While we are disappointed that the new Erie County Executive, Chris Collins, has withdrawn his office’s participation in several lawsuits aimed at preventing the opening of a permanent gambling casino in Erie County, we believe the withdrawal will have no impact on the litigation. The action comes as no surprise, given Collins’ cheerleading for the casino during his recent campaign for the office of County Executive.
We had hoped that with the election behind him, Mr. Collins would have taken the time to examine the issue more closely. Had he done so – for example by reading and considering an article that appeared on the front page of the Buffalo News on December 29, 2007, he would have learned that casinos have not helped other cities like Buffalo that have tried them, and that in fact their major impacts have included a severe economic drain to the host community along with personal devastation to thousands of individuals.
But that more thoughtful examination of the issue clearly has not happened. Mr. Collins has thus missed a major opportunity for enlightened leadership, and that is really Erie County’s loss.
In terms of the cases in which the County had been participating as co-plaintiff, the County’s withdrawal will be of very little legal significance. While we certainly have benefited from the counsel of the former County Attorney, Lawrence Rubin, we have a very fine team of attorneys working on these cases, and we feel confident that they will continue to represent us competently and energetically.
CACGEC is grateful to former County Executive Joel Giambra for the leadership he has provided on this issue, and the very capable assistance to our legal team that has been provided by Mr. Rubin.
The litigation will, of course, proceed. CACGEC continues to believe that we will ultimately prevail against the gambling interests.
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