When Elephants Speak

Here we go again…the Enterprise is reporting that the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe will begin talks with the State on the proposed casino. This recent article comes on the heels of a similar article from Monday, which Bellicose Bumpkin blogged about. What bothers me about these news articles is that in reading them, one could begin to think that we have some sort of short and long term memory malfunction...that we cannot remember the issues surrounding the Tribe's application or all the events that have happened over the past year. Luckily, us anti casino bloggers are blessed with memories like elephants....we never forget.

Sometimes I feel like I am on this not so merry-go-round of “the casino is coming…the casino is coming….time to make a deal”. Haven’t we already covered this ground? First of all….the Tribe can talk to the State or Governor Patrick all it wants but that doesn’t change one simple fact – they cannot enter into an agreement with the State when there is no land in trust to negotiate about. It will be denied by the Secretary.

Second of all, as we have learned, the State does not have to negotiate anything with the Tribe – land in trust or not. Once again, the Tribe can talk all they want…heck, they can even write up a Tribal-State compact but that does not mean Massachusetts has to play. Class III gambling is illegal in this State and according to section 2710 of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA)….

Class III gaming activities shall be lawful on Indian lands only if such activities are….located in a State that permits such gaming for any purpose by any person, organization, or entity, and…conducted in conformance with a Tribal-State compact.

So let’s break this down. The State of Massachusetts does not allow Class III gaming so technically, it does not need to allow class III gaming for the Tribe if they ever manage to get the land in Middleboro placed in trust. Oh sure, our State allows non-profit organizations to conduct “bazaars” to raise money for specific purposes and has strict regulations specific to these types of events. For example, in order to have gaming events such as raffles, casino or Las Vegas nights, or poker tournaments, they may only be conducted by a non-profit organization (whether or not incorporated) that has been organized and actively functioning in Massachusetts for at least two years and is one of the following:

Veterans’ organization chartered by Congress;
Church or religious organization;
Fraternal or fraternal benefit society, such as an Elks Club or union:
Educational or charitable organization;

Civic or service club; or
Other club or organization operated exclusively for nonprofit purposes.

These groups are qualified nonprofit organization and represent limited exceptions to the general law prohibiting gambling (I love that this State calls it what it is...gambling) in the Commonwealth.

- mass.gov-

So yes, this State does allow certain groups, organizations or entities to conduct class III gambling under strict regulations so I am sure the Tribe will try and force the Commonwealth’s hand with their inevitability scare tactics and say that since these non-profits can have certain class III games, then they can too….oh yeah, they already did that.

Gosh, perhaps the State should ban class III gambling all together for everyone so the Tribe can’t try and force us to give up our sovereignty….oh, but then all the other groups who use these events to raise money for charities would lose out. Some also might say that the right thing to do would be for the Tribe to not ask for class III gambling at all as not to potentially ruin it for all those non-profit organizations who hold these events to raise money for good causes…..but then again, I highly doubt the State would go to such extremes to try and make a point. Nope, all the State has to do in this case is follow Texas' lead and not negotiate a compact.

The important thing to remember here is that even if our Governor goes ahead with these “talks”, slot machines are not legal in this State so there will be no slots for the Tribe even if they do manage to get the land placed into trust and are able to negotiate a compact and have it approved by the Legislature…and we all know its about the slots.

The fact of the matter is, the Tribe must have an approved Tribal-State compact in order to conduct any class III gaming and as we have learned from Texas, we have sovereign rights as a State that the Tribe cannot take away from us. I would hope they understand and honor the sanctity of our sovereignty just as much as they expect us to honor the sanctity of their sovereign nation status. For the record, I do not believe that I, nor anyone else, is required to support this casino project to honor the sanctity of the Tribe’s sovereign rights. Call me what you will, but the Tribe’s sovereignty, though long awaited and well deserved, does not guarantee them the right to build a casino that will rival Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun, which brings me to my next “bone of contention” with this LIT process.

The above mentioned Enterprise article quotes Tribal Leader Sean Hendricks as saying

“No matter what ultimately happens with the negotiations, please know that it is the tribe's intent to operate America's most successful casino resort in Middleboro," Hendricks wrote in his request to open negotiations. He said the tribe plans to "build something that's equivalent to Fox Woods or Mohegan Sun."

Really? But…but…just five short months ago, this Tribe presented a casino plan for the land in Middleboro to the BIA and to us, John Q. Public, at a Federal hearing specifically designed to identify real environmental impacts - a plan that did not look anything like a Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun. I am talking about the same casino plans that were submitted to the BIA and posted in the Federal Register… you know…the plans that the Environmental Impact Statement will be addressing. I seem to remember these plans did not reflect a facility that’s equivalent to Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun….not even close. So….those plans were what?.....nothing? a farce? ….maybe a lie or misrepresentation meant to mislead the public as to the real plans the Tribe and investors have for the land?....maybe they were hoping to make the whole environmental impact statement easier to deal with, or hope the BIA would say an EIS wasn’t needed, that it would issue a FONSI (findings of no significant impacts) or maybe they were hoping to just do an environmental assessment? How can anyone address real impacts from their “casino plans” when what they really want to do once the land is in trust is to build a monstrosity to rival Foxwoods on 500 acres of land – forested wetlands, no less.

How in the world can anyone, including our Governor, think that the Tribe or the investors are being open and honest with them about anything? Jeez….they have already bamboozeled the BIA with their so-called plans…now they want to bamboozle our State too. Here is another jaw dropper of a statement:

Hendricks said he will lobby for Middleboro to get a larger piece of the state's share of the casino profits, and said he's not forgetting about the surround towns. "We want what's best for the whole region."

Again…..really? Aside from the fact that Middleboro has already made their bed with the investors and don’t deserve to take any more, especially from the State’s share, I highly doubt Mr. Hendricks really wants what is best for the whole region. In fact, I seem to remember a certain local radio show where he made his cameo appearance and said he the Tribe would not deal directly with surrounding Towns ….they would need to go to the State with their issues, not the Tribe. So my question is, if the Tribe won’t even talk directly with the surrounding Towns, how in the world can he say they will negotiate for these Towns?

I seem to remember sitting in a hot stuffy auditorium a little over a year ago at my Town's Community Forum on the proposed Middleboro casino, a forum that the Tribe was invited to attend....which they didn't. My Town's BoS held a forum for it's residents to discuss their concerns over a proposed casino.....the BoS and our Town Planner was hoping that someone from the Tribe would attend so they could talk to us about our concerns...maybe even alleviate some of them.....but they didn't come. They didn't care about our concerns over potential impacts then and I am certain they don't care even now, and if they do, they have a funny way of showing it. So again I ask, how in the world can Sean Hendricks say he will negotiate for my Town when he doesn't even know what the specific impacts to my Town will be....or those impacts specific to Lakeville, Plympton, Halifax, Plymouth, Kingston, Bridgewater, and all the other towns in our region.

My personal take on all of this is that the Tribe will say and do anything it needs to get this land placed in trust so they can build their pipe dream. In order to improve their chances, they not only scared the hell out of residents of a small quiet southern New England town to get them to approve an Intergovernmental Agreement between the Tribe and town, but they were also less than honest with the BIA and the public about the scope of their project at the hearing in March, and are now saying whatever they need to say to get our State willing to negotiate with them.

Since we are like elephants who never forget, let us not forget a few other very important facts here . First of all….as other States have shown, Massachusetts is not required to negotiate with the Tribe and without a compact the best they could hope for is a glorified bingo hall. Secondly….. the new section 20 regulations are now in effect and the land in Middleboro does not qualify as an initial reservation. As it stands, their application does not show past and current significant ties to the land in Middleboro and will most likely be denied. And last, but certainly not least, the Amicus Brief will be heard by the Supreme Court in November and the outcome could very well make their application null and void. Requesting that our Commonwealth begin negotiations is quite premature at this point and our Governor is better off telling them that this State will not even entertain the idea of compact negotiations over land that is not only not owned by the Tribe, but will not make negotiations about land that is not in trust. There is no point in negotiating something that does not exist.

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