What are the odds …
The Middleboro political process being controlled by casino interests?… Ridiculous.
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“Begin to be controlled?” Middleborough has and is already experiencing it. The indictment of Glenn Marshall and the comments made about board members contacting the players in this game is proof of it. The 800 pound gorilla has been in town a long time.
In my very humble and repectful opinion. It happened in July of 2007. That is why we cannot just get a better deal as everyone seems to feel is the only thing we can do.
We must kill the deal now, it is our last chance to save the town from ruin.
This is only my opinion of course. I could be wrong.;)
Hi Bumpkin,
I am having a hard time understanding why everyone believes that casino investors are controlling the BOS?
There are no casino investors!
Kerzner & Wolman were the investors willng to back the tribe in building a casino, but ONLY IF Class III gaming was passed in MA.
No Class III = No casino backers.
What we have left are the tribe's investors. Not casino investors. And given the current state of affairs, the tribes investors may be all bark and no bite.
One of the biggest problems the non-existant and never-will-be casino has caused is an inertia on all other issues.
Think of the effort that has been selected by town officials and residents either promoting, planning or opposing the casino. I’m thinking of the Green Committee that was discussed and never formed, Pat “there’s a train coming?” Rogers 11th hour effort to talk to state officials, the grants that haven’t been written, the charter that hasn’t be revisited, Steve “We have more than 10% affordable housing” Spataro, and so on.
An actual casino would have a tough act to follow if it wanted to do more damage than the imaginary casino already has.
Anon 9:35
The tribes investors are casino interests. They put up the cash. You forget about Herb Strather. The tribe were and are only puppets to be used. Read the Glenn Marshall indictment. It has casino interests written all over it to influence the government in favor of the tribe for a casino.
Bond’s quoted reference probably had more to do with once a casino comes in. There would be a massive new special interest group of casino employees, vendors and the leverage of casino revenues as dictated by the IGA that would influence voter turn out and agenda as well as decisions made by town officials that would never be considered if there were not a casino.
I stand by my previous statement. There is a trail of banana peals all over town and people are starting to slip up.
Bumpkin,
I made some of those points last year that went unheeded.
The list is far, far longer than your brief synopsis that made a good point.
The Gavel Queen has re-estabished her throne which promises a return to the lack of transparency and inaction of the past.
Her oft stated phrase is “We’ve tried to do that in the past,” while she accomplishes little or naught. Devoid of facts or information, she simply makes things up, as stating that the town contained 56 square miles.
Combined with hubby, who has fought efforts to amend the PTWS (Pathetic Town Web Site) into a user friendly format that might actually contain accessible information, this promises to remain a town fixed in the previous century.
We are left with a Board that fails to recognize life outside the borders of Middleboro.
When you have Board members who in 2009 indicate that they DO NOT use the internet and Spataro actually couldn’t stop laughing at the Used Car Licensee who explained that he sells his inventory on the internet and never takes possession, you have a serious problem.
The following are but 2 of my posts where I addressed cost savings, but there are many more areas where money could have been saved in the past:
Middleboro Health Care Costs #2: Nothing to sneeze at!
Spataro: One Trick Pony
Marsha Brunelle was on the BOS was it in 2003, when the Board discussed posting the Zoning By Laws? Not posted yet.
Hubby Roger Brunelle assured the public that a calendar would appear on the PTWS in October or November 2007. We’re waiting.
The current Board has yet to solve a problem, address an issue or plan for the future that I can see.
If I’ve missed some stellar action by this Board, I would certainly appreciate any correction.
This is a Board incapable of walking and chewing gum at the same time, casino or not.
I look forward to the next round of animal complaints that the Board can sink its teeth into [pun intended], for which we can greatly thank Neil Rosenthal for their continuation.
Carl,
I didn’t forget about Herb Strather. He can’t build this casino. It took 2 tries over 2 years before he could convince Kerzner to get involved.
Of course Marshall’s indictment has casino written all over it. The tribe was backed for recognition as the first step in getting a casino. Strather giving them the money for recognition doesn’t make him a casino developer. It makes him the tribe’s backer.
If he could have built a casino, he never would have approached Kerzner with the deal. He would have wanted the goose that lays the golden egg for himself. But he can’t afford the goose, so he did the next best thing; he fed the goose until another buyer came along.
So Strather and his crew can talk to as many board members or tribe members as they like. It doesn’t mean a hill of beans to effort to bring a casino to Middleboro.
Which, by the way, isn’t coming.
Bumpkin-
I read on Ryan’s Take that the new Speaker of the House is in favor of slots. That makes it likely that Deval may re-introduce his commercial casino plan. As I understand it, the Gov is more interested in putting a resort in a more urban area rather than Middleboro. Any thoughts?
To Anon 2:05
Short version – I can’t imagine any even remotely likely scenario that puts a casino in Middleboro. See this comment from my last post.
So long as Massachusetts doesn’t do something insanely stupid – like sign a class three compact with the tribe, there will be no casino in Middleboro.
Hey Bumpkin,
I am so happy to know that I am not the only one who realizes that it is virtually impossible for the tribe to get a casino in MA.
However, to respond to your comment about the state signing a compact:
We (currently) don’t have Class III gaming, so the state can’t sign a compact for it with the tribe.
In fact, IF the application does make it to DC (and we both know that’s not going to happen) under IGRA and the current state gaming laws, the tribe will only be approved for Class II gaming, which does not require a compact with the state.
With that in mind, I find it kind of funny when I hear people talk about getting mitigation money from the state when the compact is negotiated. You can add that to the long list of things that ain’t gonna happen!
However, to respond to your comment about the state signing a compact:
We (currently) don’t have Class III gaming, so the state can’t sign a compact for it with the tribe.
As I understand it, even without class III, the state could sign a compact that allowed class III gaming – but it would have to be approved by the legislature.
How exactly does one only now begin to see an 800 pound gorilla in the room? That gorilla has been there for over a year and a half controlling the BOS.
CC – I should have specified that the clip was from June ’07
My comment for the latest Pat Rodgers comment regarding the word "partners" (tribe) . What the @#%&*! are you thinking? Bond still wants a casino here, he was trying to dangle a carrot over the investors heads and get more money. You blew that chance by saying we'll take what ever your giving because thats how Middleboro does business. All of the selectmen/women need to be replaced at all costs. They all lack political fundamentals. Totally inept. Love, Me.
Dear Me,
That would be like standing up in front of the entire town and saying that we MUST take a deal or we would get stuck with a casino and nothing to mitigate the impacts. Well, I guess the other selectmen were convinced. Congratulations!
I was just thinking about the guy who stood up at the TMFH and said it was a no brainer to take the hand with the money in it.
When I was a kid, my father would also come home and hold out his hand to give me a surprise. That hand usually contained a shiny new quarter.
But sonofabitch, the candy bar I wanted was 50 cents, and the bus ride to the store was 75 cents!
Smoking Owl’s comments are always such a hoot.
Hi Bumpkin! you said:
As I understand it, even without class III, the state could sign a compact that allowed class III gaming – but it would have to be approved by the legislature.
excerpts from IGRA:
(1) Class III gaming activities shall be lawful on Indian lands only if such activities are–
(C) conducted in conformance with a Tribal-State compact entered into by the Indian tribe and the State under paragraph (3) that is in effect.
(3)(C)(i)(i) the application of the criminal and civil laws and regulations of the Indian tribe or the State that are directly related to, and necessary for, the licensing and regulation of such activity;
Everyone always stops reading when they get to the part about needing a compact. But the conditions under which a compact can exist is the key to whether or they will be allowed to game.
If the legislature allows a Tribal-State compact, it had better be because Class III gaming is legal in our state, otherwise the Solicitor General’s Office won’t put thier good houskeeping seal of approval on it. And the SOI won’t approve it unless the lawyers say he can.
That’s according to the National Indian Gaming Commission. They’re the ones who authorize Indian gaming, and make sure that the tribe is in complaince with IGRA. So I’m guessing they would know.
So I will say again:
No Class III = No Casino.
Signed,
Never will be a casino in Midd.
Yeah – what he(or she) said …
I hate deflate everybody but……..our municipal government is corrupt, our state government is corrupt, and our federal government is corrupt.
Enough of these ..$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ …will buy the Tribe and casino investors whatever they want. We can fight all we want but the real fact of the matter is, whoever has the most $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ is going to come out ahead.
I’m really tired of hearing about obvious corruption at all levels of government and there being no consequences for the guilty parties.
What we need is a good old fashion revolution to take back our government.
OF THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE, AND BY THE PEOPLE.
Dear Smoking Owl,
I have heard this argument before, and I only ask you to consider this; if the casino developers were going to spread some money around to get the casino of thier dreams, don’t you think they would have started with ensuring that Class III was passed in this state? Why would anyone spread that kind of money around to build the Bingo Hall of thier dreams?
Also, all of the corruption you mention exists in various levels of our government. The BIA might be among the worst of the lot. However, the DOI is not an office associated with corruption, and that is where this application is being decided.
To date, only 3 other tribes have tried to get a casino built under the initial reservation exception. The first 2 ended up in court. I don’t have the details of those cases. The last one was the Cowlitz tribe. They had all the contracts reviewed by the NIGC, and were approved to conduct Class III gaming on the land they already owned. The 30 day notice was pubilished in the FR, and it looked like a casino was on its way.
EXCEPT that the Secretary of the Interior (SOI) was informed of this and made the NIGC print a retraction, and the land was not taken into trust.
Why? Because the tribe had an application for an intitial reservation and the SOI had not approved it.
In that deal, everything was in place: the state already has Class III gaming, the tribe already owned the land, everyone there wanted a casino, and all the developers contracts were within the confines of the law. By all accounts, this casino should have happened by now.
If corruption was predominant in this part of the government, that casino would have been built.
And they STILL don’t have a casino there.
Sometimes I have faith. But most of the time I look at the facts. In this case, the facts bear out that we are not getting a casino in Middleboro.
Anon 6:55,
I hope you’re right. I’ve been disappointed before when banking on a sure thing. One thing I’ve learned from CFO is to not believe the myth of inevitability.
That myth goes two ways. Lately I’ve heard a lot of people saying the LIT will fail. That’s also a sort of myth of inevitability.
I prefer not to count my chickens before they hatch. I will not be convinced until there is an official decision declining the LIT and until the Tribe makes an official announcement they will no longer persue a resort casino in Middleboro.
When those two things happen, I will celebrate. Until then I prefer to carry on as if the casino is still a possibility.
Don’t misunderstand. I am in no way in favor of a casino. I just don’t believe it is dead yet, even though some recent developments have gone our way.