By Allan Brettman

VANCOUVER -- The Vancouver City Council approved a resolution Monday night opposing a proposed tribal casino near La Center, Wash.

The council, following nearly two hours of public testimony and nearly an hour of its own public deliberation, voted 7-0 for the resolution.

In addition to formally stating its opposition to the project located 10 miles north of the city, the resolution says the city would sue if the U.S. Department of the Interior approves the casino project in its present form.

The resolution marks the first time any side in the controversy has vowed to take legal action.

Council members, in explaining their thoughts before voting, were careful to separate complimentary comments about the Cowlitz tribe from critical observations about the casino project.

"Do I support a Cowlitz casino?" said Councilman Larry Smith. "Certainly I do, everyone up here does, but it's the wrong site."

The Cowlitz Indian Tribe proposes building a $510 million casino resort on 152 acres at the La Center exit of Interstate 5, about 16 miles north of the Interstate Bridge.

The $510.3 million complex would be built in phases, eventually reaching 877,000 square feet, with a 134,150-square-foot gambling floor, a 250-room hotel, and convention and retail space. The site would also include tribal housing, tribal headquarters and a cultural center.

Councilman Tim Leavitt, while acknowledging he is a repeat visitor to casinos in Las Vegas, said, "When I think about the future of Clark County, I can't with a straight face . . . say the casino is going to bring a lot of value to the county."

The Interior Department is not expected to rule until the end of this year, at the earliest, on the tribe's application to create the reservation and establish a casino.

Earlier in the evening, the council heard from about 30 speakers during a public hearing on the resolution. They were among at least 100 people who packed the council chamber.

While several Cowlitz casino opponents spoke to the council in nearly two hours of public testimony, casino advocates appeared to turn out more of their core supporters: tribal members, gambling enthusiasts and labor groups that would get construction jobs if the complex is built.

"Which is more powerful, economics or politics?" said Mike Phillips, secretary-treasurer of the Clark County Central Labor Council. "The economics of this casino are pretty clear: 4,000 (construction) jobs with benefits."

Ed Lynch, leader of Citizens Against Reservation Shopping, an opposition group, said the construction jobs did not have to be located in La Center.

"If it's built where it should be built, there will still be a lot of construction jobs," Lynch said.

The group contends that the casino should be built closer to Toledo, Wash., in Lewis County, about 50 miles north of the proposed site. Casino opponents and the city's proposed resolution say the Toledo area is closer to the tribe's geographic center.

But tribal representatives told the council members and others that their information about the geographic center was wrong. They faulted others for contending it was inappropriate for the tribe to build on the La Center-area site.

"It is offensive to every Cowlitz tribal member that the council would try to tell the tribe where their homeland is," said Philip Harju, a tribal council member.