New casino advocacy group

Funded by Empire Resorts

By FRITZ MAYER

SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY — A new casino advocacy group has formed with the purpose of promoting the proposed casino at Mighty M Gaming. Specifically the group, called Future of the Catskills Coalition, intends to draw attention to opportunities for local businesses to take advantage of the casino, if it becomes a reality. According to the coalition’s co-chair, Steve Vegliante, “The tribe and the development partner have pledged to spend money locally; we are going to go out and let the public know.”

Vegliante, who is employed as the senior development counsel for Brookside Homes Sales, Inc. in Monticello, also said the group is being funded by Empire Resorts, the company that is developing the casino for the St. Regis Mohawk tribe. However, the coalition will create its own public relations materials.

A press release announcing the creation of The Future of the Catskills Coalition, which was distributed by The Marino Organization, a New York City public relations firm, said, “The casino’s impact on the local economy will be astounding – an estimated $337 million from outside casino spending from visitors and employees; …$94 million in annual wages; $52 million in indirect wages… ”

Vegliante said one area that could be especially beneficial to local businesses is the effort by the tribe and Empire Resorts to develop the casino as the first gaming facility in the Northeast to be approved by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) organization. He said the tribe’s commitment to “green building” shows a strong commitment to the community.

However, Wes Gillingham, program director of the newly-formed group Catskill Moutainkeepeer, said, “Our focus is on sustainable energy ideas and economic development that will preserve the best parts of the Catskills way of life – the clean air, working landscapes, the lack of traffic and open spaces. Massive casinos, a threat to all of these, clearly are the wrong fit.”

In discussing local opposition to the casino project, Vegliante noted that most politicians at the local, state and national levels support the project, including Governor Eliot Spitzer, Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator Charles Schumer, State Senator John Bonacic and State Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther. Moreover, the most recent meaningful survey of Sullivan County residents taken in 2004 showed that 49.1 percent of residents supported casinos in the county, while 36.4 percent opposed them.

The other co-chair of the coalition is Ira Steingart, who is president of his family’s printing company, Steingart Associates, Inc. in Fallsburg. Other members include Henry Zabatta, a consultant on another Catskill development project, the Concord Resort and Convention Center, and Joni White of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe.

The future of the casino now depends on approval from Dirk Kempthorne, secretary of the interior, who has shown reluctance to approve so-called off reservation casinos, which the one at Mighty M Gaming in Monticello would be. The other obstacle is a lawsuit brought by the National Resource Defense Council over the environmental approval process.

Farm bureau drops participation in casino lawsuit

SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY — The Sullivan County Farm Bureau is dropping its participation in the lawsuit over the environmental review of the proposed casino at the Monticello racetrack. Nelson Hector, president of the farm bureau, said the 12 members of the board voted at the meeting on May 16 to drop their participation in the suit and instructed their lawyer accordingly. He said the vote was not unanimous, but the vote passed by a convincing majority. He declined to elaborate on why the majority voted the way it did.

The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe and Empire Resorts issued a statement congratulating the farmers on their decision not to pursue the suit.

The National Resource Defense Council (NRDC), leading a coalition of conservation and community groups, filed suit against the department of the interior on February 9, challenging the thoroughness of the environmental review of the proposed casino.

The NRDC charged that the National Environmental Policy Act requires a formal Environmental Impact Statement before any federal approval is given for the proposed casino complex. To this point, according to the NRDC, only a significantly less thorough review process, called an Environmental Assessment, has been completed.

The tribe and Empire Resorts have repeatedly asserted that the environmental reviews that have been conducted thus far are more than adequate to assess the impact on the environment.

The lawsuit, for all practical purposes, is on hold while Dirk Kempthorne, secretary of the interior, decides whether to allow the project to go forward. If he decides in the affirmative, the lawsuit will have to be settled before the casino can open.