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The "Cowlitz
gambling syndicate?"
The casino project is primarily
the effort of a very few people, who work under the name of the Cowlitz
Tribe. They include:
· David Barnett, son of tribal Chairman John Barnett
· the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut
· Phil Harju, tribal council member and a Thurston County attorney
· the legal and PR teams
We
have decided to call these people the Cowlitz
gambling syndicate.
CARS is critical of the casino proposal and the
way it is being pursued. Beyond its involvement in the casino issue, we
have no issue with the Cowlitz Tribe.
(A
"syndicate" is "a group of individuals or organizations
combined or making a joint effort to undertake some specific duty or
carry out specific transactions or negotiations"
[Dictionary.com].)
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Third time is not the charm
The
Cowlitz gambling syndicate has once again changed its tactics in an
effort to demonstrate its cooperation with Clark County
and facilitate the completion of its Environmental Impact Statement.
This
latest attempt consists of two tribal ordinances embodying agreements
from the invalidated Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Clark County. They were
sent Wednesday directly to the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs
and the National Indian Gaming Commission. ...
>> Read more on
our blog
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Not so
fast, Columbian!
An
article in Thursday's Columbian was headlined, "County leaders accept Cowlitz promises." That's a bit of an
overstatement.
The story, about the Cowlitz gambling syndicate's latest attempt to
salvage its agreement with Clark
County (see
"Third time is not the charm," below), goes on to quote
Commissioner Marc Boldt: "This is maybe
a little better than nothing ... I don't know."
It also quotes Commissioner Steve Stuart: "This whole issue is far
from over. ... I'm hopeful that they will address (the county's
15-page list of) concerns so that we don't have to take other
action."
Those are not ringing endorsements. ...
>> Read more on our
blog
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Syndicate
misrepresents jobs situation
A
newsletter sent last week by the Cowlitz gambling syndicate seriously
misleads readers by making much of some recent news saying that Clark
County has the highest unemployment rate among counties lining the
Interstate 5 corridor. It uses that snippet of information to assert
that "many residents of Clark and surrounding counties would
benefit" from the jobs the proposed Cowlitz
casino-resort would bring.
The syndicate took advantage of an aberration. Yes, the August
unemployment rates put Clark County at 6.4 percent, Cowlitz
County at 6.1 percent and Lewis County at 6.3 percent. (See the
data from the state Employment Security Department.) But between January 2005 and August 2007, Clark County had the lowest
unemployment rate of the three counties for 28 out of the total 32
months.
...
>> Read more on
our blog
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Casino
opposition is deep and wide
Whoever
is doing the writing for the Cowlitz gambling syndicate has narrowly
framed the casino opponents as "some wealthy business interests,
card rooms, and an Oregon
tribe ... ."
That description on a Web page exhorting people to take action in support
of the casino overlooks the thousands of area residents from all
backgrounds that CARS represents. They have expressed dozens of
different reasons why they do not want a massive casino-resort in Clark County. Their concerns include
...
>> Read more on
our blog
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