Pressure from both the mayor of Brockton and a company that once bid to build a casino there has been building on the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to reopen bids on the Southeastern Casino Zone two years after it rejected the Brockton casino.
Brockton Mayor Bill Carpenter applied indirect pressure to the commission last week when he sent a letter to Department of the Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke urging him to make a final decision on the land into trust application from the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, whose casino plans probably prompted the commission to reject the bid for a commercial Brockton casino by Rush Street Gaming through its subsidiary Mass Gaming & Entertainment.
Rush Street Gaming and the city of Brockton want the MGC to reopen bids on the southeastern zone since the $1 billion Taunton casino that the Mashpees broke ground has been inactive for two years since a federal judge agreed with plaintiffs that the land into trust decision by Interior in 2015 was faulty.
At issue are 170 acres in Mashpee, on Martha’s Vineyard and 150 acres in Taunton, where the tribe broke ground on a casino more than two years ago—but which lies unfinished.
Rush Street sent a petition to the MCG last month that says “The Commission has done nothing with regard to Region C licensing for over two years. As a result, the Southeast region has lost the opportunity for thousands of jobs, and the Commonwealth has lost tens of millions of dollars in tax revenues.”
The commission responded that it would review the petition along with legal counsel before proceeding.
The 2011 Expanded Gaming Act approved by the legislature, authorized the MGC to grant up to three commercial casino licenses in the three gaming zones and one slots parlor. Lawmakers who approved the bill clearly wanted the Mashpee tribe to get one of those licenses, but it had to meet certain milestones, such as having land put into trust.
The commission has always had the option of granting a license to a commercial casino in the southeast zone, but clearly deferred to the tribe. So far it has granted licenses to the MGM Springfield, the Encore Boston Harbor and the Plainridge Park slots parlor in Plainville. It has so far not granted a commercial license for Zone C, because that is where Taunton is.
July 2016 Judge William Young gave the department the chance to find another legal route for putting the land into trust, one that didn’t violate the Supreme Court Carcieri v. Salazar decision, which says that tribes recognized after 1934—the year Congress passed the Indian Reorganization Act— can’t put land into trust. So far, it has been unable to justify the decision by another route.
The tribe had submitted a document for review that argued that the state of Massachusetts could be substituted for the federal government in the requirement that the tribe had been “under the jurisdiction” of the United States before 1934. The Interior department did not formally reject that line of reasoning, but let the tribe know that it would likely do so if the tribe formally submitted the document.
Carpenter asked the department to make a decision so that his city can reach closure. If a conclusive ruling is made by Interior finally rejecting the tribe’s application, Brockton’s bid for a $677 million casino might be able to go forward. Carpenter shared his letter with the Enterprise.
Carpenter wrote Zinke June 15, “My administration sits in limbo, unable to make economic development decisions on the future use of the Fairgrounds because of the prolonged delay by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.” He added, “Secretary Zinke, please inform those involved in this decision that time is of the essence for the city of Brockton and anything that you could do to expedite the issuance of a decision would be greatly appreciated.”
Carpenter ties the tribe’s status to the rejection of the application for a casino license for the Brockton Fairgrounds, which is owned by George Carney, who partnered with Rush Street Gaming to make the proposal. Carpenter says that the fairground is the single most valuable piece of property in the city.
The mayor’s letter refers to the June 2017 communication that the tribe received from the department, and says, “The parties have not heard from the DOI since that opinion one year ago. The proponents of the casino which was proposed for the city of Brockton are still engaged and hopeful for a successful outcome stemming from DOI’s final decision and the possibility of a favorable permitting by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.”
Of the fairgrounds Carpenter writes, “It’s being held in abeyance because the owner of the property doesn’t know what direction to go with the potential redevelopment because we are all waiting for this final determination from the Department of the Interior,” adding, “It’s certainly hurting the city that nothing is happening with that property because the Interior hasn’t issued the final ruling.”
Mashpee Tribal Chairman Cedric Cromwell, in a statement sent to the Enterprise, called on Carpenter to tell the casino proponents to stop trying to prevent the tribe from building. He reminded Carpenter that Rush Street gaming provided funding for the East Taunton residents who sued to stop the casino.
Cromwell last week commented that the Rush Street petition “smacks of desperation,” This is clearly a Hail Mary response to the bipartisan legislation moving in Congress that will secure our rights to the land we have been tied to for 12,000 years.”
About Carpenter’s letter to Zinke, Cromwell added, “We truly appreciate the mayor advocating for his city. But if he really wants to help the regional economy and create thousands of jobs for the Brockton area then he should tell George Carney and Neil Bluhm to get rid of all the lawyers, lobbyists and hired guns they have working to take away our reservation. If they stop today, then we can get back to work starting tomorrow.”
He added, “It’s amazing the lengths Mr. Bluhm will go to undermine tribal rights. First, he bankrolls a protracted legal action against the Mashpee tribe in an attempt to deny us our rights to a reservation. Then he makes a last cynical attempt to force the state into approving a development it so clearly doesn’t want built.”
Cromwell told the Cape News, “We draw our strength from the broad support we enjoy from the Gaming Commission, the state’s Congressional delegation and the town of Taunton. It’s time to send Mr. Bluhm packing back to Chicago and let the rest of us get on with doing the right thing for our state, our communities and our tribe.”
Meantime, most of the Bay State’s congressional delegation is working to push a bill in Congress that would by fiat create the reservation that the Interior department was unable to justify.
The bill was co-sponsored by Rep. William Keating and U.S. Senator Edward Markey and has racked up 18 more sponsors in the House. Support is more rarified in the Senate, with so-far only Massachusetts’ other Senator, Elizabeth Warren, joining Markey.
The Senate bill has been referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs and the House bill to the Committee on Natural Resources. So far no hearings have been held on either bill.
The problems the tribe has encountered, and the reluctance of the gaming commission to act without a clear resolution, is prompting some in the southeastern part of the state to worry out loud that Region C may never have a casino.
The petition from the Brockton proponents makes this point: “There is no land-in-trust. There is no financing. There is no tribal casino and there will be no tribal casino anytime soon.”
