12
S moke S ignals
MAY 15, 2017
'We never want to be in a
reactive slugfest with Ilani'
GENERAL COUNCIL
continued from front page
Tribal land holdings are located
in Oregon, from Kilchis Point on
Tillamook Bay to the Portland area
office in Multnomah County to Rat-
tlesnake Butte near Junction City
north of Eugene.
Another map detailed the Tribe’s
land holdings in the immediate
Grand Ronde vicinity.
Reibach said the five-member
Lands Department will provide a
review of Tribal lands annually
from now on.
Reibach said the Tribe’s approach
to acquiring land are to either build
the community, purchase forest
lands for economic development,
recover and protect significant cul-
tural sites, and to buy commercial
real estate.
Reibach said one of the most im-
portant jobs for his Lands Depart-
ment is transferring Tribal land
holdings from fee status, where the
Tribe must pay taxes and follow
local zoning laws, to trust status,
which transfers the land title to
the federal government in trust for
the Tribe.
Reibach said the Tribe broke a
national record for fastest fee-to-
trust conversion in 2012 with three
properties simultaneously being
processed in slightly more than
three months.
He concluded the Lands presen-
tation by explaining that he works
with the General Manager’s Office
and Tribal Council to research,
recommend and administer special
projects, such highest and best-use
Photos by Dean Rhodes
studies on Tribal properties.
Reibach fielded three questions
and comments from Tribal mem-
bers after his presentation.
Hernandez delivered a brief sta-
tus update on the 31-acre Mult-
nomah Greyhound Park site in
Wood Village purchased by the
Tribe in December 2015.
“We just recently completed our
highest and best-use study on the
property,” Hernandez said. “We’re
now looking to go into a more de-
tailed study that will detail out
some financial options should we
look to develop that property at
some point.
“We’re also still continuing to
work with the city of Wood Vil-
lage on the master planning pro-
cess. They were going through
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that process when
we purchased the
property and we’re
hoping that process
will be completed
in June.”
Hernandez was
followed by Spirit
Mountain Casino General Manager
Stan Dillon, Marketing Director
Shawna Ridgebear and Gaming
Director Lon O’Donnell, who gave
the membership an in-depth look at
how Spirit Mountain management
started preparing for the opening
of the Cowlitz casino two years ago.
Dillon said that despite the
Cowlitz casino being much closer
to the Portland metropolitan area,
Spirit Mountain still has many
positive characteristics in its favor,
including the “horrible” drive Port-
land-area residents must endure to
cross the Columbia River and the
recent 82,000-square-foot renova-
tion, as well as Vegas-style random
number generator slot machines
and wide-area progressive games.
“We actually cannot stop them,”
Dillon said. “It’s a very large area
with 3.8 million people that we are
competing for. One advantage that
we have so far is we have been here
for over 20 years and a lot of guests
who have been here are used to
Spirit Mountain. I think we have
done a good job throughout the
years taking care of those guests
and I think they know that.”
Dillon said many Spirit Moun-
tain regulars are older and some of
those people do not like driving on
crowded and often stalled freeways.
“Unfortunately, the casino doesn’t
have a magic wand or special weap-
ons,” Dillon said. “But what we do
have is a newly remodeled casino; we
have the hotel, which will be very im-
portant because they don’t have a ho-
tel yet … large-name entertainment
will be very important to us. So we do
have some tools and our marketing
and our marketing dollars.”
Ridgebear said her department’s
goal is to always get players who
might try the Cowlitz casino to
eventually return to Spirit Moun-
tain. She also cited positives about
Spirit Mountain that are absent
from Ilani, such as a poker room,
free valet parking, dedicated park-
ing for recreational vehicles with no
time limit and, of course, the Cedar
Plank Buffet that can feed up to
1,600 customers in a shift.
Tribal Lands Manager Jan Looking Wolf Reibach,
left, and Spirit Mountain Casino General Manager
Stan Dillon were two of the speakers who briefed the
membership on numerous topics during the Sunday,
May 7, General Council meeting held in the Tribal
Community Center.
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Ridgebear also touted the casi-
no’s proactive marketing and the
previous experience management
personnel have from being in a
competitive market in Reno, Nev.
“Our goal is never, never to be
reactive, what you call knee-jerk
marketing, where we look like our
brand is desperate or weak, because
that is never the case. Spirit Moun-
tain is a leader in our market and
we will continue to be so,” she said.
Ridgebear and Dillon also said the
casino has thoroughly examined its
database to determine who regular
Spirit Mountain customers are since
approximately 80 percent of revenue
derives from 20 percent of guests.
O’Donnell concluded the casino
presentation by talking about in-
ternal research analysis tools used
to determine which slot machines
guests play, as well as future trends
in gaming technology, such as
electronic table and skilled-based
games, to attract younger custom-
ers and are not currently legal in
Washington state.
“We never want to be in a reac-
tive slugfest with Ilani,” Ridgebear
said. “What we can do is in a very
respectful and tasteful, profession-
al manner highlight the differences
between the two properties.”
Dillon fielded seven comments
and questions from Tribal members
following the presentation.
Tribal Council Secretary Jon A.
George joined Cultural Resourc-
es Department employees Brian
Krehbiel and Jordan Mercier in
performing the cultural drumming
and singing to open the meeting and
Tribal Council Vice Chair Cheryle A.
Kennedy gave the invocation.
Steve Rife, Tracie Meyer and Garry
Williams won the $100 door prizes
while Ron Tuomi, Robert Wiggs,
Debi Anderson, Jeannette Varay
and Starr Nitehawk won the $50
door prizes. Tuomi donated his door
prize to the Grand Ronde Food Bank.
Beaded necklaces, a gas card
donated by Tribal Council member
Brenda Tuomi and her husband,
Ron, and other donated items also
were raffled off.
The next General Council meeting
will be held at 11 a.m. Sunday, June
25, in the Tribal Community Center
for Tribal Council nominations only.
The entire meeting can be viewed
on the Tribal website, www.gran-
dronde.org, by clicking on the News
tab and then Video.