I am completely and utterly shocked by the embezzlement allegations against former Middleboro PTA president you know who. If someone had suggested to me that SE was involved in something like this I would have told them that they were crazy and to shut the hell up before I punched them in the face. I do not know the treasurer who is also implicated in the alleged theft of $30k.

I have loads of respect for SE and will be withholding judgement until all the facts are known. SE’s facebook presence has disappeared along with her blog. I’m not going to contribute to the permanent google-ization of her name regardless of the outcome – and PARTICULARLY until the full story is known.

Today (Apr 30) is the day to vote in local Middleboro elections and the Senate primary.

There are contested races for the Board of Selectman, the MG&E Commission, and I think the Housing Authority.

Where are the Polling Locations for Elections?:

TOWN OF MIDDLEBOROUGH POLLING LOCATIONS

PRECINCT 1 – OAK POINT CLUB HOUSE, 202 OAK POINT DRIVE

PRECINCTS 2, 4, 6 – MIDDLEBORO HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASIUM, 71 EAST GR0VE STREET (RTE 28)

PRECINCT 3 – SOUTH MIDDLEBOROUGH FIRE STATION, 566 WAREHAM STREET (RTE 28)

PRECINCT 5 – MIDDLEBOROUGH COUNCIL ON AGING, 558 PLYMOUTH STREET

“The boarded up windows, The empty street, While my brother’s down on his knees, My city of Ruins”, Bruce Springsteen wrote these lyrics to the song My City of Ruins in 2000 for a show he did for a benefit for Asbury Park. After he performed the song at the Tribute to Heroes concert in the aftermath of 9/11, the song took a whole new meaning. Bruce is and probably always will be my go to music selection when I need a quick fix to any mood I am in at the moment. I loved the song, but after yesterday, it resonates in a far different way than I had ever wanted to imagine.

Boston has always been my city. Growing up on the South Shore, Boston gleamed in the distance like the Land of OZ. It was the place where everything magical happened and wonder occurred. There were no professional baseball teams in smaller cities, concerts were not held in the suburbs, you wanted to do anything “fun” as a teenager growing up, you needed to go to Boston. I do remember my first recollection of going to the city with my parents. I was little and it was shortly after the famous stabbing death of a Harvard football player in the Combat Zone. I remember hearing about it on the news. I also recall my dad parking on Washington Street and pointing out that the Combat Zone was down the street. I remember this because I thought I was going to see tanks and soldiers in that part of the city. I had no idea that the Combat Zone had any other meaning.

As I grew, my parents allowed me to travel into Boston to explore the city and make it my own. We were fortunate that if we couldn’t get our parents to give us a ride, we had our choice; we could ride the T to Braintree or take the BAT bus to Ashmont. The ride on the bus was always filled with excitement to go to Boston. It was there I learned how to score a baseball game, how hot the Garden got during the summertime, that there was no cooler place on earth than Newbury Comics and that the greatest art museum is the Gardner. I witnessed my own British Invasion in the form of the Sex Pistols and the Clash. Halloween was never the same after experiencing Rocky Horror Picture at the Exeter.

As I got older, I would go to Boston every weekend to meet my now wife at Boston College. Together and with family and friends, we enjoyed the night like every college kid should. We went to clubs, to bars, to dives, enjoyed cold tea in Chinatown and continued to enjoy the city to the fullest. As we got older, the city has always been a time away. Boston is a place to bring the kids and let them have fun in ways possible nowhere else. The Swan boats, duck boats, JFK Library, Museum of Science, the Children’s Museum milk bottle and Fenway Park can’t be found just anywhere.

I started working full time in the city in the early 1990’s and have enjoyed every minute of it. I love just leaving the office and wandering over to Fenway, calling friends to say that I have tickets last minute to an event or meeting people for a beer after work. I freely admit that I hate the commute at times but the overall fun of working in the city has always outweighed the one drawback.

One other important point! Whenever I am away and am asked where I am from, I always answer Boston. Not to disrespect Middleboro or where I grew up but nobody knows the names of those towns. Everyone knows Boston. When you tell someone you are from Boston, one of two things happen. They will tell you that they have been there and name a place that they loved or they tell you they want to go and why. It never fails. Even with the most ardent of Yankee Fans!

That said; yesterday hit me in a way I never expected. I work at a Hotline that deals with the most horrible experience one can imagine. I have been parts of teams that have prepared and trained for events like this for quite some time. What hit me hard was the realization that my son and some other kids I know were afraid of Boston. That pierced me like a dagger through my heart. As I left for the office this morning, hearing him tell me to be safe bothered me in ways unimaginable yesterday morning. I want every kid to understand that Boston is magical and opens doors that we can never see in small towns. In my mind, it was my own version of Disneyland.

I will work my ass off to make sure those kids understand that we all lose if we are afraid! Not short term fear, we all understand that but we must live our lives to the fullest to crush whoever these cowardly bastards are. I REFUSE TO LET THEM TAKE MY CITY AWAY!

Two quick things to show all of you;

In my job, I have had the great opportunity of my life to work with first responders. I admire and respect them. I also work a lot with the Boston Police Department. They did an outstanding job yesterday and made us all proud.

Secondly, I am still very much angry and filled with rage. I apologize for the profanity but this sums us how I feel perfectly!

There is no doubt that the Massachusetts Gaming Commission is about to open Region C to commercial bidding. Once there is a large casino in the area, there is no economic incentive to build anything else. No backer with deep pockets will risk their capital to build in a saturated market. In the end, financial decisions are usually based on financial reality – particularly by non-governments.

The tribe knows this. Their hapless leadership have run up millions of dollars in debt for a project that was always a real longshot. As the end nears, tribal chairman Cedric Cromwell has become ever more shrill, threatening, and desperate as this video shows. It is video Hail Mary pass shot in a pseudo-news style that is rather hilarious when you know the back story.

The video is included in a last ditch plea for people to contact the gaming commission to shill for a tribal casino. The page advises supporters to

Send an email today to mgccomments@state.ma.us with “Region C” in the subject line. Comments must be received no later than Tuesday, April 16, at 5:00 pm.

I would urge any of you who have an interest in this to send your own email with “Open up Region C to commercial bidding” in the subject line.

Handy mgccomments@state.ma.us link

Since the Mashpee Wampanoag came to Middleboro in 2007, many of us have continued to follow the story. Some friends of mine have become essentially experts in indian law. They found some documents that prove that the Mashpee were never under federal jurisdiction and so are bound to the Supreme Court decision barring them from getting land taken into trust(sovereign indian land) by the Secretary of the Interior. Mr. Pacheco etal – please read this carefully. Failure to do so will cause you to continue to shortchange the people of region C even more than your epic inability to listen already has.

Short history lesson: The Mashpee Wampanoag came to Middleboro and signed a deal to build a casino. Pacheco – Patrick – you guys were total no-shows and left us hanging while my town tore itself apart needlessly. Shortly after, chairman Glenn Marshall resigned in disgrace. The next chairman Shawn Hendricks didn’t last long. In February of 2009 the Supreme Court ruled that tribes recognized after 1934 could not have land taken into trust by the Secretary of the Interior. Land into trust means sovereign indian land that gives the tribes special rights to gambling. The tribe was taken over by Cedric Cromwell – a person who, according to Reelwamps, is driving the tribe into financial ruin by borrowing heavily from foreign investors who are apparently stupid. The Mashpee Wampanoag abandoned their agreement with Middleboro and went reservation/casino shopping and finally settled in East Taunton. For almost the last year they have had a woefully incomplete land into trust application in with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. This ridiculous application is the punchline to the joke that is the idea of a Mashpee Wampanoag casino.

Meanwhile, Cromwell keeps telling everybody that their casino is inevitable and that it is proceeding according to plan – a plan that has shovels in the ground in a year. In Middleboro we’re still waiting for the shovels that were supposed to break ground more than 5 years ago. Us veterans of the the Mashpee’s proposed Middleboro casino have been telling everyone since early 2009 that the Mashpee could not get land into trust and therefore could not get a casino. Meanwhile people like Marc Pacheco, Deval Patrick, and most of the media dutifully regurgitated the total bullshit fed to them by the tribe and their lobbyists going so far as to write a completely needless preference for the Mashpee Wampanoag into the legislation that legalized casino gambling in Massachusetts.

Throughout the years all this has been going on, these political geniuses have been told numerous times and by numerous people that they are wasting time screwing around with the Mashpee Wampanoag because … repeat after me Mr. Pacheco: THE TRIBE CAN’T GET LAND INTO TRUST AND THEREFORE … PAY ATTENTION NOW … THEY CAN’T BUILD A TRIBAL CASINO. Now please – Mr. Patrick, Mr. Pacheco, Massachusetts Gambling Commission – carefully reread the last couple of paragraphs until you understand what I’m saying. Now Marc .. the first step is admitting that you’ve been totally wrong on this issue. That’s what you have to do … because …. you’ve been totally wrong on this issue. Not just wrong – but epically wrong. Consistently wrong. Stubbornly and steadfastly wrong. The sort of wrong that other wrong things aspire to …. in admiration of your wrongness.

Now here comes the real important part:

I get that you don’t believe what me and others have been telling you for years. Boy do I get it. Cromwell and his buddies have been telling you not to worry about that pesky Carcier v. Salazar decision. Cromwell and his paid lobbyists are telling you that the tribe was under federal jurisdiction.

Here comes the bombshell.

Please take a look at this letter that was submitted to the Bureau of Indian Affairs asking them to reject the Mashpee’s application for trust land in East Taunton – or anywhere else for that matter. It references their own letters, several of them in fact, that state emphatically, clearly, unequivocally … and repeatedly that the Mashpee Wampanoag were NOT UNDER FEDERAL JURISDICTION prior to 1934. Were not. Understand that I am not just giving my interpretation – this evidence actually uses the words “not under federal jurisdiction”. Snap. Slam. Dunk. Done.

Please forgive me if I repeat all this so much that even a moron could understand it …. history has shown me that morons apparently cannot understand this.

• The Mashpee Wampanoag were NOT under federal jurisdiction prior to 1934.
• Carcier v Salazar states that the SOI CANNOT take land into trust for tribes who were not under federal jurisdiction in 1934
• There is ZERO … again ZERO appetite in Congress for the Carcieri fix. If a fix comes it will likely be more restrictive and totally eliminate the sort of reservation shopping the tribe is lamely attempting to engage in.
• Even if a Carcieri fix comes – there is a fundamental problem that cannot be overcome. Other case(Hawaii) law suggests that the federal government cannot take over land that is currently ceded to the state. Since there is no federal land in the original 13 colonies – there is no way to create sovereign indian land.
• You are totally wasting time and effort by holding up the Region C license in the hope that the Mashpee are going to get trust land.

This is not new information – sure these documents that my awesome and informed friends have uncovered are new – but they are just the hardcopy proof of everything that we’ve been telling you for years.

IT IS TIME TO LISTEN. I can hook you up with some amazing people who – unlike you – have spent YEARS studying this issue. And here is the real shocker: The tribe and paid lobbyists who stand to benefit from a Mashpee Wampanoag casino have been feeding you bad information to keep their chances alive. I know that sounds unbelievable but it’s true.

Now please do me the favor of waking the f*** up – even if it is six years too late.

I would ask you to excuse my harsh language and understand that me and my friends have gone through living hell for almost six years while you numbskulls in the state house couldn’t bother your a**** to learn anything – or even read the information that was chewed up and regurgitated for easy digestion.

Regards.

Someone suggested a column with this top:

MA meal breaks. MGL 149 requires employees to get a lunch break if they work more than 6 hours per day. Pretty simple right?

However, many employees violate this law, by requiring an employee to perform part of their job responsibilities during their lunch. This law states “if unpaid, this time is the employees free time”. If the employee is required to do any part of their job during lunch, this would not be an unpaid lunch. If the employee is restricted from leaving the property by the employer this would need to be a paid lunch.

I’ve been working since I was 15 years old (not counting paper routes and cutting grass). In those 35 years I’ve only worked at four different companies. Of those four I’ve been working at one of them for almost 29 years. Yes 29.

Back when I was a bundle boy at Capital Supermarket, the manager would occasionally give you guff about taking a break if you had a short shift or if it was really busy. In fact, now that I’m thinking about it, he told me once that I couldn’t take a break and I took one anyway which led to some hot water for me. Other than those minor incidents, I’ve never had an employer pressure me to skip lunch or breaks and/or expect me to work during breaks.

I’d be interested in your experiences and whether or not you think this problem is pervasive in the workplace.

I can’t seem to find links to my column in the Middleboro Gazette, but this week’s gem is about Auburn Street, the junk that continues to sit there, and the idea of building a pedestrian bridge to connect the conservation land on the Middleboro side of the Taunton River with the conservation land on the Bridgewater side. Both towns have CPA which could potentially contribute to funding.

Auburn Street was gated off by the abutter and is used as a private parking lot and junk yard. Meanwhile access to the river is blocked for the rest of us taxpayers. I suggest taking over the road and clearing it in the name of public saftey:

Every so often some boater takes a spill into the river and needs to be rescued. We could have kids drowning three feet off the end of Auburn Street and our rescue apparatus would have to be put in the water way down on Summer Street. In the name of public safety, the town of Middleboro should pull up to that gate with police cruisers, DPW trucks, and most all – with a big honking set of bolt cutters. They should cut that padlock off and start hauling out any vehicle or piece of junk that is currently littering that road. Problem solved.

So yesterday I took the family down to New Bedford for the day. I’ve lived in Middleboro for over 20 years and have almost never been to this city.

We found plenty of on-street parking right in the heart of the New Bedford Historic District and started off with lunch at the Urban Grille – which was fantastic. It had a very modern/chic interior, a really interesting menu, and had a BYOB policy. It was a totally enjoyable lunch accompanied by a bottle of wine that we brought with us. I love the whole BYOB things – something the Narrows Center has as well. The restaurant has a deal with a nearby liquor store who will deliver victuals if you didn’t bring any yourself. I’m not sure if the BYOB is limited to beer/wine …. I can’t seen any reason to distinguish beer from whiskey but one never knows. After lunch we walked several blocks to the New Bedford Whaling Museum.

The museum was $10 per person – even for my 11-year-old. I found it to be very interesting – particularly the smaller exhibits. I liked the cases with products made from whale oil – shoe polish, machine oil, soap, etc. There were loads of great paintings and some big stuff – whale skeletons, a 1/2 scale whaling ship, and loads of other stuff.

It took exactly 30 minutes to get there from Middleboro Center. There was no traffic and parking was cheap and plentiful. We’ll be going back to see what else the city has to offer.

We only scratched the surface of the historic district. There were a load of great looking shops, bars, restaurants, galleries, and historic buildings.

This sounds like a good idea:

Brookfield and four adjoining towns have formed an equipment-sharing cooperative that has created savings for the towns’ highway departments.

The cooperative, which also includes East Brookfield, West Brookfield, Brimfield and Warren, has helped the towns save on tasks such as keeping catch basins clear, repaving roads, and painting road-center lines. Last spring, the project received a $58,000 state innovation grant.

I’ve long thought that Middleboro specifically and Massachusetts generally could do things more efficiently by using a more regional approach similar to county governments common in the South. If Middleboro, Lakeville, Carver, and Bridgewater were one town, how many police and firestations would we have and where would they be? I would tend to think that there would be some cost savings there. Short of that kind of overhaul, this equipment cooperative sounds like something smaller and more doable that might have some savings for participating towns.

My column in this week’s Middleboro Gazette covers the three questions that will appear on the ballot this Nov 6th – otherwise known as vote for Obama/Warren day. I’m voting No on 1, Yes on 2, and Yes on 3.

Q1 – The Right To Repair Law
Question 1 is sponsored by the Right To Repair Coalition …
…
Q2 – Legalized Suicide
The second ballot would allow a physician to prescribe medication that a person could ingest to kill themselves ….
…
Q3 – Medical Marijuana
Question 3 states: “This proposed law would eliminate state criminal ….
…

The Bureau Of Indian Affairs has soundly rejected the compact negotiated between the Mashpee Wampanoag and Governor Patrick. The reject letter had a whole raft of issues. The biggest one was the 21% the tribe agree to pay to the state. The BIA indicated that it was too much and they didn’t want to see much more than 6%. Considering that the commercial casinos will pay north of 25% – that means a lot of lost revenue if the state renegotiates.

There is only one smart thing to do – but given that every public official who gets involved with the Mashpee Wampanoag seem to be incapable of doing anything smart I’m not going to hold my breath. All along the flawed argument has been that the tribe has an inevitable inviolate right to a casino and we had better just cut a deal or we would get nothing. And I’ll advise what I’ve been advising all along: Do NOT give the tribe a casino. Put the casino out for commercial bid and then DON’T award the commercial casino to the tribe. Going back for the over five years I’ve been watching the tribe, they have not demonstrated that they are capable of running their tribal government so why would we want to give them a gambling operation that takes in many hundreds of millions of dollars?

In the HIGHLY unlikely event that the tribe someday gets Land Into Trust – there are legal options that can keep them out of the casino business for years. If some series of miracles to occur (20 years from now) and the tribe gets permission to build a casino it can be prevented by saturating the market or giving competitive advantage to existing commercial casinos. Once the market is saturated, there will be zero financial incentive to build anything but the smallest facility.

It’s just that simple folks.

I watched the second Brown/Warren debate. I’d give a slight edge to Brown in this one. He made a strong case for being independent. I think he is in danger of losing the nice-guy image that helped carry him to victory of Coakley. His ads are becoming increasingly harsh and I don’t think it’s doing him any favors. The debate spent a lot of time on character issues and that weakened Warren’s ability to focus on Brown’s record like she did in the first debate – when she made the case that Brown would add to the obstructionist tendencies of the House/Senate GOP.

There were more charges by Brown about Warren’s work with Traveler’s Insurance – which I think Warren answered well. Still the questions kept her off message. Brown didn’t come off well when he named Scalia as one of the best justices and I thought he looked evasive when he claimed to have released a client list from his legal practice and was questioned about it. He hasn’t released the list and looked to floundering a bit when pushed on it.

Warren had one of the funniest lines – when asked why there had never been a female governor or senator from MA – she said “I’m trying to change that”. . Warren came off well when listing her credentials – she has a strong set of qualifications. In the end though, Brown see to control the debate more than Warren.

Both candidates did pretty well in this debate but I’d call this one for Brown.

Unless something outrageous happens at the next two debates, this race is going down to the wire.

At this point I have decided to vote for Warren for two main reasons: 1 – I don’t want to give the GOP another vote in the Senate because the national party has veered way too far to the right. 2 – Brown’s signing of the Grover Norquist no tax pledge means to me that he can’t be an effective Senator. Besides those reasons, watching the debates is starting to convince me that Warren is actually far more qualified than Brown.

You can find your polling location here.
http://www.wheredoivotema.com/bal/MyElectionInfo.aspx

Please share. Note – I will not be casting the first vote.

I have absolutely no idea where the race stands since I have seen no polling. Results of this poll are representative of people who see my blog – not necessarily the general population. Please share as much as possible particularly on social media such as Facebook, Google Plus and Twitter.

My column in this week’s Middleboro Gazette are the answers to a questionnaire I send to Democratic candidates running in the primary for the 12th Bristol District. I wish to thank the candidates for participating:

This week’s column is a long one but it contains few of my words. I have the words of Roger Brunelle Jr. and Adam Bond, who are each vying to be the Democratic candidate in the race for state representative of the 12th Bristol District. The winner of the Sept. 6 primary will face incumbent Rep. Keiko Orrall, a Republican, in the general election in November.

Brunelle and Bond graciously answered a questionnaire I sent to them recently. I present their responses as received. Note that this column is for the primary only — which is why Rep. Orrall is not represented. There will be a column leading up to the general election focusing on the Democratic and Republican candidates.

I hope you find these questions helpful as you decide who to support in the coming election.

Would you rate yourself liberal, moderate, or conservative?
….
….

I have sent out the following to the Democratic candidates in the 12th Bristol District. I have already received a detailed response from Mr. Bond which I will print in full in the near future. My goal is to print the candidates responses in full and highlight the information in a Gazette column to help the voters decide which candidate will run against Keiko Orrall in the general election. Here is the full text of the email I sent to Mr. Bond and Mr. Brunelle:

I’m writing a column for the Middleboro Gazette on the candidates for representative
in the 12th Bristol Districe primary – Roger Brunelle Jr. and Adam Bond.

I will highlight the candidates responses to the following questions to help voters
decide which candidate best represents them. If you would like to be included
in the column, please respond in writing by noon on Monday Aug 6. Answers will
be included as much as possible in the Gazette column and printed in full on
http://nemasket.net if responses exceed available column space. In other words,
I have space constraints in the column but wish to ensure that the candidates
full answers are available to voters.

– Would you rate yourself liberal, moderate, or conservative?
– Can you offer any specific ways to control spending in state government?
– Can you offer any specific ways the state can help municipal governments control spending?
– Do you believe in evolution, intelligent design, or something else?
– Do you have any specific recommendations on improving the public schools?
– Do you favor discontinuation, expansion, or contraction of TIFs?
– What are your top priorities if elected?
– Why should someone vote for you instead of your opponent
– Can you give any examples of involvement in state or regional issues?
– What is your opinion on the Mashpee Wampanoag’s attempt to open a casino in Taunton?

Thank you in advance,

-Mark Belanger
mark.j.belanger@gmail.com

http://nemasket.net

I am currently creating a list of questions for the Democratic candidates in the upcoming primary in the race for the 12th Bristol District seat in the House of Representatives. Roger Brunelle Jr. is running against Adam Bond in the democratic primary. The winner will face off against Republican Keiko Orrall.

Please let me know if you have any questions and I’ll consider including them with the ones I already have. This round of questions is for the Democratic primary candidates only. A follow-up questionnaire will cover the election.

I recently posted the Mashpee Wampanoag Land-Into-Trust application. I pulled down the documents at the request of the person who acquired them and provided me with copies.

I am reposting them now – http://nemasket.net/LIT.

I’ve acquired copies of the Mashpee Wampanoag’s Land-Into-Trust(LIT) application for their Middleboro, Raynham, Fall River Taunton casino.

Although I’ve never read another LIT application, I would venture to say that this incomplete and ridiculous document would probably make a good case study for the wrong way to do a LIT application. The application references numerous documents that are not yet submitted.

Docs are here – http://nemasket.net/LIT.

It should be STRONGLY noted that NOBODY went to the trouble of getting these documents most notably the Mass legislators who are voting in favor of a compact with ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what the tribe’s LIT application contains. Or more importantly – what it doesn’t contain. The Governor, Gambling Commission, Mass AG, media, etc, etc. all do not have these documents. Shouldn’t a thorough inspection of the LIT been an integral part of this process?

It should be noted that Middleboro is not mentioned in the LIT application.

Here is the compact negotiated by Governor Patrick and the Mashpee Wampanaog for gambling in Taunton.

The payments to the state are too low – 21% especially considering that the Tribe is not required to pay any local taxes and fees. This gives them a huge competitive advantage over commercial facilities – which are paying 25% plus local fees/regulations. The compact gives away Massachusetts sovereignty and compels the state to help the tribe get land into to trust. It also has vague promises of helping to secure land rights in the area of the tribe’s Mashpee land.

That’s my first impression after a quick scan. I’ll be doing a more thorough reading of it later.

I’ll be very interested to see which state reps and senators vote to give away Massachusett’s sovereignty.

Very soon the Massachusetts House of Representatives will be voting on a compact between the Mashpee Wampanaog and the state. A representative who votes in favor of it is saying that they are in favor of giving up Massachusetts sovereignty over a chunk of land of undefined size. Supporting the compact means that you are in favor of creating a sovereign nation within our borders. Supporting the compact means that you are in favor of creating a legal quagmire due to the vagaries and conflicts in federal indian law.

Let’s all pay close attention and see which Massachusetts representatives are actually representing Massachusetts instead of the big money donors, lobbyists, and party politics.

Representatives: If you vote in favor of the compact, you will be voting to give away Massachusetts’ sovereignty. Something that has not been done in the history of the Commonwealth.

The Middleboro Board of Selectman sent a strongly worded letter to the BIA regarding the Mashpee Wampanoag’s breaking of their contract with Middleboro to build a Five Star Resort That Just Happens To Have A Casino™. The Town also sent a letter to Governor Patrick voicing concerns about impacts from a Taunton casino. Continue reading 'Middleboro’s letter to BIA and governor'»

“No” apparently does not mean “no”
I can’t recall a more lopsided vote than last last Saturday’s casino vote in Lakeville. Residents voted by over 10-to-1 against an Aquinnah Wampanoag plan for a casino on the Lakeville/Freetown border. Freetown had previously voted against the plan by a margin of 3-to-1. Apparently the sound of Lakeville/Freetown residents screaming “NO!!” from the rooftops was not loud enough to dissuade Aquinnah chairwoman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais:
Continue reading 'Tribes won’t take “no” for an answer'»

From the Gazette:

Adam Bond, a candidate for representative in the 12th Bristol District, invites the voters of the district to attend an open “Meet & Greet” campaign kick-off at the VFW in Middleboro. The event will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. on Friday, June 8. The VFW is located at 12 Station Street in Middleboro. There will be light refreshments and a cash bar available.

I would be happy to publicize campaign events for any candidate who contacts me and ask me to do so – as Mr. Bond did.

The race is shaping up to be Adam Bond and Roger Brunelle Jr. running for the Democratic spot. The winner will face off against Keiko Orrall.

My street was recently moved from Middleboro Precinct 1 to 4 – which puts me in this congressional district. Accordingly I’ll be taking more interest in the election than I did last time. I will soon be submitting a questionairre to the Democratic candidates. After the primary I will be doing the same thing for Keiko and her opponent.

Please let me know if you have any questions you would like me to include.

Our neighbor to the south – Rhode Island – pulled out all the stops to lure a flashy looking business away from Massachusetts. Now it appears that Curt Schillings 38 Studios is going belly up. It has gone from shiny and promising to the economic equivalent of a slowing rolling baseball slipping between Rhode Island’s shaky legs:

Schilling had relocated 38 Studios from Massachusetts to Providence, R.I., in order to take advantage of a $75-million publicly backed loan from Rhode Island. The company received $50 million of that loan. Schilling’s company, however, was unable to make a $1.1-million payment that came due earlier this month, placing the loan in default, according to a New York Times report.

The situation has become a public crisis for the financially strapped state, which is now on the hook for the loan. Two top officials in the state’s economic development agency, which guaranteed the loan in an effort to stimulate job growth, have resigned. Rhode Island suffers from an unemployment rate of 11.2%, the second-highest in the country after Nevada.

Which brings me to my rant-du-jour. Towns, states, and even countries are in a race to the bottom to see who can give away the most in corporate welfare to lure business. Middleboro routinely gives TIFs – Tax Increment Financing to any decent-sized business that sets up shop here.

I’m on the fence with these things. Unfortunately you are almost forced to give a TIF to get a business. The TIF often includes local hiring preferences to make it more palatable but I’m not convinced that Middleboro typically follows through to see that the terms of the TIF are being met. They might be – I just don’t know.

Congratulations Rhode Island on luring 38 Studios away from MA. And ….. thank you.