Talk to any top Buffalo banker, developer or major educational or arts agency head and they’ll tell you that the proposed Seneca casino in downtown Buffalo is a dog: It will cost the city more than the city will ever get from its share of the slot drop, it will cause huge social problems, it will stress the city’s already overextended agencies and the jobs it provides will come at the cost of half again as many better paying jobs elsewhere in the community. It will drive many Buffalo businesses into oblivion and, rather than being a spur to development, as Seneca Gaming Corporation chair Barry Snyder and former Buffalo mayor Anthony Masiello insist, it will stifle development.

If you want an indicator of the impact and significance of Tom Golisano’s Tuesday afternoon press conference in which he announced his strong opposition to a casino in downtown Buffalo, you need look no further than the press release issued that evening by the office of Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown. Brown has, for the past two years, done everything a human being in public life could do to keep from taking a position on the casino issue. He has adopted the posture of someone just going along with an engine put in place by his predecessor, Anthony Masiello. He has, so far as anyone knows, done no investigation of his own about whether a downtown casino would be good or bad for Buffalo. He’s just gone along and made no waves.

On Wednesday morning, April 12, Erie County Executive Joel Giambra held a press conference to pronounce his own position on a downtown Buffalo casino. He also outlined the course of action he expected the county to take in opposition to such a casino.