When the TRUTH and the LAW are not on your side, Mr. Cromwell always threatens!
Mashpee Wampanoags threaten to ‘destroy’ casino competition
By Thomas Grillo
Monday, June 21, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
The chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe is fuming over a state Senate bill that does not reserve a casino license for an Indian tribe.
"If the state gives a commercial license to another casino operator, we won't pay the state a cent when we build a casino in Southeastern Massachusetts once expanded gaming is approved," said Cedric Cromwell. "We will destroy the competition, because we won't pay licensing fees or taxes and we will provide a great player experience with more wins."
This is Taunton's partner?
The original Senate bill called for three casino licenses with one reserved for a "qualified" Indian tribe. But the revised measure, released Friday, removed the preference for a tribal casino.
Sen. Stanley Rosenberg (D-Amherst) said the preference was eliminated after hearing testimony that called for a level playing field on license distribution.
The tribe wants to build a $500 million complex in Fall River featuring a casino and conference center, three hotels and a massive mall with an indoor water park.
Cromwell has an agreement to purchase a 300-acre wooded site off Route 24 to construct First Light, a resort gambling complex including 2,500 slot machines, 150 table games, 24 poker tables and more than 5 million square feet of retail space. The tribe's partner is Arkana Ltd., an affiliate of Malaysian-based Kien Huat Realty, the initial investors of Foxwoods Resort Casino.
Cromwell said the tribe has not decided whether it will seek a commercial license. But the tribe faces considerable obstacles to building in Massachusetts, if and when the state approves expanded gambling.
If the state legalizes casinos, federal law would allow the tribe to build a casino on land taken into trust, Cromwell said. The tribe had previously applied to place land into trust in Middleboro and have notified the Interior Department that it intends to change the application to the Fall River site.
But last year, the Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Interior Department secretary could not take land into trust for tribes that were recognized after 1934. The Wampananogs were recognized in 2007.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment