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Dyster: Might Not Respond To Casino Fire

Niagara Falls, NY (WBEN) -- Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster tells WBEN News before he'll lay off any city firefighters, he'll tell them to stop responding to any fire calls at the Seneca Nation's casino.

Dyster says his city is caught in a budget squeeze, and it feels as though the city city government is being held hostage -- to the political staredown between Albany and the Seneca Nation.

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Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster

"We may be forced to make cuts in our fire department," says Dyster, "and all because the operators of the Seneca casino -- which, of course you know, the hotel is the tallest building in Niagara Falls, one of the more challenging contingencies our department has to prepare to respond to -- all because the casino is not paying their fair share."

Dyster says the city's concerns are being ignored. "The situation here is getting more and more dire."

"If we're in a situation where we had to lay off firefighters and then I have to ask their brother firefighters to go respond to a fire at the casino," Dyster said. "They know that the layoffs occurred because the casino wasn't paying its bills."

Dyster says while the Seneca Nation and Albany squabble over the casino compact, his city needs that slot revenue, an estimated $60 million at this point. The Senecas say the state is welcome to pay the city anytime.

Filed Under :
Topics : Disaster_Accident, Hospitality_Recreation
Social : Disaster_Accident, Hospitality_Recreation
People : Paul Dyster

09/12/2012 9:11AM

Dyster: Might Not Respond To Casino Fire

Please enter your comments below.

09/12/2012 1:06PM

Must want to get sued

First time someone is injured or dies due to the FD not responding there would be lawsuits left and right

09/12/2012 4:09PM

What an idiot!

Dyster needs to read the Nation-State Gaming Compact(available online) before he opens his mouth. First of all the Senecas owe nothing to the city and never did. Under the terms of the compact the Senecas pay the STATE a specified % of their Class III gaming gross. The state in turn pays out a % of that revenue to the Falls, Buffalo and Salamanca; the Senecas have nothing to do with how much each location receives. There is no "direct pay" (to the cities) provision in the compact as far as I can see. The "quid pro quo" in the compact was that the state turned over its Class III gaming rights EXCLUSIVELY to the Seneca Gaming Corp in exchange for the previously mentioned cut of the Class III take at the Indian casinos. The compact specifies that, should the state violate its exclusivity grant, the state's right to receive and the Senecas obligation to pay the "contribution" (aka "the cut") shall cease; pending the outcome of the resolution process specified in the compact. Unfortunately the state has failed to actively participate in that process FOR THREE YEARS! Here's maybe why. Under that portion of the compact labeled "PARTY DISPUTE RESOLUTION, REMEDIES"; "The arbitrators shall EXEMPT the Nation from payment of the State Contribution for any breach of the State's commitments to EXCLUSIVITY as set forth in Paragraph 12(a)." In other words, should negotiations fail, and the dispute process advance to arbitration (as is specified in the compact), a finding under arbitration that the state violated its exclusivity promise could have only one outcome; that the state would forfeit its contractual % of the Class III gross. Of course the money that the cities would have subsequently received from the state would disappear too. If the Senecas should elect to directly pay the cities the money that the state would normally forward to them (that could open a can of worms contractually speaking), who would be responsible to pay back the Senecas should an arbitrator ultimately rule that the state violated its exclusivity grant and thus was owed NOTHING from the Seneca Gaming Corp? I doubt that an otherwise broke city could round up the $60 million needed to be returned to the Senecas!

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