CASINO OPPONENTS ‘DISAPPOINTED’ AT EXCLUSION FROM FORUM

A group opposed to a third Connecticut casino cried foul Wednesday, saying a legislative committee had rejected its request to participate in a forum on gaming Thursday in Hartford.

In a statement issued late in the day, Michele Mudrick, executive director of the Coalition Against Casino Expansion in Connecticut, an alliance of mostly faith-based organizations, “expressed disappointment” that the Public Safety and Security Committee had indicated it would not allow the group to present information at the forum.

The committee has invited a variety of gaming interests, including representatives of the casino-owning Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes; other state tribes; MGM Resorts International, the casino operator developing a $950 million resort casino in Springfield, Mass.; and the state attorney general.

Mudrick said the coalition’s concern is that “the committee has defined stakeholders as only those supporting casino expansion and ignores the largest group of stakeholders of all: the public, including the coalition, which represents hundreds of thousands of people across Connecticut.”

“By excluding the public,” she said, “the committee is providing a totally biased view of the benefits of casino expansion and depriving committee members of the opportunity to question opponents and gain critical information that they would not otherwise hear.”

Mudrick said that according to the committee’s clerk, the coalition’s request was rejected because “the forum is simply an informational session and no determination as to whether to proceed with casino expansion has yet been made.”

Attempts to reach the clerk late Wednesday afternoon were unsuccessful. The forum starts at 11 a.m. in Room 2E of the Legislative Office Building.