Oneida's urge workers to run for political seats
Jan. 27, 2005

R. PATRICK CORBETT
Observer-Dispatch

The Oneida Indian Nation is encouraging its employees to run for office against Madison County elected officials who criticize the Nation's government.

Madison County Board of Supervisors Chairman Rocco DiVeronica appears to be the primary target of the Nation's offer to provide "campaign assistance" to politically inclined workers.

DiVeronica has sat across the land-claim bargaining table from the Oneidas for more than a decade and freely criticizes the Nation's refusal to pay sales or property taxes on its business enterprises in Madison County.

Oneida leaders contend they are legally exempt from local taxes and they usually ignore such criticism.

They took a new stance after two Nation representatives met Dec. 20 with a Madison County delegation led by DiVeronica to discuss a deal being floated between the county and the Oneida Indians of Wisconsin.

Oneida Indian Nation Government Relations Director Diane Stirling accused DiVeronica of turning against his own constituents at that meeting to pursue a personal vendetta against the Nation.

In a Jan. 3 letter to "Oneida County Elected Officials," she said that at the Dec. 20 meeting with her he stated "that the jobs of nearly 1,000 Madison County Residents who work for the Oneida Nation do not matter to him. He said he is willing to sacrifice their livelihoods solely to gain negotiating power over the nation."

Stirling said she wrote the Jan. 3 letter because 3,000 Oneida Nation employees live in Oneida County and DiVeronica's "actions could potentially impact all ... employees," not just those living in Madison County.

DiVeronica said Wednesday, "They twisted the meaning of the meeting and what I said. They're trying to intimidate the people in office that they are going to go after them.

"They're trying to get government on their side (and) they're going to try to get persons in office regardless of their qualifications or ability to govern," he said.

He said earlier that his remarks at the Dec. 20 meeting were directed at resuming negotiations on the Nation's claim to 250,000 acres in Oneida and Madison counties. He said he stated that if it helped to reopen talks, he would continue to try to reverse the state agreement under which the Nation operates its Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Oneida County.

Stirling said she would not have written her letter "if these facts (asserted in the letter) were not accurate."

Others at the Dec. 20 meeting were town of Sullivan Supervisor John Gladney, Oneida Supervisors Donald Behr and Scott Henderson and two Madison County planners. They said in a letter that they support DiVeronica's take on the chairman's comments.

In the Dec. 28, 2004 edition of "The Political Observer, the Oneida Nation Political Newsletter to Employees," the Nation urged its employees to write or call DiVeronica to object to his attitude and asked, "Are you willing to run for election to a Madison County Office?"

Employees were invited to contact the Nation's Government Relations Department for information on filing political nominating petitions "and campaign assistance."

The newsletter did not ask Nation employees to run against Oneida County office-holders.

Nation spokesman Jerry Reed said Stirling puts out the political newsletter "when the need arises. It's important our employees know who supports them and their livelihood," he said.

Stirling said the Dec. 28 newsletter was aimed at DiVeronica and his supporters in county government.

She said no price tag has been attached to the invitation to run for office. She said the only other time the Nation helped an employee in a political campaign the assistance consisted of "copying and signs."

"We've always encouraged our employees to be politically active," Reed said.

She said the Nation wants elected officials to recognize the constituency represented by its more than 4,000 employees. "Rome has about 800 people (working for the Nation), Utica around 450, Oneida 550 and Verona 350," she said.

Elected officials defend the needs and celebrate the accomplishments of many non-Indian businesses, she said. The Nation has to promote its story of job creation on its own, she said.

Contact R. Patrick Corbett at pcorbett@utica.gannett.com