Fight Over Casinos Needs To End

Our nation and now our state have always held the Native people hostage--time for them to honor standing treaties/gaming compact!

1 Agrees | 0 Disagrees | Report Abuse »

Slightly? Would that be like saying NYS is "slightly" trying to shaft the Seneca's?

1 Agrees | 1 Disagrees | Report Abuse »

Yes, loneriderrr1, I do tend to lean slightly to the left. :) However, common sense always rules over political policy.

1 Agrees | 1 Disagrees | Report Abuse »

meant to say "not a bad deal" sorry fans

1 Agrees | 1 Disagrees | Report Abuse »

hit the re-set button: let the natives have their land back and we get the gas and cigs... it a bad deal... a lot or wampum involved here.. hmm

1 Agrees | 1 Disagrees | Report Abuse »

Cuomo speaks with fork tongue to all peoples.( he does resemble a snake)

3 Agrees | 0 Disagrees | Report Abuse »

Of course after Cuomo made his threat that the Senecas "negotiate or else" lst week, the Senecas did in fact make a counter offer. Apparently they offered to turn over part or all of the $ in dispute, provided that the state agree to extend the Compact (for those previously mentioned seven years?) and allow the Senecas to build another Casino in Rochester. I would assume that they would required too that the state cease it's illegal Class III Racino operations within the Exclusivity territory; the issue that started this whole mess to begin with. Not surprisingly, the state said that that sort of thing wasn't what they had in mind when they deamnded that the Senecas "negotiate". Go figure!

3 Agrees | 0 Disagrees | Report Abuse »

Everything west a line beginning @ State Rt. 14 in Sodus Point NY and running south to the PA border. As the Senecas being "right"; what the Senecas have been "right" in doing is that that they have adhered strictly to the provisions mandated in the Compact as regards their allegations of the state's violation of the Exclusivity clause. It's possible of course that they could lose the matter, in which case they are merely required to turn over the $ which they now lawfully hold in escrow.The state's award is limited under the Compact to "specific damages" only. Such a loss on the part of the Senecas would not prevent their continuing on with casino oerations until the end of the term. Understand that both sides understood that Exclusivity issues were likely to arise and therefore Compact was set up to deal with such matters in a timely fashion, but that assumed that both sides would participate in good faith.

2 Agrees | 0 Disagrees | Report Abuse »

Thanks. How much area was it? Obviously the Seneca are in the right on this.

3 Agrees | 1 Disagrees | Report Abuse »

50s4ever, the Gaming Compact gives the Senecas Exclusivity over Class III gaming within the territory outlined in the agreement. The state has always been free to do whatever it liked outside of that territory, with the exception of those areas under similar gaming agreements with other tribes of course. The Nation-State Gaming Compact comes as two parts. The first part gives the Senecas Gaming rights from 2002-2016; then, if neither side objects, there is an automatic seven year renewal. What Cuomo threatened last week was that the state would even further violate the Compact by putting a state run casino in N.F. BEFORE the end of part 1 of the Compact in 2016, unless the Senecas agree to abandon their current Exclusivity dispute and cough up the $. Of course the state has no right to do that, and if it attempts to do so the Senecas can drag the state in Federal court, as per the agreeement that the state made under the Compact terms back in 2001.

2 Agrees | 0 Disagrees | Report Abuse »

I'm not familiar and don't want to read 21 pages. Did the state give the Seneca exclusive rights to gambling forever in the whole state? Sure contracts can be re-negotiated. Treaties? No.

0 Agrees | 2 Disagrees | Report Abuse »

FYI: The complete text of the Nation-State Gaming Compact is available online. It's a very long document, but the issues at hand (Exclusivity, Material Breaches, resolution procedures, ect) are dealt with within the first 21 pages, or so. It's in plain, EZ to read and understand English; the Senecas obviously understood the comprehension level of the people they were dealing with in Albany.

3 Agrees | 0 Disagrees | Report Abuse »

good grief howard we have another 1st in these forums. What you just said I agree with 100%. So which one of us gets the disagrees for it. lol But you are right in this case.

0 Agrees | 3 Disagrees | Report Abuse »

kcw007 contin: "..and decree that his handpicked State Gaming Commission shall now have authority over this ongoing matter.

1 Agrees | 1 Disagrees | Report Abuse »

I don't see why a new compact needs to be reached if NYS was the first to break it by allowing video gaming at off track gaming sites. They need to re-visit the pacts they made and stick to them, not try to renegotiate new ones. As far as the cigarette taxes go, I say leave it alone. It is a pittance and is the root cause of these problems. In other words - leave the Indians alone!

6 Agrees | 1 Disagrees | Report Abuse »

The bottom line is that the state understands that it is likely to lose the Exclusivity issue with the Senecas. Its refusual from the "get go" to abide by the agreed upon resolution process (arbitration) set down in the Nation-State Gaming Compact is a certain indication that the state knew it was "guilty as charged". If the process had been followed in "good faith" by the state the matter should have been resolved within 90 days to six months. But no, the state refused to come to the arbitration table for nearly three years (somehow that's the fault of the Senecas?). My gut hunch is that news has leaked out from the ongoing arbitration that things are not looking good for the state. Faced with the possible loss of the half billion $ altogether, plus possibly damages resulting from the illegal Racino operations too; Cuomo now seems to want to sidestep the the process that the state agreed to in 2001, and decree that his handpicked State Gaming Commission

3 Agrees | 1 Disagrees | Report Abuse »

AMEN!! Great letter PJ.....I could not agree more. Local residents are the ones suffering from these polital games that are coming from both sides.

8 Agrees | 2 Disagrees | Report Abuse »

"broken treaty".. "hostage' ..maybe nobody wants to run the gauntlet of choosing the right path to fleecing citizens of their money. Where's the diversity crowd?

5 Agrees | 3 Disagrees | Report Abuse »

It's quite apparent that both Andrew {as in Cuomo} and Barry {as in Obama} are trying to scam us into the belief that folks will bet themselves into the place of hope! Thus not worrying about the lack of that happening while they increase taxes and spending without any real jobs being created unless in government.

7 Agrees | 8 Disagrees | Report Abuse »

This whole issue is beyond frustrating, I agree with the emphasis in this article that it is the locals that are being made to suffer as a result of the irresponsibility, apathy, and greed of the SNI & NYS. I'm curious what the status is of arbitration between them regarding the SNI's failure to pay NYS and NYS's failure to abide by the compact.

2 Agrees | 1 Disagrees | Report Abuse »