Council OKs casino resolution
By R.J. VILLELLA
Massillon City Council voted 7-2
Monday in favor of a resolution of “interest” for the proposed resort-style
casino the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma wants to build on the former
Republic Steel site.
The two council members voting
against the measure were Donnie Peters and Katherine Catazaro-Perry.
Peters said he voted his conscious, and Catazaro-Perry
said she wanted to have a public hearing on the resolution.
But the meeting was full of twists and turns and moments of
suspense as council debated the resolution, which buys them 90 days to study
more of the issues involved in the development.
Council had a special meeting with
Chief Charles Enyart and Mason Morisset, lead counsel
for the tribe, on Friday, and many of the council members in attendance stated
then they were relieved they could sign a resolution instead of the more
binding intergovernmental agreement.
But in council discussions Monday, several members wanted to
change the resolution of “support” to one of “interest.”
“I’m not there (resolution of
support) yet,” said Catazaro-Perry. “I think we
should table it.”
Councilman Dave McCune expressed similar concerns stating
some language in the resolution was too strong in support.
More than 80 percent of the
resolution was drafted by Law Director Perry Stergios.
Morisset added a few clauses Friday, and most of the changes council wanted to
make Monday were to Stergios’ original draft.
Councilman Ron Mang
made a motion to table the resolution until Sept. 1, clearly missing the 90-day
deadline extension of the intergovernmental agreement.
That caused some council members to speak out and developers
Steve DiPietro and Ray Williams to cringe.
“If council would have voted to
table the resolution,” DiPietro said. “We would be
talking with other cities and counties tomorrow. They’re lining up should
council pass up this opportunity.”
Williams said if the resolution was
tabled that would have essentially sent a message that there isn’t enough
interest in the project, which tribe representatives have claimed will bring
thousands of jobs and millions of dollars to the city.
But before the measure was tabled, Councilmen Tim Bryan,
Paul Manson and Chuck Maier spoke out, saying the resolution was necessary to
keep the door open.
“We can make the language less
strong,”
“Neither resolution commits us to
anything,” Manson said. “They’re not enforceable.”
“I want us to be at the table,”
Maier said. “I just can’t commit yet to the agreement.”
That’s when Mang
told council his motion to table was a bluff, to draw those in support of the
resolution out.
“Ron must be a good poker player,” DiPietro said. “He had me fooled.”
After the vote, Williams and DiPietro said they were pleased with how things turned out.
“We’re absolutely delighted Massillon City Council has
granted a resolution demonstrating a level of interest in the project,”
Williams said. “Jobs are important to
DiPietro said he doesn’t
understand why, if council still has questions, they don’t ask.
“I’ve e-mailed them all to please put their questions in writing and I’ll get them
answered,” he said. “So far only Councilman Dave McCune has taken advantage of
that. He asked the chief be brought in, and we did that.”
However council ultimately votes,
Darlene Klink, a Ward 5 resident, told council she has
signatures of 800 people who are against a casino, which could lay the
groundwork for a citizens’ referendum.