Last week Shelton, Connecticut Mayor Mark A. Lauretti announced in an op-ed published in the CT Post that he has changed his find and now supports a competitive bid for siting a casino in the state’s largest city, Bridgeport.
Although he opposed casino gaming when it first came to the state in the form of Indian gaming, and opposed it in 1991, “That was then, this is now. With the benefit of hindsight, and more than 28 years, I’ve changed my view. If one of the world’s most respected entertainment companies wants to spend three-quarters of a billion dollars in Bridgeport, create jobs, boost economic development and eliminate blight, we should let them. That’s particularly true if taxpayers aren’t footing any of the bill, but would reap significant tax income to the state as well as Bridgeport, which is precisely what MGM has proposed.”
Lauretti argues that the state’s penchant for creating monopolies does not serve its interests well. “I don’t doubt the sincerity of those who say that the Indian tribes have had a wonderful relationship with the state. The benefits have gone both ways, to be sure. But haven’t we sufficiently fulfilled our end of the bargain made back in the ’90s? Isn’t it time for someone else — such as the residents of Bridgeport and this region — to share in the prosperity that a thriving casino would bring?”
He argues for taking advantage of Bridgeport’s geographic proximity to the untapped casino market of New York City and Long Island. “We have an unprecedented opportunity to lift Bridgeport, and create the economic growth that has been elusive for so long in our state. The Legislature is due to adjourn on June 5. We cannot afford to let that date come and go without having seized the opportunity before us.”
