NY legislators accept Oneida cash
Feb. 7, 2000

By STEVE FROHNHOEFER
Observer-Dispatch

Many local politicians, including Oneida County Executive Ralph J. Eannace Jr., have cooled to accepting money from the Oneida Indian Nation as the land-claim debate has heated up.

Not all officials are shunning Nation dollars, however. Filings with the state Board of Election show Assemblywoman RoAnn Destito, D-Rome, accepted $200 from the Oneidas last August — part of $11,500 raised to help defend her seat in November’s election. The Nation also gave $250 to Assemblyman Alexander Gromack, D-Rockland County.

No challengers to seven-year Assembly veteran Destito have announced their candidacy to date.

Destito said she sees no conflict of interest in accepting Nation dollars while the state is embroiled in land-claim negotiations.

“They (the Oneidas) are the employer of many of my constituents,” she said. “I do not approve of the lawsuit that involves the homeowners, but they are our neighbors ... and an economic force.
“I have tried to keep an open line of communication on both sides.”

Oneidas spokesman Mark Emery applauded Destito’s efforts.

“The money the Oneida Nation gives is given to support its friends and good government,” he said.

Besides Destito, GOP state senators epitomize good government to the Oneidas. The Nation donated a hefty $26,000 sum to the state Senate Republican Campaign Committee in 1999.

Nation Representative Ray Halbritter donated $200 of his own money to the same Senate GOP committee.

“The Senate Republicans have come up with policies ... and looked into bettering the business climate of the state,” Emery said of the donation.

Other donations were given to Democrats’ senate ($2,500) and assembly ($100) campaign committees.

Locally, the Oneidas gave to Rome Mayor Joseph A. Griffo in 1999, most recently a $350 donation in late October.

But Eannace “unquestionably” has kept his 1998 promise of not taking Nation money, said C. Lee Hinkleman Sr., an Eannace aide.

The Oneidas, with support from the U.S. Justice Department, are seeking remedy for some 250,000 acres of ancestral land seized in questionable treaties with the state of New York.

The Oneida Indian Nation made the following contributions to state officials and committees during 1999, filings with the state Board of Election show:

• $26,000 to New York State Senate Republican Campaign Committee.
  
• $2,500 to Democratic Senate Campaign Committee.
  
• $250 to Assemblyman Alexander Gromack, D-Rockland County.
  
• $200 to Assemblywoman RoAnn Destito, D-Rome.
  Oneida Nation Representative Ray Halbritter donated to the following groups last year:
  
• $200 to New York State Senate Republican Campaign Committee.
  
• $100 to Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee.