New York
Gambling Law Debated
As reported by the Finger
Lakes Times: "The Seneca County Board of Supervisors
yesterday scheduled a public hearing on a proposed
local law de-claring unlawful games of chance a
public nuisance. Representatives of the Cayuga Indian
Nation of New York plan to attend.
"The 7 p.m. Sept. 13 session, on the night
of the board's next meeting, was unanimously approved.
Ovid Supervisor David Dresser, chairman of its Indian
Land Claim Committee, was absent.
" 'We believe it's a federal matter,' Attorney
Daniel French of the Syracuse law firm Green &
Seifter told media representatives after the vote.
With him were colleague Lee Alcott and B.J. Radford,
chief operating officer of Cayuga Nation Enterprises,
which runs a gas station/convenience store and electronic
bingo facility at state Route 89 and Garden Street
Extension in the town of Seneca Falls.
"French said they were disappointed by the
proposed law because his firm has reached out to
the county Law Department, asking it to meet with
them regarding various Cayuga Nation issues, but
it has not.
"…The Nation also owns similar, but
larger, gas station/convenience store and electronic
bingo facilities in Union Springs in Cayuga County.
"French said the Nation has applied to have
the lands it owns placed into federal trust under
a procedure pointed out in the Sherrill decision.
If successful, the lands could be declared sovereign,
rendering them tax-exempt and free from local jurisdiction.
The matter is pending with the BIA; Seneca County
is opposing the application…"
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