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GREAT NEWS!
Thomas and Paul Wilmot, the
financial backers of the proposed
Seneca-Cayuga casino in
Saugerties, have broken their
option to buy the Winston Farm
property! The Schallers, who own
the property, have told Saugerties
officials that they are welcome to
help market the tract.
The remarkable unity of
our town in opposing the casino
has done what seemed impossible a
year ago – it has fought off what
could have been the biggest casino
resort in the country.
It doesn’t mean
that Saugerties is out of casino trouble
completely, because an anonymous
buyer is actively pursuing options
to buy property around the former IBM
Recreation Center in the Town of
Ulster, in our school district.
(To get involved in opposing this
possibility, email us at
[email protected])
Other tribes or casino developers
could also pursue Winston Farm.
And the Wilmots could conceivably
be looking at other sites in
or near Saugerties.
And another job
remains: Finding uses for the Winston
Farm property that fit our community
character, bring in tax revenues,
and safeguard its remarkable
beauty. To get involved in
this next step, please email us at
[email protected].
IT'S UNANIMOUS!
Voting
"NO" on a casino in
Saugerties:
Mayor Robert Yerick
and the Village Board (5-0)
Supervisor Greg Helsmoortel
and the Town Board (5-0)
Ulster County Legislature (33-0)
Conservative, Democratic, and
Republican parties
Saugerties Council of Churches
Saugerties Teachers Association
All 14 candidates in the November
2005 local election
DEVELOPMENTS
Local:
Our
legal committee has worked with the Saugerties Town and
Village Boards to interview and
hire top-flight legal help to
fight the proposed casino on all
fronts -- in the State Legislature
and Congress, in administrative
agencies (especially the U.S.
Department of the Interior and the
Bureau of Indian Affairs) and, if
necessary, in the courts. We have
jointly retained highly
regarded Washington lawyer Guy Martin,
who has reported to us that Saugerties in an excellent
fighting position. (See article:
Hard hand: Proposed Saugerties
casino appears to be a bad bet)
County:
It’s a trend! Nine more Ulster
County municipalities have voted
No on a casino – Kingston,
Denning, Rochester, Gardiner,
Marbletown, New Paltz, Plattekill,
Shandaken and Woodstock. The
Ulster County Legislature in June
2005 adopted a so-called "home rule"
measure pledging not to support
the creation of a casino in any
community that opposes it.
State:
In the closing days of the
2006 legislature, a casino bill
surfaced, sponsored by
Senate Majority Leader Joseph
Bruno,
that would have furthered three
Catskill casinos; it was never
brought out of committee. In the
2005 legislature, political maneuvering
prevented a vote on Sullivan
County casinos: Senator Bruno
refused to allow the proposed
St. Regis Mohawk casino (backed by
Governor George Pataki) to come to
a vote unless two other casinos
were included – one of which his
son represents as a lobbyist.
Courts:
On May 15, the
U.S. Supreme Court let stand a
2005 ruling of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals
that New York State
did not have to pay $248 million
to the Cayugas and the Seneca-Cayugas
because their land claims were too
old – an action that dismisses much
of Governor Pataki’s rationale for
Catskills casinos. It doesn't
eliminate the possibility of a
casino at Winston Farm or the IBM
Recreation Center in the Town of
Ulster, but it does make the
process more difficult for casino
backers -- at least under current
federal law.
Federal:
side, Sen. John McCain has
said Congress is extremely
concerned about the proliferation
of tribal casinos, particularly in
off-reservation locations.
His exact words: “"None of us ever
anticipated that there would be
casinos in the Catskills.” He has
introduced a bill that would bar
tribes from running out-of-state
casinos and that would require
that tribes have historic ties to
areas in which they want to set up
casinos.
In the House, Rep. Richard Pombo, head of the
House committee on Indian affairs,
introduced a bill to end
off-reservation Indian casinos.
Partly because he was seen as tied
into Indian interests, he lost his
seat in the last election.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Indian
Affairs has drafted regulations
that would prevent localities from
having real impact on the siting
of casinos. Saugerties officials
and the NSC have officially
opposed those proposed changes.
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