Bruce Jackson, The Wendt Foundation, and Harrah's Casino (Updated)
It’s one thing for Bruce Jackson to say that I’m a schmuck for writing something nasty about the Wendt Foundation. It’s another thing altogether for him to insinuate that I was part of a conspiratorial effort to embarrass it.
Luckily, two can play at this guessing game.
Perhaps the reason why Mr. Jackson took the “conspiracy” tack has to do with the fact that he and his kids have benefited from the Wendt Foundation’s largess.
1. If you take a look at Jackson’s CV, posted here, he lists himself as being a 2007 recipient of a “fellowship” or “grant” from the Margaret Wendt Foundation. That’s strange, since the Wendt Foundation’s disclosure shows that it is limited geographically to WNY and “no grants to individuals” (p. 10 of 2007 – links to 2007 and 2006 Wendt disclosures are at the bottom of the post).
Given the tone and content of his current Artvoice article, I find that to be a patent and clear conflict of interest.
To quote the philosopher Ron Popeil, “but wait, there’s more.”
Jackson’s CV also lists him as a Vice-President of Citizens for a Better Buffalo, the organization that brought the lawsuit which is being funded by the Wendt Foundation. (Citizens for a Better Buffalo has no website, and there is no way to determine its membership, or its income or expenditures). In Artvoice, Jackson discloses his “former” vice presidency of CBB, but does not disclose the next item:
2. That is an image taken from the signature blocks at the end of the casino opponents’ recent motion asking Judge Skretny to enforce his July 8th decision and force the NIGC to shut down gaming operations in Buffalo. Jackson & Jackson are among the lead attorneys in that lawsuit.
Why is this a big deal?
The lawyers at Jackson and Jackson are related to Bruce.
They’re his kids.
How much Wendt Foundation money did they earn for their work on the casino lawsuit? How much did Bruce receive in 2007 from the Wendt Foundation? Why wasn’t that disclosed in his article? Why do I have to be accused of “swiftboating” the Wendt Foundation by some guy for whom Wendt is a benefactor?
According to the 2006 IRS Form 990 disclosure of The Wendt Foundation, the “Network for Religious Communities” is the recipient of about $910,000 over the course of 2006. While most line-items for payouts have some detail to them, such as “Erie County SPCA: Purchase a replacement vehicle for the Rescue/Cruelty Investigations Department”, the Network for Religious Communities just gets “Support $1,455,000″. There is no further explanation. Network for Religious Communities is one of the many plaintiffs in the anti-casino lawsuit. [UPDATE: "Pat" points out in comments that CACGEC funnels donations through the Network for Religious Communities Rev. Showers is CACGEC's Treasurer, and CACGEC does not appear to be a non-profit as recognized by the IRS.]
I called Wendt for comment, but no one was around to discuss it and no one has called me back. It appears, however, that Wendt funneled the money for the lawyers through the Network for Religious Communities rather than through the ad hoc, newly created “Citizens for a Better Buffalo”. To whom does Jackson & Jackson send its bills?
3. The Margaret Wendt Foundation, which has spent $2 million to protect the people of Buffalo from themselves by funding this lawsuit against the casino is one big, fat, 501c3 hypocrite.
Based on its 2006 IRS disclosure, between 2003 – 2006, it held $2.73 million worth of stock in Harrah’s. 58,900 shares, to be exact. It sold the shares in 2006 for about $4.8 million – a tidy $2 million profit.
One might say that Wendt’s investment in Harrah’s funded the Buffalo effort to destroy a Harrah’s competitor.
Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. is the world’s largest provider of branded casino entertainment through operating subsidiaries. Since its beginning in Reno, Nevada 70 years ago, Harrah’s has grown through development of new properties, expansions and acquisitions, and now owns or manages casino resorts on four continents The company’s properties operate primarily under the Harrah’s, Caesars and Horseshoe brand names; Harrah’s also owns the London Clubs International family of casinos and the World Series of Poker. On January 28, 2008, Harrah’s Entertainment was acquired by affiliates of private-equity firms TPG Capital and Apollo Global Management.
Harrah’s is also a leading management company for several Indian Casinos, such as Harrah’s Rincon Casino & Resort in San Diego, CA. The Rincon Band of Mission Indians is the tribal organization affiliated with this casino.
Gambling. Good enough for Bruce Jackson’s kids to make money off of. Good enough for the Wendt Foundation to make money off of. Not good enough for you.
Not yours.
Research and contributions from Christopher Smith
UPDATE: Thanks to Tom Bauerle for talking about this this morning.
In 2001, The New York Times reported that Harrah’s Entertainment Corporation was in negotiations to manage and operate three Western New York casinos for the Seneca Nation. Harrah’s has a long track record managing casinos for Indian nations, including the Ak-Chin casino near Kansas City, the Rincon Casino in San Diego, and Harrah’s Cherokee in North Carolina.
Harrah’s, the world’s second-largest casino company, is one of several companies that have made a proposal to the Seneca Nation of Indians, hoping the tribe will choose them to build and run as many as three casinos in western New York. Harrah’s says it has also discussed a Catskills casino with another tribe — it will not say which one — and scouted locations, armed with a feasibility study it conducted on the region several years ago.
Such casinos in New York would take some business away from Atlantic City, doubling the resolve of casino companies there to get a piece of the action in New York.
”If someone’s going to cannibalize us, I want to be the cannibal,” said Philip G. Satre, chief executive of Harrah’s, which has two Atlantic City casinos. He said his company was talking with the Senecas ”long before the bill was passed.”
So, is it possible that the purchase of Harrah’s stock in 2003 precipitated an expected agreement with the Seneca Nation to operate casinos in Western New York and the sale of that stock been predicated on the announcement or intention of the Seneca Nation to operate the casinos on their own?
(If any other media outlet decides to run with any of this, it’d sure be swell to get some attribution this time. KTHXBAI.)
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I just picked up this week’s copy of Artvoice. The same newspaper which demonizes the Seneca Casinos? Check out the back page! A full page full color ad promoting Batavia Downs gaming and racing! Explain that!
@Peter Farrell…Are you the same Peter Farrell who is the sportswriter over at Artvoice? Better be careful for if you don’t drink Bruce Jackson’s Kool-Aid you might just be seeing a pink slip in next week’s paycheck.
WOW! Quite the expose’! Some of the “missing pieces” come to light! Kudos to all who played a role in this SenecaGate. Just when I thought the media had caved and our free press had been severely compromised in the process, this is all revealed.
I don’t get why this is such a big deal.
1. Jackson’s “swiftboating” charge was obviously stupid.
2. Journalistic ethics should have prompted him to mention that he’s received money from Wendt in his Artvoice column. What he writes at Buffalo Report is his business.
3. That said, there is a difference between a conflict of interest and the appearance of one. Jackson has been a vocal casino critic since the beginning, long before he received and funding from Wendt.
4. The insinuation that Wendt is hypocritical for investing in Harrah’s is pretty weak. As far as I know, Wendt hasn’t taken a public stance against gambling. They oppose a casino in Buffalo. If Wendt has, in fact, come out against gambling period, I’d be happy to eat crow on this one.
5. The claims that this is somehow shady business, or that people need to be put in jail, reflect little more than the hyperbolic nuttiness of some casino supporters.
I have a question:
- If Jackson and Jackson represent CACGEC, but are a minority firm, who is the majority? And where did the $2M in legal fees go?
That should be very easy to find. If CACGEC is a “program” of the Network of Religious Communities, it should be on their 990. If it is actually itself a non-profit corporation, then it should be on their yearly tax statement. Just because they incorporated as a non-profit, doesn’t mean they are tax exempt. Thye need a 501c3 for that, and Joel Rose says they haven’t gotten around to it yet. If they have been in existance longer than 27 months (the time limit for “cleaning up” income to a 501c3), then they need to be paying taxes on those dispursements, and it would be all contained in their tax filing.
One last thing – if there is no way for Bruce Jackson to write an article for a newspaper without having a conflict of interest (i.e. children profiting), then he just shouldn’t write an article.
Why are people going after the Wendt Foundation and anti-casino advocates? Because before you throw a stone, make sure you don’t live in a glass house. If you feel comfortable making a “holier-than-thou” stand, and decide that your small group should overrule the community as a whole (as measured by the representative elected government of that community), then make sure you aren’t a hypocrit.
1. I think the lead attorney is Cornelius something or other from the Albany area.
2. CACGEC isn’t the organization behind the lawsuit. That’s the CBB.
3. If CACGEC is a program of the Network, it operates under the Network’s c3.
4. The idea that “the community as a whole” supports a casino because Byron Brown does is more than a little silly. Joel Giambra was against a casino, and Chris Collins is for it. Does that mean that the “county as a whole” opposed it, and then changed its mind as soon as Collins was sworn in?
The only time that “the community as a whole” was actually asked to give its binding opinion on the matter was when the state voted to reject legalizing casino gambling back in the early 90s.
From JUly 2006 survey, conducted by Zogby International and commissioned by the Seneca Nation, found 58 percent of respondents said they support a casino, with 37 percent indicating they oppose downtown gambling.
And I’m very glad you mentioned Giambra, another hypocrite who opposed the casion, but who was exposed as a frequent flyer at Seneca Niagara.
The poll you cite was a push poll, if I’m not mistaken. That makes the result less than legitimate. I’ll grant, however, that an evenly worded poll would still probably indicate that a majority of folks support a casino.
That said, my point was that prodigal son’s claim that the community supported the casino because the government did was false. And again, the only time that gambling has been put to an actual public vote, the pro-casino side lost.
Beyond that, I don’t get why a “small group overrul[ing] the community as a whole” is such a terrible thing. Our history is chock full of examples where the community as a whole was dead wrong, and where it was the efforts of a small group that set things right.
There’s nothing hypocritical about thinking that a casino is bad for your city, and yet enjoying a casino in someone else’s city. Giambra wasn’t opposed to the casino because he thought gambling was morally wrong — he thought it was a bad deal for Buffalo.
Questions for Joel Rose:
Why did you choose to organize CACGEC as a program under the Network of Religious Communities rather than any other 501c3 organization? As you certainly are aware, as a faith-based organization, the NRC is not required to file Form 990 with the IRS which opens up several questions as to how your organizational activities are funded.
What is the current 501c3 status of CACGEC with the Department of State in New York and with the Attorney Generals office? According to NY records ( http://tinyurl.com/CACGEC ) CACGEC is listed as being incorporated September 7, 2006 as a domestic not for profit corporation with no registered agent. Did you file the requisite paperwork for your 501c3 status with the NY Attorney General? If so, when? What is the status for that request? Will you disclose what monies have have been received, used, and disbursed through NRC for your purposes at CACGEC? As it currently stands, unless you have a 501c3 exemption, your monies and disbursements are taxable. Using the charities search engine at the NY Attorney General’s Office, neither CBB nor CACGEC is a tax exempt organization. Even though both organizations filed for non-profit status in New York State in 2006.
I have many more questions about this organization, the Wendt Foundation, CBB, NRC, and the people involved. I am certain that you will be as honest and transparent as necessary to state all facts for the public record. I eagerly await your response.
1. If CACGEC is a program of the NRC, then its “monies and disbursements” are NOT taxable.
2. I mean this in the nicest way it can be taken, honestly — but who the fuck are you to demand information from anyone?
If CACGEC is not a tax exempt organization and they are using the NRC as a passthrough for donations, they need to be actively seeking taz exempt status or the money is still taxable.
I am a member of the community that is “served” by these interests and a taxpayer in New York State. Tax exempt organizations are required to provide public transparency to their activities. I am also the owner of an independent media company, kthxbai.
Also, I am evidently an uncited source for stories by WGRZ’s Josh Boose.
http://www.wgrz.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=59623&catid=37
I gotta keep the media in this town informed by doing some legwork.
Or CACGEC can be a program of the NRC — not simply a passthrough — in which case its money isn’t taxable.
Tax exempt orgs are required to be transparent. That means that you can ask the attorney general for a copy of their latest annual report. It doesn’t mean that they’re required to answer questions on a blog posed by someone who says things like “kthxbai.”
@Colin, no, but Joel Rose suggested in this thread and on BIA that if we had a question, we could just ask. I think that Chris is abiding by Mr. Rose’s suggestion.
Front page of the Buffalo News, nice work pundit. Maybe this will inspire hudson to get back to work weeding out crumbs in government, instead of kicking our boy vince around.
@ joel Rose: “CACGEC, for your information, is organized as a program of the Network of Religious Communities…”
So the CACGEC is a basically a group of religious nut cases, hiding behind a “citizen’s group” who thinks they can tell the people of WNY what is good and what is not for a community.
How dare you pitch your religious beliefs on a community and mask them as a “citizen’s group”!
I propose anti casino billboards that read: “its not that we don’t like gambling, it’s that we do!”
Just because you gambel, doesn’t make you a hypocrite for opposing a casino in Buffalo.
I go to bars but I don’t want one accross the street from my house.
Brad Riter of WECK 1230-AM supports Alan’s point of view:
http://buffalomainevent.blogspot.com/2008/07/great-blog.html