Patrick to tribe: it's too early to negotiate over casino

September 5, 2008 06:41 PM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – +

By Andrea Estes, Globe Staff

The Patrick administration today rejected a request by the Mashpee Wampanoags to negotiate an agreement for a $1 billion resort casino in Middleborough, saying talks would be "premature" until the federal government places the tribe's land in trust.

"Until we know the extent to which the Bureau of Indian Affairs approves the Tribe's land-in-trust application, and the Tribe's jurisdiction over the land located in Middleborough is established, any agreements we might reach would be purely hypothetical," Governor Deval Patrick's chief legal counsel, Ben Clements, wrote to to tribal chairman Shawn W. Hendricks Sr.

Clements urged Hendricks to continue ongoing "informal conversations and meetings" with administration officials.

Earlier this week the tribe delivered a letter to the governor requesting that negotiations begin "at the earliest mutually convenient date."

The tribe won federal recognition last year, the first step toward building a resort casino with 4,000 slot machines, a 1,500 room hotel and a golf course in the Southeastern Massachusetts town.

But the next step -- having its land placed in trust -- could take months or years. Tribal leaders believe they will receive approval next year, but approval is by no means assured.

In its letter to Patrick, the tribe said that having a compact with the state could help them win federal approval of their land-in-trust application. .

Patrick, whose proposal to license three casinos in Massachusetts died in the House of Representatives last March, repeatedly argued the state should license casinos because -- with or without state approval -- the tribe is likely to build one. Without its involvement, the state would give up control and millions of dollars in revenue.

In their letter to Patrick, the Mashpees wrote exactly that -- that if the state doesn't approve a compact, it will pursue its federal rights under the Indian Gaming Act to develop a casino with Class 2 slot machines. These machines look like regular slots but are not as popular with gamblers or lucrative for operators. Upgrading to better, Class 3 machines would require state approval.

"No matter what ultimately happens with the negotiations, please know that it is the tribe's intent to operate America's most successful casino resort in Middleborough," wrote Hendricks on Sept. 3 . "We hope that we do so in a manner which benefits all of us to the fullest extent possible."

Scott Ferson, a spokesman for the tribe, said the governor's response was not a surprise since he had indicated previously that he wanted to delay discussions until the tribe's application had made its way through the federal bureaucracy.

He said the tribe "looks forward" to ongoing discussions with Daniel O'Connell, secretary of the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, who has been the administration's point person on gaming.

"The tribal chairman had a very good conversation with Secretary O'Connell yesterday," Ferson said. "The tribe has been in discussions with the state over infrastructure issues and looks forward to having further discussions in the near term on police and fire, and social service issues."