They Just Said No
Town board votes unanimously against casino

by Katie Cahill Saugerties Times June 9 , 2005

In the moments before the Saugerties town board, joining in the recent actions of the village board, voted unanimously to pass a resolution rejecting the proposed Seneca-Cayuga casino at Winston Farm, the formerly boisterous crowd sat in nail-biting silence. When town supervisor Greg Helsmoortel, along with board members Leeanne Thornton, Tom Macarille, Fred Costello Jr. and Phil Tucker, each answered with a resounding "yes" in response to the opposition resolution, the audience erupted into cheers and applause akin to that found at major sporting events.
Thirty minutes prior to the June 8 meeting, residents donning "CasiNO" shirts came out in droves to ask one last time that the board vote on the issue in unity. Many were concerned that Tucker was hedging on the issue.
"I want to address the board members still undecided on the issue, but first I want to congratulation mayor Yerick and town supervisor Greg Helsmoortel for taking an active position against the casino," said Gary Bischoff during the public comment session. He went on to thank all the local lawmakers and leaders who had publicly announced their opposition to a casino in Saugerties or in Ulster County. "We would be sending a much stronger message against this if the board was united tonight."
Naomi Rothberg said she had discussed her concerns with senator John Bonacic. "He said, 'We know there will be crime, we know there will be prostitution, we know there will be drugs, but the state wants the money. The state gets a quarter for every dollar."
Rothberg also stated that Bonacic, who has come out against the casino, said Saugerties would be regarded as a "sacrificial zone."
"The host town is a sacrifice zone," she said. "Please do not let Saugerties become a sacrifice zone."
Echoing Bischoff's sentiments, Patti Kelly beseeched the board to vote as a whole on the issue. "There have been three or four watershed moments in the town when we put our political views aside and came together," Kelly said. "Those votes were part of the history of our town. These votes tonight are part of the history of our town."
Before the actual vote, each board member offered an explanation of their anticipated vote.
Macarille began by saying that initially he had said he did not have enough information on the matter to vote on a resolution opposing it. However, he continued: "Over the past weeks and especially the last three days I received a lot of information. Thank you to the 78 people who called my house. It's nice to see this community come together."
Thornton too said she had received an average of 22 messages a night on her answering machine. Recalling past battles that Saugerties has fought and won, Thornton said, "We can put up one heck of a fight."
Costello's concerns rested not only with Saugerties, but also with the repercussions a casino located anywhere in the county could have on the larger community. "We need to defend the entire county," he said. The resolution included language opposing a casino anywhere in Ulster County.
Finally, Tucker, who had until Wednesday night been on the fence on the matter said, "I didn't want to have a knee-jerk reaction to this issue. We can't just make an action to a reaction."
However, after consulting the many documents he received and consulting with town officials in the Foxwoods community, he said, "I won't hold this board up. I will make this a unanimous vote."
Tucker's statement received a standing ovation.
Prior to the meeting, during the pre-board conference, members had an opportunity to meet with Robert Baston, the government lawyer in residence at Albany Law School's government law center. Baston, who specializes in Indian law, was recommended to the board by the New York State Association of Towns. He explained that there is no immediate claim that anyone could make on the Winston Farm property, as there was no pre-existing Indian reservation in Saugerties. Although it was possible for the Seneca-Cayuga tribe to acquire the land through a land trust, if not a land claim, Baston said the Secretary of the Interior typically did not look favorably on out-of-state tribes claiming land they had no historical connection to. To address the board's concern of the land becoming instantly sovereign, Baston said that would take upwards of two years and during that time the tribe would be mandated to follow all zoning regulations and town laws.
The final concern of the board was that the hometown rule would be overridden by the state legislature and governor George Pataki. Could it happen? "Theoretically yes," Baston said. "Usually [the legislature] doesn't."
After the vote each board member was met with handshakes and thanks from members of the community, who in typical fashion quickly exited after the issue concluded. Tucker said he had never been "for or against the casino," but that he wanted to make sure he had fully researched the matter. "If economic development of any kind, even a casino, comes along, we have to take a look at it," Tucker said.
In his research, Tucker said he had found that "traffic will not be an issue, water will not be an issue," as he had been told by the water department that the Blue Mountain facility, if necessary, could provide the municipality with approximately 14 million gallons of water a day, far from the 1.8 million figure stated by mayor Robert Yerick at the June 6 meeting of the village board. But after the meeting with Baston, and also from the research he had done, Tucker said, "To hold this board up wasn't the right thing to do."
Enjoying a post-vote moment outdoors, Helsmoortel said his concern was not so much with the Seneca-Cayuga tribe but with the developer, Thomas Wilmot. "The developer could find a new tribe," he said. "Hopefully the state won't allow that."
As for the unity expressed by the board, Helsmoortel said, "The community doesn't want it and we don't want it. We will fight to keep it out."
The next meeting of the Saugerties town board will be Wednesday, June 22 with preboard beginning at 6 p.m. and the regularly scheduled meeting starting at 7 p.m. at the Frank D. Greco Senior Center.

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