I put this here in the main forum because of the Turning Stone Classic tournaments....
Link to the reference
Feds may close Turning Stone casino
Dept. of Interior rethinks Oneidas' 1993 compact
The Associated Press
The U.S. Department of Interior is reconsidering its approval of the 1993 compact that allows the Oneida Indian Nation to operate its Turning Stone Casino in Verona.
By William Kates
The Associated Press
VERONA -- A popular central New York casino could be forced to close its doors soon as the U.S. Department of Interior, in an unprecedented step, is reconsidering its approval of a 1993 compact with the Oneida Indian Nation.
The department's decision could have sweeping consequences as the Turning Stone Resort & Casino, located 35 miles east of Syracuse, has been doing brisk business for more than a decade and employs nearly 4,000 workers.
The Interior department decided to review the Turning Stone compact after a series of court decisions ruling it illegal and the subsequent failure of the tribe and state to negotiate a new agreement. The agency also was responding to a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the tribe does not have sovereignty over the land where the casino is located.
The department's decision is due by Thursday.
The tribe's top lawyer, Peter Carmen, has said it would sue to keep Turning Stone open if the federal government revokes its approval of the casino.
Even if the Interior department rescinds its approval, it would be left up to the National Indian Gaming Commission -- a separate entity in the Interior department -- to order the casino closed.
The commission warned the Oneidas three years ago to resolve their differences with the state or risk unspecified enforcement action, but NIGC spokesman Shawn Pensoneau recently said the commission has no plans to shut down the casino at this time.
Turning Stone, which attracts nearly five million visitors a year, includes a massive casino, three golf courses, three luxury hotels, a convention center and a showroom. About 90 percent of the resort's workers are non-Indians. The looming uncertainty has many employees on edge.
"I moved back to New York to work here at the casino. I bought a house here eight years ago," said Dan Jones, 43, the casino's director of player relations, who lives with his wife and two children in nearby Oneida, his hometown.
"I can't believe they would close the casino, not with so many jobs at stake. But my job is definitely on the line if they do," Jones said. "It would probably mean uprooting the family and leaving the area for me if it does."
Turning Stone opened in 1993 after the Oneidas brokered a gambling compact with then-Gov. Mario Cuomo. That compact did not require the tribe to share any gambling revenues with the state. A recent state report found the Oneidas turned a profit of more than $115 million last year from its casino and other businesses.
But in 1999, Upstate Citizens for Equality, a grassroots group opposed to Indian sovereignty, filed a lawsuit contending that Cuomo exceeded his authority by entering into the compact with the Oneidas without legislative approval. A state judge in 2004 agreed with UCE, ruling the compact invalid because the Legislature had not ratified it.
A similar ruling with the St. Regis Mohawk casino led to a new compact in which the Mohawks agreed to give the state a share of gambling revenues. The Seneca Indian Nation also pays the state 25 percent of its slot machine revenues at the tribe's two western New York casinos.
The state has demanded a 33 percent cut of Turning Stone revenues to sign a new agreement, said Michael Smith, another tribal attorney.
Although they do not share their profits or pay taxes, the Oneidas have a payroll approaching $130 million and generate about $360 million annually in economic activity -- about half of which is spent in upstate New York.
"If the Oneidas' operation is the 'engine of economic activity' in the region, it is so only because they have been given a sweetheart deal by the state: no taxes and no regulatory burdens, and a government-protected monopoly," said David Vickers, UCE's president.
UCE has no problems with the casino continuing to operate -- providing a new compact is reached, or the state constitution is amended to give non-Indian business people the same opportunity to open casinos, Vickers said.
Closing the casino would not necessarily mean closing the golf courses, the showroom, the restaurants or the other businesses the Oneidas run, Vickers said. Besides, if the federal government does decide to close the casino, Vickers thinks it would only be temporarily.
"(Oneida leader Ray) Halbritter would do whatever it takes to make it legal again within a week," said Vickers, whose group claims 10,000 members in three upstate chapters.
Among residents and local elected leaders, there are mixed feelings about the ever-growing casino. Many object to its tax-free status and the tribe's refusal to share its profits -- although the tribe makes payments to some local school districts and municipalities under its own entitlement-type programs.
State Assemblyman David Townsend, who wants the casino closed until a legal compact is negotiated, and other opponents accuse the casino of putting many local stores and restaurants out of business.
But the casino has proved salvation for Lance Comfort and his family's restaurant, just a mile down the road.
"We're in a farming community with just a few thousand people. There wasn't a lot of traffic going by our doors for some time," Comfort said, recalling the lean times at Joel's Front Yard Steakhouse before the casino was built.
"When Turning Stone opened, it changed the dynamics quite a bit. It's been a great benefit for us," said Comfort, whose restaurant opened in 1965.
"There's a good chance we might not be here today if they weren't," he said.
Link to the reference
Feds may close Turning Stone casino
Dept. of Interior rethinks Oneidas' 1993 compact
The Associated Press
The U.S. Department of Interior is reconsidering its approval of the 1993 compact that allows the Oneida Indian Nation to operate its Turning Stone Casino in Verona.
By William Kates
The Associated Press
VERONA -- A popular central New York casino could be forced to close its doors soon as the U.S. Department of Interior, in an unprecedented step, is reconsidering its approval of a 1993 compact with the Oneida Indian Nation.
The department's decision could have sweeping consequences as the Turning Stone Resort & Casino, located 35 miles east of Syracuse, has been doing brisk business for more than a decade and employs nearly 4,000 workers.
The Interior department decided to review the Turning Stone compact after a series of court decisions ruling it illegal and the subsequent failure of the tribe and state to negotiate a new agreement. The agency also was responding to a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the tribe does not have sovereignty over the land where the casino is located.
The department's decision is due by Thursday.
The tribe's top lawyer, Peter Carmen, has said it would sue to keep Turning Stone open if the federal government revokes its approval of the casino.
Even if the Interior department rescinds its approval, it would be left up to the National Indian Gaming Commission -- a separate entity in the Interior department -- to order the casino closed.
The commission warned the Oneidas three years ago to resolve their differences with the state or risk unspecified enforcement action, but NIGC spokesman Shawn Pensoneau recently said the commission has no plans to shut down the casino at this time.
Turning Stone, which attracts nearly five million visitors a year, includes a massive casino, three golf courses, three luxury hotels, a convention center and a showroom. About 90 percent of the resort's workers are non-Indians. The looming uncertainty has many employees on edge.
"I moved back to New York to work here at the casino. I bought a house here eight years ago," said Dan Jones, 43, the casino's director of player relations, who lives with his wife and two children in nearby Oneida, his hometown.
"I can't believe they would close the casino, not with so many jobs at stake. But my job is definitely on the line if they do," Jones said. "It would probably mean uprooting the family and leaving the area for me if it does."
Turning Stone opened in 1993 after the Oneidas brokered a gambling compact with then-Gov. Mario Cuomo. That compact did not require the tribe to share any gambling revenues with the state. A recent state report found the Oneidas turned a profit of more than $115 million last year from its casino and other businesses.
But in 1999, Upstate Citizens for Equality, a grassroots group opposed to Indian sovereignty, filed a lawsuit contending that Cuomo exceeded his authority by entering into the compact with the Oneidas without legislative approval. A state judge in 2004 agreed with UCE, ruling the compact invalid because the Legislature had not ratified it.
A similar ruling with the St. Regis Mohawk casino led to a new compact in which the Mohawks agreed to give the state a share of gambling revenues. The Seneca Indian Nation also pays the state 25 percent of its slot machine revenues at the tribe's two western New York casinos.
The state has demanded a 33 percent cut of Turning Stone revenues to sign a new agreement, said Michael Smith, another tribal attorney.
Although they do not share their profits or pay taxes, the Oneidas have a payroll approaching $130 million and generate about $360 million annually in economic activity -- about half of which is spent in upstate New York.
"If the Oneidas' operation is the 'engine of economic activity' in the region, it is so only because they have been given a sweetheart deal by the state: no taxes and no regulatory burdens, and a government-protected monopoly," said David Vickers, UCE's president.
UCE has no problems with the casino continuing to operate -- providing a new compact is reached, or the state constitution is amended to give non-Indian business people the same opportunity to open casinos, Vickers said.
Closing the casino would not necessarily mean closing the golf courses, the showroom, the restaurants or the other businesses the Oneidas run, Vickers said. Besides, if the federal government does decide to close the casino, Vickers thinks it would only be temporarily.
"(Oneida leader Ray) Halbritter would do whatever it takes to make it legal again within a week," said Vickers, whose group claims 10,000 members in three upstate chapters.
Among residents and local elected leaders, there are mixed feelings about the ever-growing casino. Many object to its tax-free status and the tribe's refusal to share its profits -- although the tribe makes payments to some local school districts and municipalities under its own entitlement-type programs.
State Assemblyman David Townsend, who wants the casino closed until a legal compact is negotiated, and other opponents accuse the casino of putting many local stores and restaurants out of business.
But the casino has proved salvation for Lance Comfort and his family's restaurant, just a mile down the road.
"We're in a farming community with just a few thousand people. There wasn't a lot of traffic going by our doors for some time," Comfort said, recalling the lean times at Joel's Front Yard Steakhouse before the casino was built.
"When Turning Stone opened, it changed the dynamics quite a bit. It's been a great benefit for us," said Comfort, whose restaurant opened in 1965.
"There's a good chance we might not be here today if they weren't," he said.
