Tribe veteran takes charge – again

Respected tribe veteran Henry Duro takes charge - again

By Michelle DeArmond
The Press Enterprise

More than six years after taking office, the outspoken head of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians is stepping down today and turning the job over to a longtime leader.

Deron Marquez, 36, is leaving to turn his attention full time, once again, to his doctoral studies at Claremont Graduate University.

Henry Duro, 56, moves from vice chairman to chairman, resuming a post he has held off and on for several decades.

The two are a study in contrasts.

Marquez is a scholar with a passion for public speaking, and Duro is a self-described homebody and Harley-Davidson lover. But they share a similar vision for the small and prosperous gaming tribe.

Both said it's inevitable that California Indians will one day lose their monopoly on Las Vegas-style gambling in this state, and they want their tribe ready when it happens. Each places a premium on improving the quality of life on the hilly reservation near Highland.

And both tribal leaders are willing to take on the tough battles they believe are an inevitable part of tribal life.

"Chairman Duro is going to be taking the same charge and the same stance we've been taking," Marquez said. "The job of a tribal leader is to speak out first and foremost for your own people and protecting your own people."

The change marks the end of a sometimes-tumultuous time in office for Marquez.

He sued then Gov. Gray Davis' administration in 2002, accusing the state of violating parts of the 1999 gaming deal that Davis signed with tribes; a federal court later dismissed the case.

In 2003, Marquez drew the ire of local government leaders and neighbors, who held protests near the reservation, after the tribe announced plans to expand the casino.

And he took on fellow tribes, most notably those that want to build casinos off their reservations. He's testified before Congress on the issue and has been especially critical of a pitch by two tribes to build a casino in Barstow, away from their homeland. Marquez said the Barstow land lies in the ancestral territory of the San Manuel people.

"We are poised to take the fight on and address it on every means possible," he said.

Back to School

Marquez plans to continue speaking occasionally about tribal issues and eventually to teach college courses, but he hopes to stay out of public life.

He has been pursuing a doctorate on politics and policy since before he took office, and he said he expects to complete it by the end of 2007.

With a wife, two school-age children and a home in Rancho Cucamonga, Marquez also says he looks forward to more time for coaching Little League.

Despite his aversion to the messiness of politics, Marquez has earned a reputation as a prominent national leader who urges tribes to not rely solely on gaming for revenue. He aggressively worked to diversify the San Manuel Band's economy during his leadership, pushing off-reservation, nongaming development in hotels, real estate, a Pasadena restaurant and other ventures.

"His name is known across the country. Everywhere I go, there isn't a tribe I talk to that doesn't know about Deron Marquez," said Michael Lombardi, gaming commissioner with the Augustine Band of Mission Indians near Coachella and longtime figure in the Southern California gaming market. "He's had a big impact."

Old Becomes New

Duro said tribal members convinced him to run for the office again.

He said he plans to keep the staff and business deals Marquez built and probably will call on his predecessor for help in the future, especially for politicking excursions to Sacramento and Washington, D.C., that Duro would rather avoid.

Duro has no plans to renegotiate the tribe's gaming deal with the state -- as Gov. Schwarzenegger proposed a few years ago.

"We've cut our deals, and we'll live by them," Duro said in his characteristic plain-spoken tone.

A high school graduate, Duro led the tribe when it first ventured into gaming in the 1990s, prompting a turnaround from severe poverty and a building boom on the reservation that continues today.

Massive new homes with expansive views dot the hillside above San Manuel Bingo & Casino. Among them is Duro's own house, home to three Harley-Davidsons, his wife and two young children. Duro also has two children in their 30s.

He brings with him an institutional memory of tribal conflicts with local governments and neighbors, saying sometimes that the tribe's critics don't know their history.

One of those critics said he welcomes the change in leadership and looks forward to working with Duro.

Councilman Neil Derry, whose constituents border the casino, clashed regularly with Marquez after the tribe announced its expansion plans.

Derry opposed the expansion, joining neighbors in their complaints about the traffic and noise from the larger casino.

Derry declined to comment on Marquez, but he noted that Duro and his family are lifelong residents of the reservation. Marquez grew up in Fontana and got his bachelor's degree at the University of Arizona.