Features
Turning Stone Vs. Paladino
Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino has threatened to close down the
The real estate developer says the Oneida tribe that runs the casino is not contributing sufficiently to the state, calling the current deal “baloney” during an interview with Utica’s Observer-Dispatch.
“I will tell the Oneidas they have two weeks to come to the table,” he said. “You watch how quickly they’ll break down when I take away the spoon that’s feeding them.”
Paladino’s plan reportedly includes shutting down access roads to Turning Stone should negotiations stall.
Oneida spokesman Mark Emery told the Observer-Dispatch federal courts have ruled that the tribe’s compact cannot be challenged and said legal action would be taken if Paladino did indeed try to prevent access.
The tribe claims 10,000 jobs in the area depend on Turning Stone, which brings in $425 million annually to the region.
“Nobody with common sense would suggest that these law enforcement agencies would support gaming so extensively if it were illegal,” Emery said in a statement. “With this sort of impractical judgment, Paladino has shown he is unfit to be governor.”