Relations between Mayor Irene Elia and the Seneca Nation of Indians reached a new low recently when she, Fire Chief William Correa and City Administrator Al Joseph were thrown out of the Seneca Niagara Casino.
Sources familiar with the incident told the Reporter that the trio showed up unannounced at the casino and demanded to see top Seneca Niagara Gaming Corp. executives G. Michael "Mickey" Brown and Cyrus Schindler.
"She walked in here like she owned the place," the source said. "It was unreal."
The purpose of the visit was to re-open negotiations between the administration and the Senecas concerning the casino's use of the city's derelict Niagara Street parking ramps. It wasn't going to happen.
Last year, the Senecas agreed to lease the ramps for $2 million annually, as well as spending $4 million to repair them for use by casino patrons. Additionally, the ramps would have been put back on the city's tax rolls. In anticipation of the deal, the Senecas spent a considerable sum refurbishing the long-abandoned underground tunnel and escalators linking the ramps with the casino.
Elia reneged on the deal at the last minute, creating a headache for the Senecas and outraging many who thought $4 million in capital improvements and $2 million a year for the city's general fund was a good deal for two parking ramps that are so little used that a dead body lay in one for weeks before being discovered.
After scotching the deal, the mayor sought to borrow $4 million to repair the ramps, a project that has yet to get underway. In the meantime, the Senecas announced they would build a six-story, 3,000-car parking complex adjacent to the casino that would render the city's ramps obsolete.
The botched negotiations have already become an issue in the upcoming mayoral campaign, and Elia's casino visit is said to have represented a pathetic attempt at damage control.
"They told her she had her chance, and they weren't interested (in resuming talks)," the source said. "Then they told her she wasn't welcome in the building."
Elia, Correa and Joseph were escorted off casino property by security personnel, the source added. The Niagara Falls Police Department was notified of the incident, though no report could be found. Repeated calls to the mayor's office for comment went unreturned.
In a fit of pique, Elia then ordered the re-opening of the section of Sixth Street that slices through Seneca land south of Niagara Street, setting the stage for yet another lawsuit against the city. The little-used roadway sits smack in the middle of the casino "footprint," land turned over to the tribe under the gaming compact signed between the State and the Senecas last year.
Elia's next step was to have an aide write a self-serving editorial about the parking situation. Though the piece consisted almost entirely of half-truths, inaccuracies and outright lies, editors at the Niagara Gazette printed it last week -- under the headline "Setting the record straight" -- without even a trace of irony.
The editorial painted the Senecas and the State of New York as the villains responsible for Elia's complete inability to get along with anyone outside her rapidly shrinking circle of supporters and sycophants.
Her propensity to denounce others for her own failings is nothing new. Since taking office in 2000, she has blamed members of City Council, the Zoning Board of Review, the Library Board, city unions, private developers and members of the media for various problems faced by her administration.
The parking ramp fiasco isn't the only reason the Senecas have for mistrusting Elia. Even before the casino opened, the administration authorized the tribe to begin work on the former Splash Park property to provide for additional parking. But since that property was at the center of a contentious legal battle between the city and private developers, Elia had no legal right to authorize anything.
State Supreme Court Justice Ralph Boniello issued a restraining order halting the work, but not in time to prevent one of the Senecas' prime contractors, Cerrone Inc., from becoming embroiled in the lawsuit along with a number of city employees. The case is still making its way through the courts, and Boniello has warned Elia and other members of her administration that any further violations of his restraining order may result in jail time.
"The mayor lied to us every time she opened her mouth," said a Seneca source close to the negotiations. "She just can't be trusted."
Particularly galling, the source added, was the mayor's decision to bring along Fire Chief Correa, who has been critical of the casino's fire prevention standards and has complained to local newspapers about not being consulted as the casino was being built.
Casino officials saw Correa's presence as a veiled threat, even though he has no power on Seneca territory.
Meanwhile, Elia's grasp of the reality concerning her relationship with the Senecas was summed up neatly in her Gazette editorial. She seems not to realize that the land occupied by the casino is not a part of the city, nor even of the United States.
"We welcome the Senecas and have worked closely with them to make the casino successful," she wrote.
A strange statement indeed from someone ejected from the casino like a common card sharp.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | March 18 2003 |