Bellicose Bumpkin

The Mashpee Wampanoag have entered into talks to build a casino in Fall River.

It’s time to say IT’S OVER? Why are our “partners” in talks with Fall River and members of Gov. Patrick’s administration. News flash – the tribe are looking after themselves, have been all along, and Middleboro MUST do the same. Why were people told that the Middleboro casino was inevitable when it clearly wasn’t?
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Attention Middleboro Board of Selectmen, Town Manager Charles Cristello, and pro-casino advocates: It is WAY past time to call time of death on this patient, scrap the deal, accept that it’s NOT COMING, and start planning for a future based on fiscal responsibility, budgets that are within our means, and realistic economic planning. The magic unicorn casino that prints money and has no impacts IS DEAD. CasinoFacts.Org was right, the Board of Selectmen were wrong and the whole town was thrown into upheaval and limbo for three WASTED years. Against all odds, the advice and information of pro-casino interests that stood to gain from the casino wasn’t all the great. Imagine that. I’ll repeat the advice I gave in my Gazette column last July: Protect the casino planning monies that are left and start making a plan to get that land back.

Where to begin ……

It went roughly like this:

• On advice of town manager Jack Healey, selectmen Steve Spataro, Marsha Brunelle, Pat Rogers, Wayne Perkins, and Adam Bond vote 5-0 to approve the sale of the land that would be purchased by the tribe. This was AFTER meeting with the tribe and discussing this very piece of property.
• The BOS allow Jack Healey to negotiate a compact that completely failed to address the likely impacts.
• The BOS go into full campaign mode to rush this through – disenfranchising half the population. With no study, no investigation, and no expertise, the BOS singlehandedly decide that pursuing a casino is in the best interests of the town. Along the way the BOS create massive animosity in town by denying the citizens of Middleboro a process to fully analyze and discuss the issue.
• At a cost of over $200K, the town hires an “expert” and crafts a deal that is only marginally better than the Healey deal. Department heads provide a list of “impacts” that are little more than a wish list of what was needed today – with essentially no consideration of potential impacts to school, emergency services, infrastructure, and general government.
• The BOS spend $100K of tax payers money on a rushed town meeting that didn’t have to take place. On the say-so of pro-casino interests that a casino is inevitable, they rush to sign an agreement before anti-casino opposition can solidify and increase.
• After the town meeting from hell, a number of BOS members show staggering unprofessionalism by attending parties with the tribe and receiving gifts. When challenged on it, Steve Spataro says the people in the audience are in the “cheap seats”. It boggles the mind that Mr. Spataro is running again.
• The BOS go into full-blown head-in-the-sand mode. Month after month as the situation evolves, the BOS continue to behave like it is July 2007 until even Adam Bond resigns in disgust. Their inability to acquire, process, understand, and take action on the casino issue is amazing. At the last BOS meeting, they were STILL talking about casino money and a town-run ambulance service.

We were told that the casino was inevitable – it wasn’t. We were told that $7M was a good deal – it wasn’t. We were told that running our own ambulance service was a hidden $1M benefit – it’s not. We were told that the tribe are our “partners” – they’re not. We were told that the tribe would do $260M in infrastructure improvements – they won’t. We were told that the tribe was going to build a “five star resort that happens to have a casino” only to have it turn into an outhouse with slots. The BOS were told two years ago that the infrastructure costs were too high for a ROI – they are. The BOS were warned that Glenn Marshall should be vetted – he wasn’t.

For all of you who supported the casino believing it would be be good for the town because town leadership told you so …… you should be upset. We should all be upset at the time, effort, and money Middleboro has spent on this foolish misadventure.