The possibility of casino gambling at Suffolk Downs has become a leading topic of conversation and news coverage since Mayor Menino came out in favor of the idea on Thursday. One consequence seemed to be the resumption of negotiations between the town of Middleborough and the Mashpee Wampanoags over the building of a resort casino on several hundred acres of land that the Native American tribe recently purchased in that town. On Wednesday it seemed as though the discussions between town and tribe were deteriorating, but both sides were back at the table Friday, Menino's comments seemingly pushing Middleborough officials to be more accommodating.Today's Globe and Herald both have stories on the reaction to the proposal from East Boston residents and elected officials. Residents seem wary, especially of the increased traffic that would flow into Eastie at, theoretically, all hours of the day and night. Both City Councilor Sal LaMattina and state Senator Anthony Petruccelli have adopted a wait and see attitude. It is highly unlikely that the Wampanoags would ever be able to build a casino here because there is a "50-mile rule" that the Department of the Interior, which includes the Bureau of Indian Affairs, generally uses, insisting that casinos run by Native American tribes be located within 50 miles of their tribal lands, which in this case is Cape Cod--farther from Boston than the allowed distance.
There is, of course, the possibility that the state could make casino gambling legal, which would allow non-Native Americans to own gaming establishments. Gov. Deval Patrick has shown some interest in backing this proposal, and he is expected to receive a report in August from a "study group on gaming" that he established. The governor has said he'll make an announcement on the matter by Labor Day, though officials in his administration have already made clear that the governor can't make this decision alone: They believe that the state legislature must pass a measure to legalize casinos.
The people who could be impacted most in the short term by all of this talk of gambling at Suffolk Downs are the four candidates for the vacated 1st Suffolk seat in the state House of Representatives. Suddenly, it would seem, the wisdom of putting a casino right here in East Boston becomes the number one issue. Mary Berninger, Jeff Drago, Carlo Basile and Gloribell Mota will need to take a position because I'm going to guess that residents will want to know pretty quickly where everyone stands.
2 comments:
It was literally the day before this whole deal about the casino popped up and the issue got really hot that Gloribell Mota came to my door and I was asking her about the jobs issue in Eastie and the tax dollars issue and she made a point that stuck with me. It seems a little backwards to talk about a dire need for more tax dollars and trying to find "NEW" sources of revenue when we are just throwing away millions of dollars on tax loopholes for companies and ceo's of large companies paying the same amount of taxes as some of their workers who make 20 times less money. She kind of got me there. We shouldn't keep connecting the casino to jobs and revenue when our politicians aren't looking at basic and common sense measures on our dollars and our labor unions are under attack more than ever.
I'm not against Gambling. My wife and I go to Atlantic City two or three times a year on Comp. We see it as a little vacation. Two days of shows, eating out, resort life and we restrict our gaming to one hundred dollars a day each. All else is paid for under our Comps. Two days of meals, lodging and entertainment for two people at four hundred dollars is not bad.
But how many people can hold themselves to their limit. How many will say "I lost the hundred and will take out a little more."?
I wonder how many go and drop everything and wind up in the poor house.
There is a moral issue that should be debated here?
BobBrug
Long Island NY
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