Men and Women of Honor

Many people look forward to Memorial Day weekend as the unofficial start of summer. Many others don't look at it as a three day weekend, but as a time to remember those valiant men and women who have fought for our Country, for our freedom. I received an email this morning from a friend that I would like to share with everyone. While you are out enjoying your weekend with family and friends, please remember and honor those who have fought for us, and for those who continue to do so today.

For those of you who live in Carver, there will be two chances to honor our Veterans. The Carver Reporter has details of the events for Memorial Day which include the annual Memorial Day parade and ceremony on North Caver Geen. Here are the details:

The Parade starts at 9:30AM beginning at the Son of Union Veterans Hall on Main Street. It will proceed south on route 58, turn up South Meadow Road and continue down Crescent Street, looping back onto Main Street. Marchers will stop briefly at the bridge to allow for a small commemoration ceremony. The parade will continue on to Town Hall where local dignitaries will speak along with members of various veterans groups. It will conclude with the traditional ceremony in the Central Cemetary. Children from the various scouts and sports groups will be decorating headstones with the American Flag.

A memorial service will be held at North Carver Green in the Lakenham Historic District, more commonly known as Veterans of All Wars Park at 11:30AM. The ceremony serves as a reminder to all of us of the sacrifices local residents have made for our country.

It is the VETERAN ,
not the preacher,
who has
given us freedom of religion.

It is the VETERAN ,
not the reporter,
who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the VETERAN ,
not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the
VETERAN ,
not the campus organizer,
who has given us freedom to assemble.

It is the VETERAN ,
not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the VETERAN ,
not the politician,
Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the veteran
who serves under the Flag,

ETERNAL REST GRANT THEM O LORD, AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM.

I'd be
EXTREMELY proud if this message reached as many as possible. We can be very
proud of our young men and women in the service no matter where they serve.
God Bless them all!!!

- be the change you want to see in the world -

Land of the Lost Part Two - The Double Whammy

This has been a great day…well, a great day if you are against a mega casino resort being built in your community. Yeah...not such a great day if you are a foreign casino investor banking on building that mega casino resort in a Town where the tribe you are sponsoring doesn’t have any significant historical or present ties to the land. Today I received two significant developments in our battle against having a casino in our community and feel they are significant enough to qualify as Land of the Lost blog series material. After today, the Middleboro land being placed into trust by the Secretary of the Interior has become, in my eyes, a lost cause for the Tribe and the casino investors.

If you remember, in part one of Land of the Lost, our fearless casino investors and the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribe were hoping to get 539 acres of land in Middleboro put into trust for the specific purpose of building a mega resort casino. Their catch…..that gaping loophole in the IGRA regulations for land taken into trust after October 17, 1988. Specifically the exception to this rule that states an exception is granted for lands that are taken into trust as part of the initial reservation of an Indian tribe acknowledged by the Secretary under the Federal acknowledgment process. Well, as of June 19, 2008 the Department of the Interior will make that loophole much smaller with a bold move that redefines section 20 regulations for taking land into trust for gaming purposes, as posted in today's Federal Register.

Section 20 of the IGRA sets forth exceptions to its general ban on tribal gaming operations on land acquired in trust after IGRA's enactment on Oct. 17, 1988. Section 20 does nothing in itself to authorize taking tribal land into trust status, Interior officials have testified before Congress. Rather, the secretary of Interior must consider the Section 20 exceptions with regard to any tribal land that would be taken into trust for gaming purposes. The purpose of the regulations is to establish the criteria for Interior's consideration of whether ''after-acquired'' tribal land qualifies for gaming purposes under the Section 20 exceptions. – Indian Country Today

IGRA - Section 20

This section contains criteria for meeting the requirements of 25
U.S.C. 2719(b)(1)(B) (ii), known as the ``initial reservation' '
exception. Gaming may occur on newly acquired lands under this
exception only when all of the following conditions in this section are
met:
(a) The tribe has been acknowledged (federally recognized) through
the administrative process under part 83 of this chapter.
(b) The tribe has no gaming facility on newly acquired lands under
the restored land exception of these regulations.
(c) The land has been proclaimed to be a reservation under 25
U.S.C. 467 and is the first proclaimed reservation of the tribe
following acknowledgment.
(d) If a tribe does not have a proclaimed reservation on the
effective date of these regulations, to be proclaimed an initial
reservation under this exception, the tribe must demonstrate the land
is located within the State or States where the Indian tribe is now
located, as evidenced by the tribe's governmental presence and tribal
population, and within an area where the tribe has significant
historical connections and one or more of the following modern
connections to the land:
(1) The land is near where a significant number of tribal members
reside; or
(2) The land is within a 25-mile radius of the tribe's headquarters
or other tribal governmental facilities that have existed at that
location for at least 2 years at the time of the application for land-
into-trust; or
(3) The tribe can demonstrate other factors that establish the
tribe's current connection to the land.

This is an interesting development in our crusade to stop this casino because essentially the DOI is not only tightening the criteria for the IGRA exceptions for land taken into trust for gaming purposes, but is clearly defining what constitutes an "initial reservation". The prior regulation only stated that execptions were for lands that are taken into trust as part of the initial reservation of an Indian tribe acknowledged by the Secretary under the Federal acknowledgment process. This was a huge loophole and the only way to challenge a trust decision was to go to court and argue the July 2005 testimony before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs that decided in order to qualify for initial reservation exception, a tribe must show that it has strong geographic and historical ties to the land. It could be done and it could be won....but it would cost a lot of money to do.

However, under the revised regulation, in order for land to qualify as an initial reservation, the Tribe must have present and historical ties to the land as clearly defined in section 20 of IGRA. If you remember, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe tried to show ties to the land in Middleboro in their application by stating:

The Tribe currently has 1531 members, of whom over half – 838- live in Barnstable County (i.e. within 10 miles of Mashpee). Another 88 members live in Plymouth County (which includes Middleboro) and 70 live in neighboring Bristol County for a total of 984 members living within an approximate 50 mile radius of Mashpee Town.

Under the revised regulations, the land in question needs to be within a 25 mile radius of their headquarters, i.e. their governmental facilities that have been in existence for at least two years at the time of the application for land-into-trust. In the case of the Mashpee Wampanoag’s, that would be Mashpee. The last time I checked, the land in Middleboro was 39 miles from Mashpee and only six percent of their tribal members live in Plymouth County which is hardly a significant number of tribal members. I wonder how many tribal members actually live in Middleboro?

Prior to this regulation change, the Secretary of the Interior would receive the application from the BIA and make a determination to place the land into trust. The way I see this, with the regulation change, this land will not be placed into trust status and the application should be rejected by the BIA because under IGRA rules, the land is not within the 25 mile radius of their headquarters and the Tribe has failed to prove historic or present ties to the land in Middleboro. In a nutshell, they have failed to meet the requirements of the new regulations.

On top of this news, we also received the 881 pages of comments from the March 25th BIA hearing, most of which were from people opposing the casino. It would seem that many, many anti-casino people submitted letters to the BIA challenging the Tribe’s historical ties to the land under the ethno-historical section of the NEPA scoping process. The BIA has flagged these comments regarding historical ties as well as several other significant environmental issues that were raised by concerned citizens. It would seem that the BIA is taking a close and serious look at the questionable historic ties to the land and the claims made by so many of us that choosing the land in Middleboro was nothing short of reservation shopping. It will be interesting to see if this application even makes past the BIA, nevermind making it onto the desk of the Secretary of the Interior.

Everyone who took the time to write letters to the BIA should be proud of their accomplishments. Your voices have been heard! I would like to personally thank each and every one of you for your efforts, for speaking out against something you know is wrong for your community, without fear and without reproach. It is appreciated more than I could ever put into words. To those of you who are now working diligently at writing letters to the DOI, keep up the good work! We need to continue our efforts at ferreting out the endless flaws in the application. We had a good day….lets make sure we have a wonderful casino free future.

"Fear is not in the habit of speaking truth; when perfect sincerity is expected, perfect freedom must be allowed; nor has anyone who is apt to be angry when he hears the truth any cause to wonder that he does not hear it." --- Tacitus

"If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter" - George Washington

- be the change you want to see in the world -

Thompson Street Landgrab – Closed Door Politics in small town Amercia

Just when I didn’t think it was possible for the Town of Middleboro to do any more possible harm to the community and its residents by supporting a mega-resort casino on sovereign land, they turn around and do something like this. In case you missed it, a wonderful friend of mine is being forced to sell her land on Thompson Street to the Town of Middleboro even though she has decided to take it off the market. Casino Blogger Fiferstone really conveys our friend’s anguish over all of this while Gladys Kravitz and Carls Casino Quotes and Commentary have done a terrific job outlining what the Town is forcing our friend to do.

Here is an interesting statement made in response to Middleboro forcing my friend to sell her land to them:

WHY IS MIDDLEBORO TAKING LAND BY EMINENT DOMAIN? TO PRESERVEIT OR SELL IT TO CASINO INTERESTS FIVE YEARS DOWN THE ROAD??

In my friend’s own words, she has no problem selling her land to the Town for conservation reasons….heck, it’s Chapter 61 land and she has always known that the Town would have right of first refusal in the purchase of this land. So she did all the right things when she decided to sell….found a buyer, notified the town and waited to see if they would refuse to buy the land. She was extremely surprised when the Town came back and said they wanted to purchase the land for conservation. Let’s face it….this Town doesn’t have two pennies to rub together, never mind 244K to actually purchase this land. Okay, so the Town wants to buy her 12 acres for preservation….she was perfectly okay with that until she heard about the real plans the BOS and the Town Planner have for that 12 acres on Thompson Street. According to inside sources, the Middleboro Town Planner discussed at a BRAC (bingo resort advisory committee) meeting to support buying the land now so they can turn around and sell it to the Tribe a few years down the road and the BOS sat in executive session discussing how to purchase this land. So my friend did what any self respecting anti-casino person would do in this situation, she took the land off the market and was fully prepared to carry the financial burden of that land forever and ever….as long as her land was not given to the Tribe, she would keep it. She got together with her lawyer, prepared letters rescinding her land from the real estate market and notified all applicable Town Departments and BOS that the land was no longer for sale. That should have been the end of it, but this is Middleboro……

To her surprise, once again, she was notified by Town Council that she legally could not rescind on her purchase and sales agreement due to some questionable legal language and the Town would be buying the land if article 30 was approved by voters at the upcoming Annual Town Meeting on May 13th. No choice for her in this matter. The Town wants her land and damn it, they are going to have it!

This entire situation has literally made my friend sick. She has lost sleep over this and is so distressed over it all it makes me sick. I too understand that the Town has right of first refusal for Chapter 61 land, but what really gets to me is the fact that the Town is forcing her to sell it even though she has removed it from the market. This situation is akin to a local government evoking its power of eminent domain on a private citizen. Technically it is not eminent domain, but it might as well be considering the fact that my friend does not want to sell this land anymore….and based on the past and ever continuing actions of the Middleboro BOS and Town Planner, this story should scare the hell out of any homeowner whose property is contiguous with the proposed 559 acres of land to be taken into trust by the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribe. Heck, we already know that the Town Government is working in the best interest of the Tribe and not the Town. So what is in store for landowners in the future when the Tribe decides it wants to expand it’s “reservation”….or when it buys the Thompson Street land from the Town and puts in another access road to the casino…or a parking lot. What will happen then? Will the Town or Tribe force the sale of private contiguous land by power of eminent domain for expansion? I don’t know….but I know this type of abuse of power is happening all over our country right now for all the wrong reasons. I also know that the town is already forcing an unwilling landowner to sell her property so they can offer it up to the Tribe at a later date. The idea of eminent domain is scary enough….to watch your friends experience it first hand for the benefit of casino gambling is downright sickening.

By definition, eminent domain is the power to take private property for public use by a state, municipality, or private person or corporation authorized to exercise functions of public character, following the payment of just compensation to the owner of that property.

Federal, state, and local governments may take private property through their power of eminent domain or may regulate it by exercising their police power. The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires the government to provide just compensation to the owner of the private property to be taken. The problem with the Fifth Amendment protection is that it doesn’t take into consideration that sometimes people don’t want to sell their homes….no amount of money is worth losing their homes so private developers can make a profit.

Most people I know have heard of "eminent domain" and they know the government sometimes takes private land for projects the public will own and use, such as a highway or post office. The problem is that few people realize that state and local governments routinely take individual homes and businesses to transfer the land to private businesses for private profit.

Eminent domain is the power to force four elderly siblings out of their home of the last 60 years, as recently occurred in Bristol, Conn. Eminent domain is the power to evict a small family-owned woodworking shop to make way for Home Depot, even if that means the small business will never reopen, as took place in East Harlem, N.Y. Eminent domain is the power to take the home from a woman who lived there for 50 years because an indian casino wants to expand operations, as is taking place in Niagara Falls, New York.

There are two vital constitutional limits on eminent domain power. First, government cannot take land without paying for it; “just compensation” must be paid. Second, government may take property only for “public use.” However, these limits have failed to stop local and state governments as well as private industries from exercising powers of eminent domain. In fact, in recent years there has been growing concern about the manner in which some states and the government exercise their power of eminent domain. Some governments appear inclined to exercise eminent domain for the benefit of developers or commercial interests, on the basis that anything that increases the value of a given tract of land is a sufficient public use.

Here is a wonderful quote by Dana Berliner, a Senior Attorney at the Washington, D.C. based Institute for Justice:

Originally, “public use” was understood by everyone – courts, local governments and the general citizenry – to have its ordinary meaning, and eminent domain was used only for projects that would be owned by and open to the public – things like roads, water systems and public buildings. Times have changed. Now state and local governments think they can condemn anything for any reason. They freely use eminent domain to benefit all kinds of private parties – casinos, Costco, upscale condos and office buildings, to name a few. - Dana Berliner

If you think that this couldn’t possibly happen here, think again. In June of 2005 the Supreme Court shocked and frightened land owners across America by ruling that private property can be seized by the government and sold to private developers in order to generate tax revenue and spur economic growth. That case, Kelo v.City of New London, opened up pandora's box for local governments to use eminent domain for private gain.

In Kelo v. City of New London the Supreme Court changed its interpretation of the Fifth Amendment. Historically, the government's right of eminent domain has only been invoked when land is needed for a distinct public purpose – such as a highway, public school, hospital or military base. The words "for public use" and "without just compensation" in the Fifth Amendment were meant to provide safeguards against excessive, unpredictable, or unfair use of the government's eminent domain power. As a result of the court's decision in the case of Kelo v.City of New London, local governments and private developers have the power to take residences by eminent domain and bulldoze them for projects such as mega resort casino expansions under the guise of benefiting the community through economic development. Basically, the Supreme Court held in a 5-4 decision that the general benefits a community enjoyed from economic growth qualified such redevelopment plans as a permissible "public use" under the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Gee, and aren’t we constantly being told what an economic engine this casino will be? Land along and around route 44 certainly could qualify as primo real estate for “economic growth” for the Tribe and for private developers.

The scary thing about this ruling is that the Supreme Court has given local governments the green light to confiscate private property for profit. Private homes and small businesses can now be bulldozed and replaced by upscale retail and housing developments, office buildings, hotels, casinos and other redevelopment projects that are owned by private individuals, corporations and even sovereign nations. I cannot believe that this blatant abuse of power was what our Country’s founding father's had in mind when they drafted the constitution.

So in a nutshell, the Town of Middleboro is forcing my friend to sell her land. No, it isn’t actually taking my friend’s property by eminent domain, but the point is they could take it by eminent domain …so could the Tribe and their investors. The bottom line here folks is that she does not want to sell this land yet is being forced to sell to a Town that would be much better off spending that money on more important and vital things. I really hope the residents of Middleboro think long and hard about the prospects of eminent domain in regards to this casino debacle. Will it happen to you? I don’t know….but I do know that it could and probably will at some point if this casino pipedream is allowed to come to fruition. From where I am standing, it seems that the Tribe and their investors already have too much control on MiddleboroTown politics and there isn't even a casino at this point and there probably never will be. All of the residents of Middleboro need to pay close attention to what the Middleboro BOS, Town Planner, and yes…even BRAC are doing – or planning because with little or no interest in voting on your Town Articles leaves them as the ones with the power - and power without any checks will inevitably lead to abuse. Eminent Domain is certainly no exception.

- be the change you want to see in the world-

Land of the Lost - Part One

So here we are one year later and we’ve come a long way in fighting the proposed casino in Middleboro. We have heard it all….it is inevitable…it is coming no matter what you do….if you don’t fall in line then you are a liar, a racist, a terrorist or perhaps even mentally challenged. The one “reason” that has bothered me from day one of this entire debacle is the argument that “it is the Mashpee Wampanoag’s right to build a casino here”. Really? Is it really their right to build a casino in Middleboro under the IGRA? The answer to that question is a big fat NO!

Don’t get me wrong here. I am happy that the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe has been granted their federal recognition status. After reading the Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Final Determination for Federal Acknowledgement of the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribal Council submitted to the BIA, I have no doubt that the Masphee Wampanoag’s are a Tribe. They deserve their federal recognition. They do not however have the right to build a casino in Middleboro. If you went to, or watched the March 25th BIA hearing you heard Mark Bellanger’s excellent statement about “reservation shopping”. He made an excellent point here because, in essence, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act specifically states Indian Tribe’s are not allowed to conduct gaming on land taken into trust after October 17, 1988. The loophole lies in the exceptions to this rule (in red):

TITLE 25 - INDIANS, CHAPTER 29 - INDIAN GAMING REGULATIONSec. 2719. Gaming on lands acquired after October 17, 1988CITE: 25 U.S.C. 2719SOURCE: (Pub. L. 100-497, Sec. 20, Oct. 17, 1988, 102 Stat. 2485.)

(a) Prohibition on lands acquired in trust by Secretary
Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, gaming regulated by this chapter shall not be conducted on lands acquired by the Secretary in trust for the benefit of an Indian tribe after October 17, 1988, unless -
(1) such lands are located within or contiguous to the boundaries of the reservation of the Indian tribe on October 17, 1988; or
(2) the Indian tribe has no reservation on October 17, 1988, and -
(A) such lands are located in Oklahoma and -
(i) are within the boundaries of the Indian tribe's former reservation, as defined by the Secretary, or
(ii) are contiguous to other land held in trust or restricted status by the United States for the Indian tribe in Oklahoma; or
(B) such lands are located in a State other than Oklahoma and are within the Indian tribe's last recognized reservation within the State or States within which such Indian tribe is presently located.
(b) Exceptions
(1) Subsection (a) of this section will not apply when -
(A) the Secretary, after consultation with the Indian tribe and appropriate State and local officials, including officials of other nearby Indian tribes, determines that a gaming establishment on newly acquired lands would be in the best interest of the Indian tribe and its members, and would not be detrimental to the surrounding community, but only if the Governor of the State in which the gaming activity is to be conducted concurs in the Secretary's determination; or
(B) lands are taken into trust as part of -
(i) a settlement of a land claim,
(ii) the initial reservation of an Indian tribe acknowledged by the Secretary under the Federal acknowledgment process, or
(iii) the restoration of lands for an Indian tribe that is restored to Federal recognition.

So, the skinny here is that “reservation shopping” is literally when a Tribe, or in our case, foreign casino investors want to take land for a purpose that has little or nothing to do with a tribe’s actual tribal heritage, but everything to do with gambling and place it into trust as an initial reservation. This is exactly what is happening with the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. They have asked the Department of the Interior to take two tracts of land; 140 acres in Mashpee and 539 acres of land in Middleboro into trust as their initial reservation. In their Application Summary, they state:

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (“Tribe”) requests that the Secretary of the Interior take title to properties totaling approximately 140 acres more or less of land in Mashpee, Massachusetts (subject to survey), and approximately 539 acres more or less of land in Middleboro, Massachusetts (subject to survey), to be held in trust for the Tribe, pursuant to section 5 of the Indian Reorganization Act, 25 U.S.C. 465 (“IRA”) and its implementing regulations. The Tribe further requests that the lands be proclaimed the Tribe’s reservation by the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to section 7 of the IRA, 25 U.S.C. 267, and that the Secretary determine that such lands constitute the initial reservation of a newly acknowledged Indian tribe on which gaming may be conducted pursuant to section 20(b)(1)(B)(ii) of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, 25 U.S.C. 2791(b)(1)(B)(ii).

The problem I see in this is the request to place the 539 acres of land in Middleboro in trust as an “initial reservation”. The Mashpee Wampanoag’s need the land in Middleboro to be determined their “initial reservation” if they want to build a casino. My understanding is they have an agreement with the Town of Mashpee to not build a casino. Sooooooo, they needed to find an optimum site for their casino that has easy access to an interstate and a metropolitan area with a large number of potential gamblers. Under the IGRA, the only way they can build a casino is if this land is considered their initial reservation because according to a July 2005 testimony before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, to qualify for initial reservation exception, a tribe must show that it has strong geographic and historical ties to the land.

I stated earlier that I didn’t doubt that the Mashpee Wampanoag Indians tribal status…and I don’t. I do however highly doubt their historical and ancestral ties to Middleboro. In their summary for final determination, the Tribe was required to detail their history and connections to their land. They were quite successful in doing this for the land in Mashpee. However, reading through the 42 page document, not one mention of Middleboro was made. Not one. So how can they claim their ancestral rights to Middleboro? Well, in their application summary I was able to find this statement:

The Tribe currently has 1531 members, of whom over half – 838- live in Barnstable County (i.e. within 10 miles of Mashpee). Another 88 members live in Plymouth County (which includes Middleboro) and 70 live in neighboring Bristol County for a total of 984 members living within an approximate 50 mile radius of Mashpee Town.

I really get a chuckle out of this statement because it effectively covers the current issues with the Secretary of the Interior rejecting applications for land into trust for land located 40 miles or more from an existing Tribe’s initial reservation. Again, though, they are trying to make the land in Middleboro their initial reservation. I hardly think that saying that some of your tribal members are currently living in Plymouth County constitutes ancestral and historical ties. With that twisted logic, they could take land in any town located in both Plymouth and Bristol counties because they have tribal members living there now and any ancestrial ties to these lands is irrelevant.

What I find disturbing in all of this is that there are actually other tribes in our State who are not federally recognized, and who most likely do have ancestral ties to the land in Middleboro. In essence, the Mashpee Wampanoag’s are trying to encroach on land that doesn’t belong to them historically, and are seeking to move onto ancestral lands of other Tribes in Massachusetts in order to build a casino. I also find it highly unsettling that these foreign casino investors and the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribe are basically undermining the sanctity of the ancestral lands of these other tribes.

So I have decided that I am going to dedicate my next several blogs to exposing why the Mashpee Tribe has no right to the land in Middleboro. I would love to show you everything we have uncovered reading through the application and their history in just one blog, but honestly, the evidence against their having any ancestral ties in Middleboro is so overwhelming that it just cannot be done. I will also blog about what they wrote in their final determination and how they show ties in Mashpee – not Middleboro. You can then make your own determination as to whether they have the right to build a casino in our community. Me….I have made my determination, as have many of us who are currently going through the application line by line. Our goal? To simply show to the Secretary of the Interior that the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribe has no ancestral ties to the land in Middleboro – and to ensure the Secretary does not hold that land in trust as an initial reservation for the Tribe so their deep pocket foreign investors can build a mega resort casino…..or a mega-resort bingo hall either. Like I've said…..it’s a pipe dream and it ain’t gonna happen.

- be the change you want to see in the world -