A casino: so close, yet still so far. Or is it?

Cellini makes a PR push, opponents push back

By FRITZ MAYER

MONTICELLO, NY — Thompson Supervisor Tony Cellini has been pushing for the past five years as hard as anyone to bring a full-service Las Vegas-style casino to Sullivan County. Now he believes it’s almost within reach.

As Cellini sees the situation, the main obstacle to spinning roulette wheels and tumbling dice at the Monticello Raceway is Governor George Pataki. “If he signs, we have a casino,” said Cellini.

To underscore the point, last week Cellini sent the governor 1,000 letters gathered from gambling enthusiasts at Mighty M Gaming over the past few weeks. He included 1,000 pens, to ensure that Pataki would have a writing utensil at hand should he decide to sign any pertinent documents.

Gambling opponents were not impressed. Dick Riseling, a member of Casino Free Sullivan County (CFSC) responded with an email that said the 1,000 letters pale in comparison to the thousands of signatures on the anti-casino petition that CSFC presented to the county legislature more than a year ago. He added that the PR campaign represents an “uninformed” view of gambling and the ills that it visits upon host communities.

On the matter of whether Pataki alone can make or break the deal, the answer seems to be, “maybe.” First, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in Washington, D.C. must work out the final details of the environmental draft agreements.

On April 13, the BIA informed Empire Resorts, the company that would operate the casino for the St. Regis Mohawks, of concerns that remain. Empire Resorts vice president Charles Degliomini said the requirements of the BIA were not “very troublesome” and could be easily addressed. Cellini agreed. He called the communication from the BIA “very positive.”

Assuming that the BIA does ultimately issue a finding that the casino will not significantly impact the area, there is at least one other development that could potentially block the project: separate bills proposed by U.S. Congressman Richard Pombo of California and U.S. Senator John McCain of Arizona severely limit the ability of tribes to open off-reservation casinos.

Gaming enthusiasts are confident, however, that the final version of the legislation will contain grandfather language that will allow the St. Regis Mohawks to open their casino.

Pataki’s response

In response to Cellini’s PR move, Pataki’s office issued a statement saying the governor looked forward to “reviewing” the tribe’s application to the BIA once it is complete. The governor did not say whether he would sign it.

According to Dimple Chaudhray of the National Resources Defense Council, ultimate state authority for the casino has always rested with the governor. The legislature got into the act because Pataki promised early on he would not sign off on a casino without legislative approval. He has also said that he would not sign off on a casino with any tribe that had an outstanding land claim against the state. The St Regis Mohawks still have such a land claim.

However, there is now less pressure for Pataki to keep the land-claim promise because of recent court decisions that make it hard for tribes to collect on land claims.

It’s not clear, however, if the governor would be willing to bypass state lawmakers and approve a casino.

Asked if he thought the governor would sign off on the casino, Cellini said, “I don’t know. But the next governor will. Elliot Spitzer has already told us he will.”