Meeting between governor’s staff, Six Nations representative canceled
BROWNSVILLE – A spokesman for Gov. Mark Schweiker’s office said Monday’s meeting between the governor’s staff and representatives of the Six Nations Council in Brantford, Ontario Canada, was canceled late Friday. “No make up date has been set,” said David La Torre. “I can tell you it won’t be rescheduled in the immediate future. These things take time to set up.”
La Torre said he received a call from Fayette County Republican Party chairman Chris Sepesy on behalf of Six Nations late Friday. Sepesy said he didn’t talk with La Torre but said it was his understanding that the meeting had to be canceled because of a personal problem for one of the principle people involved in the talks for Six Nations. The meeting was set up to discuss the possibility of a Native American casino in Brownsville.
Meanwhile, Six Nations Council continues to deny any involvement in the talks. On Friday Chief Roberta Jamieson said Six Nations is not actively pursuing any projects in Brownsville. Six Nations spokesman David Moses Monday confirmed that no meeting was held with the governor’s staff.
“Nobody went down there. In my conversation with the chief, she was unaware of any meeting taking place today,” Moses said.
Phil Monture, the head of the Six Nations Land Claims office, was to have participated in the Harrisburg meeting. He could not be reached at his office Monday afternoon, although his staff said he had been in the office earlier and definitely had not been out of town. Monture and others met last week with the Fayette County legislative delegation to discuss the casino project. Those in attendance were asked to sign non-disclosure statements.
Sepesy said he is trying to set up a briefing with Six Nations and Brownsville Mayor Norma Ryan.
“Having done my own research on this now, the possibility of the benefits that could happen from such a project could equal close to a billion dollars from the get go. It could be worth exploring,” Sepesy said.
Ryan said she hasn’t been contacted by anyone other than Sepesy.
“They haven’t told me yet. I guess I’ll find out when I read about it in the paper,” Ryan said. “Everybody knows that as a public official I sign no non-disclosure statements.”
Meanwhile, the proposal for a Native American casino in Brownsville is drawing attention across the state. State Rep. Paul Clymer, R-Bucks, is wary of the Indian tribe’s proposal to build a casino.
“Under present law, there is no way they can do this but I’m curious as to their motives,” said Clymer, who’s been a leading lawmaker against legalizing casino gambling in Pennsylvania. “Why Fayette County? Why Pennsylvania? Based on the fact that we don’t already have casino gambling, why not look somewhere where gambling is already legalized?”
He added, “Either they are totally ignorant of the law or they have something up their sleeves that we’re not aware of.”
Although the casino would be located about 300 miles from Bucks County, Clymer said it could set a dangerous precedent.
“The fear is that (casino gambling) spreads like a wildfire,” he said. “It may be out in Fayette today, tomorrow it’s in a county in eastern Pennsylvania. You don’t isolate casino gambling. It gets around sooner or later because it’s so profitable and….so people do whatever they can to affect changes in the law so they can bring gambling into their area. Because it means big bucks.”
Gov. Mark Schweiker has said he will not allow gambling in the state unless voters in both a local and state referendum approve it, his spokesman said. But if the tribe can gain official recognition, they may become exempt from state laws, Clymer said.
“That’s one of things were always concerned about,” he said. “That possibility is always in existence.”
If the tribe persists with its plan to build a casino, Clymer said the state could file a lawsuit.
“I’ll ask the attorney general to take them to court,” he said. “We’ll tell them, ‘You’re out of range here and you have no right to be here. You’re in violation of the law. To us, it would not be difficult to block them, unless they have some information that we are not aware of.”
Clymer chairs the House State Government Committee that will meet today to discuss state recognition of Native Americans.