Those campaign donations, coupled
with the Nation's high-powered lobbying efforts,
make the tribe a player in Albany, a government
watchdog said.
"If you look at them together,
it certainly makes them a force," said Rachel
Leon, executive director of Common Cause/NY, a nonprofit
citizens' lobby group devoted to good government.
But the tribe's activism takes other
shapes beyond campaign contributions and lobbying,
Nation spokesman Mark Emery said. For one, it educates
employees about candidates and helps register them
to vote, he said.
"There's a lot of ways of having
your voice heard," Emery said.
Another way debuted last year when
the Nation issued a scorecard grading politicians
on their support of its enterprises.
Assemblyman David R. Townsend, R-Kirkland,
who is a frequent critic of the Oneida Indian Nation,
received an "F." His 2004 opponent in
the 115th district race, Dave Gordon, got an "A."
Gordon attributed the grade to his willingness to
work with the tribe.
But the grade wasn't the only support
the Nation gave to Gordon, a 21-year-old making
his first run for office. The Nation also hung his
campaign posters at its resort and promoted him
in other ways, he said.
"If we had paid for the publicity
they gave us, it would have cost us well over $1,000,"
said Gordon, of New Hartford, who received 16,359
votes to Townsend's 34,779.
That form of support, Gordon said,
eclipsed the importance of the Nation's $1,000 contribution,
roughly one-fifth of the total contributions he
received.
While the Nation has increasingly
made its voice heard, it has been unable to accomplish
one key goal -- an agreement to settle its land
claims. Townsend attributed that difficulty, in
part, to legislators' growing awareness of Indian
issues.
"With everything being stalled
and not being rammed through, it bodes well for
the argument that legislators are not being bought,"
Townsend said. "They are paying attention to
their constituents back home." The level of
giving to Gordon fits into the Nation's pattern
of contributions. According to campaign filings,
most contributions made by the Nation were $1,000
or less. At that level, the donations are less about
influencing votes than trying to find an ear in
Albany, said Jeffrey Stonecash, chairman of the
Syracuse University political science department.
"They just want somebody to listen,"
he said. "'I want to make my case. Will you
listen?'"
The points being made, said Assemblywoman
RoAnn Destito, include everything from the Nation's
economic impact -- it employs some 4,000 people
-- to its role during the American Revolution.
"They're very perceptive of the
fact that they need to educate people on their history
and their enterprises," said Destito, D-Rome.
The education, much like the $500
and $1,000 contributions, often is aimed at politicians
beyond the Mohawk Valley. Destito said the Nation
understands it needs support across the state to
advance its agenda.
"They know they have to have
a majority in both houses to pass any legislation
they want," she said.
In the 2004 filing year, the Nation
gave about $70,000 to statewide candidates and committees.
In contrast, the Nation expects to spend $120,000
from October 2004 to September 2005 for services
provided by Patricia Lynch Associates Inc., according
to public lobbying documents.
Lynch is a former top aide to Assembly
Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan.
"She's one of the top lobbyists
in the state," Leon said, "very influential."
Lynch's office referred questions
to the Nation. Emery said much of the firm's work
involves following legislation affecting the Nation.
"You obviously have to have a
presence in order to just know what's going on,"
he said. "A lot of it is purely monitoring."
A handful of issues before the state
Legislature during recent sessions affected the
Nation. Patricia Lynch Associates told the state
it lobbied on behalf of the Nation on issues such
as:
