Connecticut casino plan stirs fears, hopes

John Christoffersen

Monday, Aug. 5, 2002 | 9:56 a.m.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- For some in the suburbs, the prospect of a massive Indian casino in the state's largest city is a traffic nightmare that threatens a region so prosperous it is often called the Gold Coast.

But in Bridgeport, the casino is a tantalizing project to some in a city hungry for jobs and tax relief after the loss of manufacturing jobs and a major corruption scandal.

The casino, proposed by the Golden Hill Paugussetts, is stirring long simmering battles between Connecticut's wealthy suburbs and the struggling city.

"I don't know what their gripe is," said Donna Price, a former Bridgeport resident who works in the city. "They've got it made. Let some people in Bridgeport have a break for a change."

The Paugussetts want to build a casino in Bridgeport if they earn federal recognition from the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. After two decades of efforts, the tribe is expecting a decision on its petition by January.

"We're very optimistic about this decision," said Chief Quiet Hawk, the Paugussetts' 57-year-old leader.

The BIA in June granted recognition to the Eastern Pequots, the third tribe recognized in southeastern Connecticut. That ruling has heightened speculation the Paugussetts will be recognized, although the tribe has been rejected in the past.

"This is real and not just a theoretical risk," said Christopher Bruhl, who leads SACIA, The Business Council.

The Schaghticokes, who also are seeking recognition from the BIA, have a reservation in Kent and want to build a casino in southwestern Connecticut.

Fairfield County towns hired a law firm earlier this year and sent a letter to the BIA raising concerns about the prospects of more casinos in Connecticut.

Opponents cite traffic studies that found a casino would add tens of thousands of cars daily onto severely congested Interstate 95. They fear the resulting gridlock would threaten an economy that has provided many with a comfortable life in the suburbs of New York City.

"Nobody knows the consequences of taking an interstate effectively out of service for the local economy," Bruhl said. "But that cannot be a pretty picture."

Much of the existing traffic heads south -- away from Bridgeport -- to jobs in lower Fairfield County. A casino is expected to draw gamblers from New York, many of whom would take mass transit, proponents say.

"As long as traffic is going to Stamford, nobody says nothing. Let us talk about doing something for Bridgeport and then traffic is a big issue," said state Rep. Ernest Newton, echoing a common refrain among Bridgeport officials.

"Bridgeport doesn't have much to choose from. It's not like developers are breaking the door down to come to our city," Newton, D-Bridgeport, said.

The tribe has stepped up its efforts with meetings in recent weeks that promised thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue from the casino.

"We're talking about the largest casino in the world," Chief Quiet Hawk said.

A casino proposed in Bridgeport in the mid-1990s was defeated in the legislature over the traffic impact and other issues. The city since then has opened a state-funded minor league baseball stadium and a sports arena.

But residents say much more is needed.

When she arrived in Bridgeport 35 years ago, Price said, the city was booming with plenty of jobs.

"Now you're lucky if you could get a job in a year or two," said Price, who works at a child guidance center in Bridgeport. "I've known people out of work two years and are still looking."

With the corruption scandal raising fears that Bridgeport's progress will come to a halt, a casino is appealing to some. The Paugussetts have tapped into the yearning for progress, placing billboard signs on I-95 advertising "the tribe with a plan."

"I just think it would help bring down the taxes and give employment to the people on the unemployment lines," said Charnelle Brown, who lives and works in Bridgeport as a secretary for the Connecticut Department of Children and Families.

As for the opponents, Brown said, "I feel if it's not in their town they should mind their own business."

The Bridgeport City Council passed a nonbinding resolution supporting the tribe and casino project. Residents overwhelmingly favored a casino in a referendum taken for the earlier defeated casino.

But not everyone thinks a casino is Bridgeport's salvation.

"A lot of people in downtown Bridgeport are living on Social Security or the state and they don't have any expendable income to use at a casino," Beth Lazar, an unemployed Bridgeport resident, said. "They'll end up using their rent money or their food money."

Dorothy Zweibaum, who lives in neighboring Fairfield and works in Bridgeport as a social worker, expressed skepticism about the tribe's legitimacy and whether a casino would benefit Bridgeport residents.

"It's a little ridiculous -- this six-person tribe that now will probably have more money than the (Mashantucket) Pequots," Weibaum said, referring to the tribe that operates the hugely successful Foxwoods Resort Casino in southeastern Connecticut.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, a Greenwich resident, has opposed the Paugussetts' petition for recognition, arguing the tribe does not meet the BIA's criteria.

"There are key gaps in time when the tribe ceased to exist in terms of internal governance, continuity of organization and even descendants," Blumenthal said.

Chief Quiet Hawk said his tribe has about 350 members, a majority of whom are unemployed.

"We are of various backgrounds," said Quiet Hawk, whose father is Indian and his mother black. "We all adhere to one belief of our tribe and culture and heritage. That's what we survive on."

Bruhl rejected any notion that the suburbs were to blame for Bridgeport's troubles. He pointed to the corruption scandal, which so far has resulted in 11 guilty pleas, and cited the support of suburban lawmakers for substantial state funding in Bridgeport.

"It's too simple to say it's a community of have-nots being denied their due by a community of haves," Bruhl said.

The economic schism does rankle others.

"Given that dimension of the conflict, I'm inclined to support the tribe," Lawrence Kazura, a history professor at Fairfield University, said. "It should irritate them -- the suburbs who don't give a damn about Connecticut's cities. All they care about is preserving their comfort."

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