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By DENISE A. RAYMO
AKWESASNE — Public hearings continue on the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation concerning a Jan. 30 referendum on community interest in pursuing a downstate casino.
The final public meeting is 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 23, at the Tribal Community Building on Route 37.
The issue will also be a talk-show topic on CKON Radio Tuesday, Jan. 27, said David Staddon, director of public information for the Tribal Council government.
Voting is from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 30, at the Community Building.
Requests for absentee ballots have increased, with as many as 300 people requesting the form from the Tribal Clerk's Office, Staddon said.
REJECTED EARLIER
Between 10 and 20 people attended previous public hearings on whether the Tribal Council should continue to pursue an agreement to build a multi-million-dollar casino/resort near the former Monticello Raceway.
A vote held in November defeated the idea 178-140, but those results were thrown out because the public notice was out for 29 days rather than the required 30 days.
The vote was then rescheduled.
OPPOSITION
In a guest editorial published in the Indian Time newspaper, community member Kanentiio (Doug George) said a recent lawsuit involving Empire Resorts, the development group that holds the Monticello property, could "stick the tribe with a long-term contract in which it seeks to profit hundreds of millions of dollars at the expense of the Mohawk people."
He also said the development plan would have the tribe pay $180 million for 30 acres of land next to the raceway and that Mohawks would not be consulted or included in planning efforts.
"Not only is this a bad climate for gambling across the U.S., but it is the worst time for the Tribal Council to harness its members with hundreds of millions of dollars in construction costs, obscure contracts and 'consultant' fees," the opinion states.
"It will be similar to entering into debt with a loan shark," he said, adding that no one from Empire has come to Akwesasne to meet with the community.
TRIBE RESPONSE
Tribal Chiefs James Ransom and Mark Garrow responded, saying there is no agreement with Empire or its financial partner Kien Haut and that the tribe would establish a limited-liability corporation if community permission to pursue gaming is secured.
"Tribal Council would not place its existing gaming operations, the tribal general fund or tribal programs and service at risk to pursue an off-reservation gaming project," the chiefs said.
They said developers wanted to visit, but the Tribal Council felt it was premature.
Ransom and Garrow said the casino money would help Akwesasne be self-sufficient.
The tribe is pursuing its own utility company and either building or planning a diabetes center, a sports complex, an assisted-living center, a hospital, a new museum and library, a tribal college and a new administration building.
But, in order to do that, the tribe needs "to explore other streams of revenue," the chiefs stated.
E-mail Denise A. Raymo at: draymo@pressrepublican.com
