Mashantucket council, Ledyard mayor discuss variety of town-tribe issues
Mashantucket — Members of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council and Ledyard Mayor Fred Allyn III met here Tuesday amid controversy over tribal members’ access to town social services.
In a joint statement issued Tuesday night, the council’s chairman, Rodney Butler, and the mayor said the discussion also touched on policing, education and other topics “as well as concerns regarding historic and more recent issues that exist between the Town and Tribe.”
The statement provided no details of the discussion.
“In the near two-hour meeting held at Mashantucket, both parties acknowledged the possibility of mutual collaborations and committed to working together in the coming months to build a foundation and set the groundwork necessary for a healthy, long term relationship,” Butler and Allyn said in the statement. “Having acknowledged the many challenges and miscommunications that led to today’s meeting, we are pleased with the overall outcome and look forward to continuing the conversation and striving toward positive outcomes for the benefit of both communities."
The backdrop for the meeting was a letter The Day published Monday in which a half-dozen Ledyard residents questioned the town’s policy of turning away town residents seeking access to Ledyard Social Services’ food pantry because of their status as tribal members.
Allyn said Monday that the town has in recent years referred tribal members seeking town social services to the tribe, which has its own social services department.
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