SAUGERTIES
- It will be several years before the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe
of Oklahoma could get the state and federal approvals necessary
to realize their plans to build a casino at the Winston Farm,
or any other place in New York state, a state assemblyman
told a packed house at a casino opposition meeting at the
Saugerties senior center Tuesday night.
"They are way, way, way nowhere in relation to getting
a casino here," said state Assemblyman James Brennan,
D-Brooklyn, who took part in recent Assembly hearings on Indian
land claims. "The New York state Legislature would have
to approve it, and Congress would have to approve it, and
it would take many, many, many years," he told the crowd
of about 250.
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At Tuesday's meeting, sponsored by the opposition group No
Saugerties Casino, Inc., the group aimed to mobilize what
has been a growing resistance to the Seneca-Cayuga plans to
build a casino/resort complex at the Winston Farm, located
at the intersection of state routes 212 and 32.
The group, which includes many members from the Winston Farm
Alliance that helped prevent a county dump from locating there
in the early 1990s, offered petitions; postcards to the state
Senate, Assembly, and county Legislature, T-shirts with the
slogan "What part of CasiNO don't you understand?"
and 10 committees to tackle issues including fund-raising,
lobbying and legal strategies.
Speaker Robert Johnstreet called on attendees to raise an
initial $20,000 for the group's efforts to prevent the casino,
and passed collection boxes through the crowd, which were
full of cash and checks on their return.
Brennan said the Seneca-Cayuga tribe would need the approval
of both the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Indian
Affairs prior to building a casino in New York state, which
takes many years to complete. He said the tribe had not submitted
a proposal to either federal agency.
In addition to hundreds of local residents, attendees included
town and village officials, including Supervisor Gregory Helsmoortel
and Mayor Robert Yerick and board members; board members from
the towns of Ulster and Woodstock; and several Ulster County
lawmakers, including Legislature Chairman Richard Gerentine.
One after another, residents of Saugerties and the surrounding
communities stood up at the microphone to voice their objections
to the casino plans.
"I think though that it would be downright delusional
to think that a casino complex operation, millions of square
feet dedicated to making sure no one leaves with any of their
money, would be anything other than a really, really nasty
500-pound gorilla neighbor," said Catherine Sebastian
of Woodstock. "To think that we could wrest any good
for our community out of this flies in the face of every other
town's experience."
Gerentine, R-Marlboro, told attendees that the county, through
the Ulster County Development Corp. is holding a forum on
casino gambling July 13 to help the Legislature make a decision
that takes into account the impact on all of Ulster County,
and that local input will be included.
"Let me stress one thing," he said. "Before
any decision is made - and I only speak as one of 33 legislators
- before any decision is made, a decision will be looked at
very closely, carefully, and have your input, whatever it
might be."
"You've got our input," interrupted a voice from
the crowd, joined by several others critical of Gerentine,
rising to a din that mediator Lanny Walter had to quiet for
Gerentine to continue. Several in the crowd booed and hissed
when Gerentine left the podium.
A list of the organization's committees and schedule of meetings
is available online at www.NoSaugertiesCasino.org.
©Daily Freeman 2005 |
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