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Story Highlights

• Brooks' letter specifically opposed the building of a casino on land in Henrietta
• Brooks said she had talked with residents and others and concluded that a casino was not in the community's best interest
• A national Indian gaming lawyer says the feds would consider Brooks' opinion, but it wouldn't make or break a Seneca proposal

Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks sent a message to the Seneca Nation of Indians on Friday: It's time to fold 'em.

Brooks released a letter that she planned to send to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the U.S. Department of the Interior stating her opposition to a Seneca gambling facility in Monroe County. She discussed the letter Friday morning in Henrietta, where the Seneca Gaming Corp. bought 32 acres for a potential casino earlier this year.

More: Brooks' letter to Cuomo

"While I do believe there are people who support a casino for Monroe County, I think the majority of the people do not," Brooks told reporters. "I do not think it is in the best interest of Monroe County to move forward at this time."

The Seneca Nation questioned why Brooks decided to take a stand now. The nation's president, Barry Snyder Sr., announced in a letter two months ago to County Legislator Justin Wilcox, D-Brighton, that the Senecas no longer planned to pursue a Henrietta casino, citing local opposition and misinformation about their intentions.

"The Seneca Nation clearly outlined our position on potential casino expansion in a May 8 letter to Legislator Wilcox," said a statement from the Seneca Nation, provided by spokesman Phil Pantano. "Nothing has changed. While the timing of the county executive's statement is curious, our position remains as it was two months ago."

However, the Senecas' letter in May did not shut the door on a different casino proposal for Monroe County sometime in the future. At the time, opponents of such a casino — who are bankrolled in large part by other gaming interests — called the statement a "transparent ploy" to delay the nation's plans until the political winds shift.

In her letter to Cuomo, Brooks said she had talked with residents and others in the community and concluded that a casino was not in the area's best interest. She also said she opposes any renegotiation of New York state's compact with the Senecas. That deal gives the tribe exclusive rights to operate casinos in this part of western New York, but no more than the three gambling halls that it already has in Buffalo, Niagara Falls and Salamanca.

The letter said that both Brooks and Cuomo would play a role in the federal process to determine whether land within Monroe County can be declared sovereign.

"Out of courtesy to you, I want to inform you that I intend to formally oppose such a designation in the event an application is made to the federal Department of Interior," Brooks, a Republican, wrote.

Democrats in the Monroe County Legislature introduced a resolution in April that similarly expressed opposition to a local casino.

The question is how much influence Brooks' stance would have on any future proposal from the Senecas. Her term is up at the end of next year, and the next county executive could have a different position.

Tom Foley, a Minnesota attorney who represents tribes and gaming corporations across the U.S., said the Senecas would need federal approval to take local land into trust and use it for gaming.

As it weighs the tribe's application, the Department of the Interior would consider any impact on local government, and that probably would include the county executive's opinion, Foley said. But ultimately she has no power to veto the tribe's proposal, according to Foley, who also served on the National Indian Gaming Commission in the 1990s.

"It's something they would consider, but it's not dispositive on its own," he said of Brooks' position.

The governor has far more power. He would likely have to agree with any federal decision to take the land into trust for gaming before it could move forward, Foley said.

At least one town in Monroe County remains open to a Seneca casino — Gates. Supervisor Mark Assini, a Republican who is challenging Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, D-Fairport, for her seat, said Friday that he and the Town Board remain supportive of the idea.

"As long as my residents continue to support it, I'll continue to fight for it," he said.

Assini acknowledged that puts him at odds with Brooks, one of the local leaders of his party. He said she is welcome to her opinion, but a casino remains "a very popular concept in Gates."

Henrietta Supervisor Jack Moore welcomed Brooks' letter.

Maggie Brooks(Photo: CARLOS ORTIZ staff photographer)

"It just shows that the county executive is adhering to the people's wishes," Moore said.

Former Rochester mayor William A. Johnson Jr., who has worked as a spokesman for the No More Casinos Coalition, said Friday that he had not yet seen Brooks' letter. After a reporter read portions of the statement to him, he praised it.

"To have Maggie Brooks come out and take this stance I think really is the proverbial nail in the coffin," Johnson said of the Senecas' hopes of developing a local casino. "I just don't see how they can make a claim that this community would welcome them when you have the most influential, the most powerful county leader saying, 'Absolutely not.' "

Johnson said a number of other factors also will affect the future of the Senecas' plans, including what happens with a private proposal for a casino about an hour from Rochester in Tyre, Seneca County. Rochester shopping mall magnate Thomas Wilmot Sr. has proposed a $350 million hotel, casino and entertainment complex there.

Johnson also noted that Seneca Gaming Corp. still owns the 32 acres in Henrietta, on Clay Road near Interstate 390.

In her letter, Brooks also was critical of Slaughter, a past political foe.

Referring to the Seneca-owned land in Henrietta, Brooks wrote that she was concerned about a 1990 federal law that would allow the nation a 60-day fast-track approval process for declaring land sovereign. Slaughter sponsored the law, Brooks wrote.

Brooks appeared to be referring to the Seneca Nation Settlement Act of 1990. Slaughter was one of 38 cosponsors from both political parties, including about two dozen representatives from New York. The lead sponsor was Republican Rep. Amo Houghton Jr. of Corning.

The law was supposed to resolve a dispute over leases of tribal land in and around Salamanca. It arranged for the federal and state governments to pay the Senecas about $60 million in settlement payments and said that the tribe could use the money to buy land.

The section of the law that Brooks referenced applies to "land within (the Senecas') aboriginal area in the state or situated within or near proximity to former reservation land."

A spokesman for Slaughter declined to comment. Brooks unsuccessfully challenged Slaughter for her seat in Congress in 2012.

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Includes reporting by staff writer James Goodman.

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