The Seminole Tribe of Florida recently announced Marcellus W. Osceola Jr. has been named its new chairman. Osceola replaces James E. Billie who recently was removed by the Tribal Council over conflicts over policies and procedures.
Tribal officials said 843 votes were cast, with 319 for Osceola and 297 for Billie who ran for his job again. Billie was tribal chairman when the Seminoles opened a bingo hall in Hollywood in 1979. He helped expand the business to a $2.1 billion gambling operation including seven casinos; its Seminole Casino Tampa is one of the 10 largest in the U.S. After serving as chairman for 22 years, Billie was fired in 2001 on charges of sexual harassment and financial mismanagement; neither was proved in court. He was re-elected in 2011 and again in 2015, but was ousted on September 28, following a recall petition and a tribal council vote of 4-0 in favor.
Billie, who wrestled alligators as a youth, is the subject of a new documentary called “Wrestling Alligators,” produced by a subsidiary of the Cordish Companies of Baltimore. Cordish and the Seminoles partnered in developing the Seminole Hard Rock properties in Tampa and Hollywood.
According to a statement released by the tribe, Osceola, 44, will be formally inaugurated within the next few weeks. He will serve out the remainder of the current four-year term for the position of chairman, which will run through May 2019. The statement said Osceola is an entrepreneur who lives on the Seminole reservation in Hollywood. Previously he was elected to serve on both the governing Tribal Council of the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the board of directors of the Seminole Tribe of Florida Inc., which manages the tribe’s non-gaming business interests.
As chairman, Osceola leads a five-person council, which has appointed James Allen to run the tribe’s casinos. Osceola is taking over as the tribe awaits a federal judge’s ruling regarding whether they can continue to offer blackjack. A five-year agreement with the state giving the tribe exclusive rights to offer blackjack expired in July 2015. The tribe claims the state broke the agreement by allowing parimutuel card rooms to offer the games.
The Seminoles also are anticipating a decision by the state Supreme Court that could have far-reaching impact. The court is considering whether Gretna Racing in Gadsden County can add slots without the approval of the legislature. Gadsden County voters approved slots in a local referendum in 2012. If the court rules for Gretna, parimutuels could add slots in other counties where voters passed referendums: Brevard, Gadsden, Hamilton, Lee, Palm Beach and Washington.
