Kenosha officials are requesting a personal meeting U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne after the U.S. Bureau for Indian Affairs (BIA) sent a letter, vowing more scrutiny over proposals for off-reservation casinos.

Kenosha County Executive Allan Kehl, Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian and State Rep. Jim Kreuser have requested the meeting with Kempthorne to discuss "the many positive impacts" a casino proposed by the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin would have on the Kenosha community.

Menominee Chairperson Lisa Waukau has sent a letter to Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Carl Artman about the tighter federal scrutiny.

In an earlier letter to several tribes, Artman predecessor James Cason mentioned Secretary Kempthorne's concerns about off-reservation gaming and warned that any application for an off-reservation facility would be subject to enhanced federal scrutiny.

Cason's letter indicated that BIA scrutiny of a tribe's proposal will increase according to how far the proposed site is from a tribe's reservation.  According to the letter, tribes proposing off-reservation projects must do more to demonstrate tribal need and benefits the project would bring to the tribe.  In addition, federal authorities will give greater weight to input from state and local officials having jurisdiction over the proposed site.

"The Tribe has always been confident that its application not only meets all the requirements of the statutes and regulations governing off-reservation gaming, but exceeds those legal requirements," Waukau wrote. "This confidence has been strengthened by the fact that the Bureau of Indian Affairs Midwest Regional Office has made a positive recommendation regarding the Tribe's application.  None of the issues raised in Mr. Cason's letter leads us to reconsider either our own, or the Bureau's, prior determinations."

Waukau cited statistics showing that Menominee County, which encompasses the Menominee Reservation, ranks last in the State of Wisconsin for persons living in poverty, children living in poverty and health outcomes.

In a separate letter to Kempthorne, Kenosha's county executive, mayor, and state representative reiterated the community's support of the Menominee proposal. They said they hope to meet with Department officials in Washington, D.C., in the near future.