The Menominee Nation has announced that it's the Native American tribe in Wisconsin helping the Seminole Tribe of Florida try to open an off-reservation casino in Kenosha. The Menominee made the announcement Wednesday, just hours after the Village Board in Bristol OK'd giving a company linked to the Seminole up to two years to buy 60 acres for the project just west of I-94.
This is the second collaboration for the Menominee and Seminole, who lost a previous effort in Kenosha County when then-Gov. Scott Walker blocked a casino plan seven years ago.
Menominee Chairman Ron Korn, Sr. says his tribe is still looking for a money-maker. "We have a really difficult time meeting the needs of the members of our tribe, and so we've always looked for ways to generate additional revenue to help meet those needs. That's been our goal for a very long time, and it remains our goal today," he says.
Korn notes that Walker, a Republican, no longer sits in the governor's chair — Democrat Tony Evers does.
"That would be my point of view maybe, that he'd be more favorable," he shares.
The governor's office is only one of several government entities which would need to OK the casino. So would the city and county of Kenosha, and U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Evers, interviewed in Grafton Wednesday evening, said he's a long way from making a decision. But he doesn't rule out approval.
"I have approved casinos in the past. It's not like I'm anti-gambling. In fact, I think the tribal nations of Wisconsin have the right to do that. I've approved sports gambling and some other things," he said.
In Bristol Tuesday evening, some casino critics were urging a vote for Republican Rebecca Kleefisch in the governor's race, hoping Walker's former lieutenant governor would copy her former boss and say no to a Kenosha casino.
Kleefisch still has to get by her main Republican rival, Tim Michels, in next month's primary election.
In any event, it's considered likely that the governor won't have to show his, or her, cards for a couple years, as local and federal approvals of an off-reservation casino take time.
