WEST WARWICK -- Eggs, bacon, a sprinkling of unity and a heaping
helping of casino talk were on the menu yesterday morning at a breakfast
hosted by a former mayor of West Warwick for the town's ally in the
casino fight, the Narragansett Indian tribe.
City and legislative leaders vowed that the breakfast kicked off a new
push to get the casino question on a statewide ballot in November 2004
-- a goal that Senate President William Irons said could gain
legislative backing when the new session starts in January.
"This is the beginning of our campaign to get this on the ballot," said
acting City Council President Jeanne-Marie Dimasi. "We want the right to
vote, and we want a casino in Rhode Island."
The town and the tribe hit a roadblock earlier this month, when a bill
to put a referendum on casino gambling on a statewide ballot died in the
Senate, following July 1 approval by the House.
Sen. Stephen Alves, D-West Warwick, promised that despite the recent
legislative defeat, the campaign for a statewide referendum is alive and
well, and he hopes to see a vote on it when the session starts in
January.
"The issue is not dead. We're looking to have it go on next November's
ballot," Alves said yesterday morning.
Yesterday afternoon, Irons, D-East Providence, said he believed the
legislature would agree next session to put a casino proposal on the
November 2004 ballot, but that a January vote was unrealistic. Irons
said a more likely timetable was in the middle of the session, in late
winter or early spring.
Asked if he thought the measure would pass both chambers with a wide
enough margin to sustain a veto from the governor, Irons responded, "I
would be surprised if it didn't."
Irons noted that the referendum measure passed by the House this session
would not ask voters whether to authorize a casino in West Warwick, but
rather create a five-member panel that would look at proposals from a
variety of groups.
Asked about Irons's comments, House Speaker William J. Murphy, D-West
Warwick, would say only: "January is around the corner and we'll get to
the issue in January."
The "unity breakfast" at Evelyn's Villa was intended to celebrate the
town's relationship with the tribe -- built on its six-year quest for a
casino -- and show support for the Narragansetts as they begin their
court battle with the state over their tax-free smoke shop.
Roughly 75 people came out for the event, including a who's-who of West
Warwick government, representatives from the attorney general's office,
Sen. Lincoln Chafee's office and five tribe members.
Governor Carcieri was invited to the breakfast, according to organizer
J. Michael Levesque, a former mayor of West Warwick.
The governor said he may have been invited, "but from my perspective it
was just not something that I was interested [in]."He said it looked
like "more of a casino rally."
Carcieri said his opposition to a casino in Rhode Island is well-known.
But as far as the referendum legislation, he said, "I think this whole
thing is going to have to wait and see what happens, what's proposed,
who's voting [on it at the Assembly]."
"I would intend to lead the charge this is not a good thing for our
state," he said.
The breakfast was not a fundraiser for the tribe or a casino effort,
Levesque said, adding that the food and the venue were paid for by
private donations. The tribe members' breakfasts were paid for by the
sponsors.
"It's just to show the tribe that not only the government leaders but
the people of West Warwick stand by the tribe," Levesque said.
"We were all horrified by the recent actions on tribal land. And as you
all know, the tribe has been an integral part of this community since,
believe it or not, 1997," Levesque said.
It was that year when the town formed a committee to investigate the
possiblity of hosting a casino run by the Narragansetts.
Speaker after speaker said that the town and the tribe must work
hand-in-hand to site a casino in West Warwick. School Committee Chairman
Daniel T. Burns Jr. said unity is key to keeping gaming opponents from
derailing the casino-referendum push -- and that the incident at the
smoke shop is an extension of that opposition.
"A very powerful minority in this state are dead set against giving the
Narragansetts anything," he said. "The tribe got yanked around again."
The center of attention all morning was Narragansett tribe Chief Sachem
Matthew Thomas, who only touched on the gambling question briefly in his
closing address: "We certainly hope the issue does get to the people,"
he said, adding that right now, "Human rights and civil rights take
precedence over all other issues."
Thomas stressed the special bond between the town and the tribe, one
made tighter by friendship through recent tough times: the smoke-shop
melee and The Station nightclub fire.
The tribe is organizing a "unity walk" that will pass through several
cities and towns on its way to the statehouse in response to the
smoke-shop incident.
