Letter to the editor: Casino pact failed Negotiations 101 test

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According to “Casino isn’t coming but local towns still want the cash” (April 22), East Windsor First Selectman Jason Bowsza wrote a letter to Gov. Ned Lamont expressing his disappointment and concern that the shelved deal with MMCT Venture to build a casino in East Windsor would hurt East Windsor and surrounding towns to a tune of $40 million over a five-year period.

Bowsza is asking the state to compensate East Windsor for the $3 million per year it stood to gain from the casino project, which was halted as a result of the new gaming agreement between the state and the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes. To quote Bowsza, “The direct economic loss to East Windsor is staggering, amounting to nearly 20% of municipal revenue annually.” This is certainly staggering, and there is reason for concern. Not only is there not going to be a revenue generating casino, but the property will remain undeveloped 10 years.”

Bowsza, who was a selectman at the time of the negotiations with MMCT and one of the key people responsible for the agreement, neglected to include a provision for failure to perform.

The agreement should have included contingencies for unforeseen circumstances. In this case it was sports betting and online gambling, but there were other unresolved issues that could have resulted in no casino, such as final approval from the Department of Interior and the ongoing legal battle with MGM.

Fundamentally, the agreement between the town of East Windsor and MMCT was ill written. Bowsza’s job is to enhance the long-term interest of the town, and he clearly failed to do so when he negotiated the casino agreement with MMCT. Hopefully, he can do a better job negotiating with the state for restitution for the economic loss of the casino.