Rhode Island casino backers rally in support of statewide vote on project

Michael Mello

Wednesday, June 28, 2000 | 10:26 a.m.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The Narragansett Indians and their supporters filled the Statehouse with chants of "Let the People Decide," as they tried to save their casino proposal which state lawmakers effectively killed for this year.

The tribe announced a petition drive for 100,000 signatures they hope will convince the General Assembly to meet after the regular session, which could end as soon as Friday, and override a 10-7 House Finance Committee vote against the project.

The Narragansetts want to build a sprawling gambling complex worth more than $500 million in West Warwick. Rhode Island law requires statewide voter approval to build a casino.

"We are fed up with the way government is run in the state," Rep. Tim Williamson, D-West Warwick, said. "The people have a right to decide."

Williamson unsuccessfully invoked a rarely used legislative rule to try to get the full House to consider the plan last week. On Tuesday, he said he was hopeful the leadership of the Democrat-controlled Legislature would respond to this latest effort.

"It is possible, anything is possible," Williamson said. "One hundred thousand signatures would send a strong message."

A spokeswoman for House Majority Leader Gerard Martineau did not immediately return a call to his office.

Tribal leaders dressed in full regalia took turns at a podium decrying what they believe has been historically poor treatment by state political leaders.

"What happened to us was an atrocity," Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas said, linking past oppression of Indians and the tribe's thwarted efforts to build a casino.

"You have an opportunity to stop it, stop it now," he said as supporters waived signs that read, "They took my rights and yours," and "R.I. - the most corrupt state in the union."

The Narragansetts casino plan would help pull the tribe out of poverty and bring new jobs to a struggling town, Thomas said.

"It is called growing," he said of changes such a complex would bring to the state.

House Finance Committee Chairman Antonio Pires, D-Pawtucket, said he opposed the proposal in part because he thought it would hurt two existing businesses that generate $120 million in annual revid.

Dufault has said that the tribe will likely lose its financial backer, Las Vegas-based Boyd Gaming, if it does not get a statewide vote in support of the casino this year.

The tribe and Boyd will meet in about a week to discuss future plans, he said.

"They are still paying the bills," Dufault said.