Here's one Sir Bob: the DOI is holding the GLB hostage.
Okay, so it's more like a reasonable hypothesis than a rumor.
The DOI was supposed to have decided long ago whether Detroit could be considered as an interested party. It's not such a big question, and I can't figure out why the decision hasn't been made, unless the DOI figures it can't decide whether Detroit is an interested party until the litigation is settled. Until the lawsuit is settled, no one really knows who will build a casino or where, so they don't have enough info. to decide whether Detroit is an interested party or not.
The DOI appears to have decided that it will not make the final determination effective until the Detroit question is answered. This results in an ironic stand-off that I'm sure the GLB fully appreciates by now; namely, that the GLB is arguing that its case should be heard in federal court because it is a nation, and yet, it is the very fact that it is involved in a lawsuit that is preventing it from being recognized as a nation. The fact that it is not a nation means that its case will probably be heard in state court, which means that it will have to honor its contract with Sungold, the same way anyone else would have to.
The GLB is in an uncomfortable position. Because it is involved in litigation with Sungold, and because it is not a nation, the Band is at a standstill. It can't move ahead with any plans. Meanwhile, their lawyers' meters are ticking.
I can't help thinking that the GLB, and their lawyers, didn't really plan for things to turn out this way. They probably figured they'd be a nation by now, and could escape any contract with Sungold. That might have seemed to them like a good scam - after all, they have been accepting many thousands of dollars from the company every month for the past few years. I guess someone told them they could take the money and run. Who knows what other pie-in-the-sky promises have been made to them. They were probably led to believe that they'd be waltzing off with another another money-bags operator and casino project by now.
No operator will come near them until the litigation is resolved and they become a nation. In other words, they have condemned themselves to poverty and waiting while the lawyers' bills add up. That dog ain't going to hunt.
Anyway, while the DOI holds the GLB hostage, it gives the Band a little more time to soberly reflect on the fact there is a better alternative, a much better alternative.
Sungold will march ahead regardless. If the Band wants to duke it out in court and pay the company a massive settlement against all future earnings, that's okay. It's not real thrilling for shareholders, but it's not going to be anywhere near as hard on the company as it is on the Band. The band will get nothing while it waits, but the company can be very successful and profitable with its other projects and development possibilities.
I think its reasonable to expect that the longer the GLB waits in limbo, the more amenable it will become to patching things up with Sungold. They stand to be wealthy beyond their dreams, within their own lifetimes, when they honor their contract and go with the proposal that Sungold has made. |
