Schaghticoke Tribal Nation’s casino hopes are raised, only to be crushed

KENT — There was a brief moment last week when it looked as though the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation (STN) might fulfill their ambition of building a casino in Connecticut.

Chief Richard Velky had filed an application for LLC status under the name of “Confluence of Rivers Tribal Business Entity LLC,” with the stated intention of developing a casino pursuant to Special Act 15-70.

The Special Act allows either of the two federally recognized tribes in the state to build a new casino, which would be Connecticut’s third. The two tribes specified in the Special Act are the Mashantucket Pequots and the Mohegans.

The application was approved by the office of Secretary of the State Denise Merrill. 

The Tribal Nation sent out a press release on Feb. 2 announcing that “a business entity created by the tribe as a Tribal Business Entity received notification from the Connecticut Secretary of the State’s office earlier this afternoon that it has been granted the authority to pursue the development of a commercial casino in Connecticut, a process which was authorized by the Legislature and Governor in 2015 (Special Act No. 15-7).”

The Schaghticokes are not federally recognized, and a decision by the federal government last year is widely seen as forbidding the Tribal Nation from continuing to seek recognition. 

The Kent community responded to the Tribal Nation’s jubilant announcement with shock and concern. Calls were made, and the office of the secretary of the state took back the permission it had apparently granted. In a press release on Feb. 3, Merrill said the Tribal Nation’s “application had been received in error … It appears in this case that the application meets the standard to create an LLC but not the requirements of the Special Act. We are looking into what additional action should be taken.”

Velky immediately issued a new press release of his own, saying, “The obvious result of denying or rescinding our registration as a Tribal Business Entity would be to prevent us from issuing a request for proposals to municipalities regarding the establishment of a possible casino gaming facility in a willing host community. We view this as an unconstitutional act on the part of the Secretary of the State’s office. Furthermore, this threatened act by Secretary Merrill appears to be an unfortunate continuation of a longstanding policy of certain officials of the State of Connecticut to frustrate our legal economic development initiatives.”

On Tuesday, Feb. 9, Chief Velky sent out a new press release noting that the secretary of the state’s office had not yet rescinded the Tribal Nation’s application, and therefore his group will proceed with plans to try and get a casino built.

“Seven days ago we were told ‘yes’ by the State, six days ago we were told ‘no’ by the State through their press statement,” Velky said in a press release. “Yet here we are, a week later, and approval for our application hasn’t been rescinded. I can only assume that means the Secretary of the State’s office understands that it is wandering into dangerous legal territory if in fact it tries to rescind a perfectly valid, legal application that it initially approved.”

Kent First Selectman Bruce Adams said that his understanding of the Special Act is that it only applies to the two federally recognized tribes — who have already been talking to towns such as East Hartford and Windsor Locks  that are interested in having a casino.

As for the secretary of the state’s error, he said, “I would have liked her or someone in her office to offer a strong apology.”

So far, that apology has not arrived and apparently neither has a definite statement that the Tribal Nation is not in the running for the possibility of building that additional Connecticut casino.