PAUMA VALLEY: Casino Pauma to cut employees

This article has been corrected since its original posting

By CHRIS NICHOLS - Staff Writer | Sunday, November 9, 2008 4:09 PM PST ∞

PAUMA VALLEY ---- Casino Pauma this week announced plans to lay off an unspecified number of workers.

The casino would be the second in the area to cut employees in recent months, demonstrating that gaming centers are not immune to the deepening economic downturn.

A memo indicating the casino's plans was distributed to workers Tuesday and obtained by the North County Times.

"Tribal Council and senior management have concluded that it is necessary to reduce payroll costs. This will involve a workforce reduction for our employees," wrote Tracy Le Duff, the casino's acting general manager.

Management plans to meet with affected employees on or before Wednesday, the memo stated.

In August, Pechanga Casino in Temecula laid off roughly 360 workers, citing an industry slowdown. There are no plans at that casino for further layoffs, said Jacob Mejia, public affairs director for Pechanga Development Corporation.

"We're getting through this," Mejia added. "People are still coming in. They're just not spending as much. Instead of playing the dollar games, they're playing the nickel and penny games."

Revenue growth has slowed for the state's 60 tribal-owned casinos in the last two years. They generated $7.8 billion in 2007, just 1.6 percent more than the prior year, according to the Indian Gaming Industry Report, a document updated annually by economist Alan Meister.

Higher gasoline prices and greater competition in the gaming industry have been blamed for some of the slowdown.

Le Duff, in a separate prepared statement Friday afternoon, said the casino must analyze business needs in each department before deciding how many layoffs will be made.

Management declined to say how the layoffs, or the overall economic downturn, will affect Casino Pauma's expansion plans. Plans for a 19-floor hotel are in the works. Initial blueprints, calling for a 23-floor hotel, were scaled back earlier this year in response to concerns from Pauma Valley residents.

Looking forward, Le Duff said, "We remain hopeful about the future and our role in helping to jump-start our regional economy. We will continue to provide customers with the same high quality of entertainment they expect from Casino Pauma."

According to Le Duff's Nov. 4 memo, workers who participate in a "voluntary reduction" program will be offered a severance package. Lump sum payments equal to one weeks' pay for every full year of work would be handed out under that plan. Medical benefits would continue through the last day of the month in which the severance payment is made.

Affected workers who decline to voluntarily leave will not receive the severance package, the memo said.

The casino was built in 2001 and is owned by the Pauma Yuima Band of Mission Indians.

CORRECTION: Article had wrong first name

Jacob Mejia is the public affairs director for Pechanga Development Corporation. An incorrect first name was listed for Mejia in this article.

We apologize.