represents the tracks said, no, no, this is only a lawsuit over a legality of state law. This becomes a very critical question because if, in fact, the judges agree that the Indian should have been joined in the lawsuit the whole lawsuit goes away and we start over again.

>> Michael: Did the court indicate at all, Howie, how it viewed that issue or ask any questions in relation to it?

>>Fisher: They wanted to know what the Indians thought because, in fact, they mentioned to Scott Bailes, now, wait a second, if the Indians thought it was so important, why didn't they seek to intervene? And about the best Scott could come up with, well, they did file a friends of the court briefs, and that was really it.

>> Michael: Mary Jo, the issue that the tracks won was the issue on the governor's authority, the court ruled, judge Broomfield ruled, that the governor does not have the authority, at least to execute the compacts. Either they need explicit in struck from the legislature how to do that or legislative ratification once negotiated. How did that argument proceed today?

>> Pitzl: Well, that argument got some questioning from judge William Camby who is an Arizonan. He wondered if the 1996 election where Arizona voters said, yep, we should allow the Salt River-Pima Maricopa Indian tribe to have a gaming compact. He questioned, isn't that tantamount to ratification of the governor's authority? Neil Wake, for the racetracks, said no, all the tribe was looking for in that 1996 election was simple fairness. Give us the same deal that other tribes are given in '92 and '93. But the state has argued that, indeed, that election, because it was decided by the voters, was an affirmation of the governor's ability to sign off on gaming compacts with the tribes.

>> Michael: Howie, let's go to the final issue involved in the case, and that one is equal protection. Again, in this particular case, the tracks had argued that essentially only allowing the tribes to have gaming rights is a violation of the 14th amendment of the U.S. constitution, the equal protection clause. What did the court ask about -- how did the attorneys address that issue?

>>Fisher: The funny thing is that the court didn't even ask any questions on that issue. I think that they believed that the issue may be resolved on the question of delegation of authority. Now, here's the problem that they're going to have. Even assuming that there was a legal delegation of authority, Neil Wake still preserves that argument. This is a fascinating question because it comes down to the issue of, is an Indian tribe a racial segregation or is it a political segregation? Because if you believe that allowing tribal gaming, tribes to operate casinos, is a race-based issue, then, in fact, you have an equal protection argument. That's like saying, you know, only Chinese can operate Barber shops, only anglos can operate laundries, whatever. But, if in fact you believe this is an issue of we are allowing a specific level of government to operate a certain kind of gaming, then it's different. For example, the state itself operates the lottery, and has chosen to have a monopoly on the lottery. They don't let cities operate monopolies. They don't let counties operate lotteries. So the court at some point may have to reach the issue of is this an equal protection argument? This is particularly important here in San Francisco because the ninth circuit governs not only what happens in Arizona but nine other western states as well as Guam, so anything the court would reach on this issue here would have affect Indian gaming in California and elsewhere.

>> Michael: But you're getting the drift that basically the court was focusing more on, does the governor have the authority to do this, rather than that equal protection arguement?

>>Fisher: I think that their belief is that if there is -- the delegation issue can be dispositive on it, but, you know, some of this obviously is going to affect what happens in November and some of the stuff we're going to be talking about, because as you know two of the initiatives, preserve gaming only for reservations.

>> Michael: Mary Jo, I suspect the answer to this is no, but let me ask you the obligatory -- did the court give any indication of when it might rule on this case?

>> Pitzl: No, they didn't. Typically neither side is expecting a final ruling before the November 5th general election. There is some indication that perhaps if the Court of Appeals wants to send the issue of can the governor -- does the governor have authority delegated back to the Arizona supreme court that that might happen sometime late summer, early fall, well before the election.

>> Michael: Had a Mary Jo and Howie, stay there. We're going to come back to you in a minute. Lawmakers were given the chance this spring to approve a gaming compact signed by the governor or to allow tribes and racetracks to offer gaming devices. Seven-week special session on the matter went nowhere, meaning the competing interests had to go the initiative route. Three gaming initiatives are on the November ballot. One of them from racetracks looking to add slot machines. Paul Atkinson profiles the tracks' efforts to cash in on casino-style gaming.

>> They're all set for the opener. They're in the gate. And they're off and running in a very...

>> Reporter: The race is on to see which of three gaming initiatives will win at the November ballot. Two would limit casino gaming to Indian reservations. A third, called the fair gaming act, would allow Indian gaming, plus add 1,000 slot machines at up to 10 horse and dog tracks, such as the Yavapai County fairgrounds. No odds yet on which will Wednesday win, but those who play the ponies hope their proposition will come in first.

>> Joe Writght: I have nothing to say against the Indians other than I think it should be fair. If they're allowed to have it, then I think, you know, there's been gaming -- there's been gaming in horse racing for a lot more years than in the denies ever had it.

>> Reporter: The tracks are hoping to entice voters not with a carrot but with the bottom line. If racetracks get slot machines, 40% of profits would go to the state. Indian casinos would contribute 8% of profits. The money would pay for reading programs, prescription drugs for seniors, scholarships and the like. Recent economic analysis of the propositions declared the racetrack initiative the winner in terms of overall revenue to the state.

>>Amy Rezzonico: The fair gaming act comes out hand over fist over the other two initiatives. It would be about a $294 million price tag for the state. That would be with 40% gross gaming revenues from the racetracks and an 8% revenue sharing from the tribes.

>> Reporter: The horse racing industry points to other states that allow slots at racetracks.

>>Joe Wright: And all the states that have this gambling now, these slots, the horse people are doing well, the state's doing well, the state is taking in so much more revenue than they ever have.

>> Reporter: It also means an industry that traditionally had little competition could once again hold its own.

>> Tom Bartol: Everybody wants to make this about the racetrack. It's not about the racetrack. It's about all the little people that are around the -- the grass roots of the enterprise that are making it go.

>> Michael: Joining the racetrack initiative on the ballot are two competing propositions filed by Indian tribes. The Colorado River Indian tribes, or CRIT, are the backers of proposition 200. Prop 200 would limit casino-style gaming to reservations for 20 years with an optional 20-year extension. Each casino can offer all forms of casino gaming with a limit of 1,000 slot machines, plus any machines transferred from other tribes. 3% of net gaming revenue would go to college scholarships and elderly healthcare. Proposition 202 is sponsored by the 17 Indian tribes who negotiated a gaming compact with Governor Hull. Prop 200 -- or 202, would allow 10-year compacts that could be extended an additional 13 years. Would it allow tribes who currently have gaming compacts to add anywhere from 40 to 1,000 more slot machines, depending upon tribal population. It also allows tribes to transfer slots and allocates 5,000 machines among six tribes who do not currently have gaming compacts. Prop 202 would allow 75 to 100 blackjack and poker tables per casino. A portion of tribal gaming proceeds would go to the state. Tribes would pay anywhere from 1 to 8% of proceeds to Arizona. That money would go to state funds created for education, wildlife, trauma centers, local government and economic development. Prop 200 also contains a poison pill that allows unlimited Indian gaming if any court makes casino gaming legal off the reservation. Rejoining us are Mary Jo Pitzl of the "Arizona Republic" and Howie Fischer of capitol media services. Mary Jo, the tribes -- well, one set of tribes gathered the signatures on one of those propositions pretty quickly.

>> Pitzl: Yeah, the Arizona Indian gaming association had about from late May until July 4th they gathered 240,000-odd signatures, far more than the other two ballot measures.

>> Michael: I wonder if you can draw any conclusions from that on the popularity of the proposition were they just better at petition circulating?

>> Pitzl: Or maybe there were a lot of confused people in the casinos who signed the petition multiple times.

>> Michael: That's entirely possible. Howie, getting back, since obviously the oral argument occurred today, how could a court ruling affect these three gaming initiatives on the November ballot or any combination thereof?

>> Fisher: Well, this is where it gets very tricky. For example, you talked about the two Indian tribe-sponsored initiatives, the Colorado River Indian tribes and the Arizona Indian gaming association. Both of those confine gaming to reservations. And if, in fact, you accept the argument of the tracks that there's an equal protection problem there, it doesn't mat for the voters decide that it's ok just to do things solely for Indians. You cannot overrule the U.S. constitution with a vote of the Arizona public. The more interesting scenario comes down to the issue of, let's assume for argument sake that the only measure that passes is the one by the tracks. This is the one, as you point out, that allows up to 7,000 slot machines at 10 racetracks around the state along with the Indian gaming. That takes away the equal protection argument. But what it doesn't do is address the whole issue of revenue sharing. The department of interior is required by law to review any Indian gaming deals with the -- between the state and the tribes, and the department of interior's also made it clear the only way they'll approve revenue sharing is if the tribes have substantial exclusivity in terms of gaming. Yet the tracks' initiative -- the tribes, excuse me, says they will share in their revenue. So here's the deal that the tribes have. Do they go ahead you and agree to share revenues to get additional things like blackjack? My guess is, no, they will try to rethe new old gaming compacts, the ones issued before the court today. Meanwhile, while they litigate their rights under the other initiative. So we are a long way from finality on any of these.

>> Pitzl: And my point -- another point relative to how this could affect the election, there are a lot of different permutations, but if the Court of Appeals were to overturn judge Broomfield's decision and say, you know what, the governor does have authority to negotiate gaming compacts and if that decision came down sometime before November 5th, you can be sure that governor Jane Hull is going to be pulling the Indian tribes back to the negotiating table and trying to dash off some quick compacts.

>> Michael: Mary Jo, you, of course, covered the special session very closely. These are three initiatives that you really, well, took me about a minute-and-a-half to separate just major component parts. This is going to be a real challenge, I think, both for the advertising campaign associated with the campaigns as well as for voters showing up at the ballot box to try to sort through.

>> Pitzl: I think it will be difficult. At least initially what we're going to see is all three camps will be selling you on what it will buy for the state and will people be able to link what the CRIT initiative will buy to their initiative, will they be able to distinguish that from what the 17 tribes have, from what the racetracks have. We've yet to see those campaigns start to spool out, but it does have the opportunity to be very confusing, and if voters are confused, who knows what will happen.

>>Fisher: And the other piece of that, Michael, is that it's going to come down to the slogans. For example, the tracks will talk about fairness. Racial fairness, whatever you want to call it. Why sit fair to let the tribes do something? Particularly if the tracks say, look, you give us 6900 slot machines, we'll give you 40% of the take here. Now, for the Colorado River tribe the issue becomes that, why should we have the state limiting number of machines? If you have a demand for more slot machines, why should you have to go to the state for permission? So they're all going to be trying to segregate out how theirs differ.

>> Michael: Howie Fischer, capitol media services, Mary Jo Pitzl of the "Arizona Republic," our thanks to you as well. Enjoy San Francisco.

>> Fisher: We will.

>> Pitzl: Thanks, Michael.

>> Michael: He was a fixture on the Phoenix city council for more than 20 years, but Calvin Goode's accomplishments extend far beyond public service. In tonight's "Stories of Arizona," Mary Jo west and photographer bill leverton showcase a man who is mettle reflects the spirit of this state.

>> Reporter: Calvin Goode first walked these hallways in 1944 as a student at Carver high school. Today he is president of the alumni group that's dedicated to transforming the old school into a museum and cultural center.

>> Goode: We're an African-American museum because we feel that culture of all groups ought to be known and appreciated to showcase some of the contributions that African-Americans have made to this city, state and nation.

>> Reporter: Goode and his family are some of those who have contributed to their communities. The Goode family came to Arizona shortly after baby Calvin was born in 1927.

>> Goode:The family followed some of the agricultural crops and lived in Buckeye and Palo Verde and Coolidge. I can remember even as a child where I picked cotton, chopped cotton and dad traveled around from city to city. One of the things I like to tell folks about is I went to grade school in Gila Bend, graduated in 1940, and I was given a certificate of graduation which entitled me to go to any high school in the state, but they wouldn't let me go to the high school in Gila Bend because they had a local option that excluded students of African decent. That's the reason we moved to Prescott and they permitted us to go to school there. My mother was the one who real Le pushed education even though she only went to the sixth grade. Dad went to the eighth grade. But she wanted us to go to school, and so we moved in order to go to school. I went three years, then I dropped out of school for a year. The doctor thought I had a heart condition. He thought maybe I wouldn't live but maybe about a year. But I was 16 at the time, and can you imagine even as a junior, I was 5'1" and weighed 75 pounds.

>> Reporter: His family thought the desert climate would be bet for his health, so in 1944 Goode came to Phoenix. He enrolled at Carver high, the only high school in Arizona built exclusively for African-American students. Originally it was called Phoenix union colored high school.

>> Goode: I understand the parents decided that the term colored needed to be changed. So they discussed it with the school board and they finally changed it to George Washington Carver.

>> Reporter: During his senior year Goode worked on the yearbook and was introduced to black history.

>> Goode: Mattie Hackett was a remarkable woman. She taught black history so often in the schools, even at Prescott, they didn't talk much about black history. One of my social studies teachers who talked about the -- they did the slaves a favor by bringing them from the jungles of Africa to this civilization. That certainly indicated his lack of knowledge, and the textbooks didn't say much about slavery.

>> Reporter: Goode graduated from Carver in 1945 and went to Phoenix College for two years.

>> Goode: Then I went onto Arizona State University and business organization and management and economics. Graduated there in 1949.

>> Reporter: He came back to Carver high to work as the school accountant until segregated schools were ruled unconstitutional.

>> Goode: 1954 they closed the school and moved the teachers and the students to other schools in the district.

>> Reporter: Goode looked for another job in the district.

>> Goode: There was a position similar to mine, unit business manager, one of the schools, but the principal said, no, he did not want Calvin Goode because he may cause some problems. One was some people may recent having an African-American black there supervising white women. But, anyway, I kept pressing them and finally came back into the district and I have a total of 30 years with the district.

>> Reporter: Goode married his wife Georgie in 1960. She taught school and together they raised three sons. They also ran an accounting business.

>> Goode: We have Calvin Goode and associates that we do primarily income taxes and return taxes, and we started out on the kitchen table. People came to me, Mr. Goode help me with this. Our price was very low. We did it to help people.

>> Reporter: Goode also found time to be involved in community affairs. In 1971 he was persuaded to run for a seat on the Phoenix city council.

>> Goode: There were those who said I was too timid to run and they didn't think I could win. But with the charter government committee help and my contacts made in the community, we put together a campaign. After two years there were some folks who said, Calvin, you didn't always vote the we way we wanted you to. I would say, you know, I believe in listening to the community, talking to the community, and then taking as much advice pros and cons and then voting my convictions. I did not feel I had to answer to anybody. I appreciate your help, but don't tell me how to vote when I'm trying to serve people in this city.

>> Reporter: Goode was reelected for ten more terms.

>> Goode: I had a little saying when I went to groups, I said, well, you can rest Goode tonight because you're in Goode hands. I played with that name a lot, Goode for good government and so forth.

>> Reporter: He never ran for Mayor, but in 1990, he almost got the job when Mayor Goddard resigned to run for governor. He has a souvenir and a letter from the newspaper editor.

>> Goode: Dear Calvin, your run for the Mayor's post may have come up short but you still made headlines at the Gazette. The newspaper was on a very tight deadline the day the vote was taken so we produced two pages, one proclaiming Paul Johnson Mayor and one proclaiming you Mayor.

>> Reporter: Were you disappointed?

>> Goode: To a degree. I felt that I was the most qualified, and there were others who felt the same way.

>> Reporter: In 1994, Goode retired from the Phoenix city council.

>> Goode: 22 years is a long time. Certainly I was in a position and I think I made a number of decisions that helped to steer in the right direction.

>> Reporter: Goode has witnessed a lot of changes during his life in Phoenix.

>> Goode:When we came down from Prescott in '44, the restaurants were segregated. You were not invited to come into a restaurant to eat, a movie theater. You could sit up in the balcony. Certain job opportunities were denied to you. We certainly had housing where you could only live in certain parts of the city.

>> Reporter: He still lives in the modest home on Jefferson near 16th Street that he's owned since 1955.

>> Goode: I like where I live, but it's -- I can remember when a lady said to my wife, said, there's a house for sale on our block. Why don't you move up? Looks like you're a good family and you could send your kids to good schools and so forth. And she said, well, why don't you come into our neighborhood and help us to build up our neighborhood.

>> Reporter: In his retirement, Goode tines serve his community.

>> Follow Mr. Goode.

>> Reporter: In 2002 he is president of the Phoenix elementary school board, and he's back at his alma mater working to return to it its place of pride in the community.

>> Goode: What would be more fitting than where you went to high school to bring it back as a museum? There was a lot of pride in this school. There are a lot of folks who graduated from Carver, not only in athletics but academically, too, have achieved a great deal.

>> Reporter: Calvin Goode continues to envision great things for his community.

>> Goode: Many of the folks call me to the conscience of the council. So I'm pleased that the Lord gave me that opportunity to be there to make a difference in the lives of people.

>> Michael: Next week "Stories of Arizona" profiles Hal Empie, a one-time pharmacist who became a renowned artist and cartoonist. Tomorrow night on "Horizon," lawmakers crackdown on operators of youth bootcamp that's. A look at what changes have been made following the death of a Valley teenager last year. Thanks very much for being here on a Monday evening. I'm Michael Grant. Have a great one. Good night.