Momentum is building and we need you now!

Folks – You soon will get a report on the press conference (and the outline of the comments) this AM in E. Boston –as a follow-up and building on the media coverage (see various links David and Kathleen have distributed) of the past couple of days on Braude and Fox 25, and the clips of the Governor’s “not in my backyard” response to a casino in Richmond, and the press coverage of the “Emperor has no Clothes” MGC hearings on Milford and the outrageous flouting of the law by Suffolk Downs.

But I wanted to offer you my brief perspective on it so you understand why I firmly believe that, with your continued hard work as citizen activists and leaders, and the continued funding so many folks have been contributing (in whatever amounts they can afford).

Organized by the outstanding work of Melwood Global (Jon and Chris in attendance), there were at least 5 cameras and several print and radio reporters –and they got a show! Excellent comments by our citizen activist heroes, John Ribeiro and Celeste Myers; a rousing, substantive set of powerful economic and community culture arguments and sound bites from the Mayor of Somerville, Joe Curtatone (who should go on the road for us now and throughout this battle), strong advocacy for the potential (if we can be successful) for legislative repeal by Senator Will Brownsberger, and the public health, economic fairness, and “we can do better” examples from Bill Walczak, our Boston Mayoral hero. Plus effective Q & A responses from all of the above, but especially John, Celeste and Joe.

We are in a position, albeit still the underdogs, for “David’ to be fully equipped with facts and people power, and demonstrating that the more people know the less they support this failed public policy initiative, to slay “Goliath,” as the “promises and benefits” of casinos/slots in MA are exposed as more and more obviously deceptive and elusive. Statewide candidates and existing elected leaders are beginning to realize how strong and wide is the citizen base of support for REPEAL, and beginning to figure out which way the wind is blowing in case it is in their interest to follow and ride the wave!

This weekend is critical. Thank you all will give of your time, energy, and money, to give the people the chance to vote. Excelsior!

Scott Harshbarger

Subject Line: Momentum is building and we need you now!

Dear Repeal The Casino Deal supporters,

Our campaign to Repeal The Casino Deal has seen a surge in donations, volunteers and support in the week since the voters in East Boston and Palmer rejected casino proposals in their communities. The voice of citizens at the ballot is reaffirms that we are on the path to defeating the state’s reckless casino law. We need your help now to get the signatures and funding necessary to get to the next step of placing the question to REPEAL on the November 2014 ballot.

Today, Saturday and Sunday are the most important days of our battle. We need you to collect signatures and donate any amount you can afford for us to reach the goal. We are within reach and we need to have a buffer to be sure the powerful casino interests do not come back at us and try to defeat us with lawyers picking apart raw signatures. We know they are relentless and casino crawl never, ever stops unless the law is repealed.

Go to repealthecasinodeal.org to download petition papers and find out where you can go to collect signatures, now. Call Brian Ashmankas, Signature Coordinator with questions about where you can get signatures 617-701-7823. Donate. There is no time to wait.

“Although we have won in East Boston, the developers feel that they can circumvent the law and are proceeding as if they have been given the go ahead to do so,” Celeste Myers co-chair of No Eastie Casino said. “Even if they had not made the brazen steps to try to move ahead with their mad scramble for Gaming Commission approval, despite the will of the people and the democratic process, the law as written enables them to re-spin the plan and bring it before voters again within six months. We need to save other communities from this madness.”

Today, in East Boston a press conference was held to show our momentum. Leaders across the state are joining our grassroots group including our long-time champion former Attorney General Scott Harshbarger, Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone and state Sen. William Brownsberger, D-Belmont, joined former Boston mayoral candidate Bill Walczak in urging their supporters and voters in their regions to join in the effort.

“We are so pleased with the momentum we’ve seen but we also know the power of this entrenched, deep-pocketed industry,” said John Ribeiro, chairman of Repeal The Casino Deal (RTCD.) “We have them on the run but the money and greed that drive that industry will cause them to stop at nothing until there are slot barns and casinos dotting the Massachusetts landscape. That’s why our effort must continue.”

On behalf of the entire RTCD statewide team, I sincerely thank you for the work you have done and stepping-up for the final push.

John

John Ribeiro, Chair

Repeal The Casino Deal (RTCD)

The Casino Shill has spoken: ‘On The Verge Of Being A Big Mess’

‘On The Verge Of Being A Big Mess’: Gambling Expert On Casino No Vote

By Sacha Pfeiffer and Lynn Jolicoeur

November 6, 2013

 

 

Sandra Najjar, Dino Tavano and Giordana Mecagni hold signs to either support or reject the casino plan for Suffolk Downs. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

BOSTON — It’s back to the drawing board for Suffolk Downs in the racetrack’s quest to open a casino, now that East Boston overwhelmingly defeated the casino proposal Tuesday.
But voters in neighboring Revere also got to vote on it because the proposed resort would extend into their city, and that community said yes. So Suffolk Downs is now considering moving the whole project into Revere.

WBUR’s All Things Considered host Sacha Pfeiffer spoke about this unexpected turn of events with Clyde Barrow, a professor of public policy at UMass Dartmouth, who specializes in gaming policy.

Sacha Pfeiffer: Is there anything in the state law that would prevent Suffolk Downs from pursuing this idea of locating a casino entirely in Revere?
Clyde Barrow: As I understand it, there’s nothing in the state law that would prevent it. The only obstacle might be a lawsuit from people in East Boston claiming it’s a violation, which would require a judicial decision. Or you could get an administrative ruling from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. But, from what I understand, this is not something they anticipated, so they would have to deliberate on this issue, as well.


IT ALSO VIOLATES THE STATUTE....NOT THAT THE GAM[BL]ING COMMISSION WOULD ALLOW A 'TECHNICALITY' TO STAND IN THEIR WAY TO GENUFLECT BEFORE THE gAMBLING INDUSTRY.

So even if legal, how about feasible given the time frame? Because all proposals have to be in to the gaming commission by the end of the year.
Yeah, I think it’s feasible. This doesn’t really fundamentally change their proposal. All it would really involve is either moving the entire facility into Revere, or what’s also been discussed is just flipping the project so that you have the casino gambling components of the facility on the Revere side of the property and you put more of your non-gaming amenities in East Boston, such as the hotel and restaurants and retail outlets.

SOMEONE NEEDS TO READ THE STATUTE!

Do you see that as a good scenario for East Boston if they got the hotel but not the casino?
That would be a much less advantageous situation for East Boston. The first thing it would mean is that the host community agreement which they negotiated, which gives them 30-something-million dollars — that would be off the table because they would now become a surrounding community. Surrounding communities are getting a lot less. They would get some property tax revenue from the part of the property that’s on their side. They might be able to extract some minor concessions in the surrounding community agreement, but it would be nothing approaching what they would get as a host community.

Is it your presumption that East Boston didn’t consider that possibility? That they could have a casino right over the border but not get the benefits from it, the host agreement benefits?
To my knowledge, no one anticipated that as a possibility. It certainly was not part of the public discussion.

On Morning Edition today on WBUR, the state gaming commissioner, Steve Crosby, said that the idea of a Revere-only casino resort is a total surprise to the board. Let’s take a listen to what he said:
“We just haven’t even thought about it. I mean, you know, this was not an outcome that anybody was particularly expecting and we certainly had never considered the idea. So we’d have to look at a proposal. We would obviously entertain anything that they wanted to do.”

Does that surprise you that the commission hadn’t explored this possibility already?
No, it doesn’t. I mean, I think everyone really expected that Suffolk would win the East Boston election, even if it was by a very narrow margin. So it just hasn’t been part of the public discussion until today.

Should it have been, in your view?
I don’t know if it should have been. I do know there are similar situations around the country involving Indian casinos where they take land into trust and they have a small parcel, and they will put the gaming facility on their land and then the non-gaming amenities on just regular property that they purchased. So it’s not unprecedented in similar situations. I suppose we could have anticipated it. It just wasn’t what most people expected to happen.

But, of course, when Suffolk Downs severed its relationship with its former casino partner,
Caesars Entertainment, after Caesars failed the background check, that might have made a no vote even more likely.
Absolutely. I think that definitely played into the election and it probably turned what would have been a close win into a decisive defeat.

So how much do you think this was about pure anti-casino sentiment versus discomfort knowing that East Boston residents had to vote not knowing who the casino partner would be?
Not having done a poll, I would just have to guess. My expectation is that probably about 45 percent of the voters in East Boston that turned out were pure anti-casino under any conditions. I think you probably got about 10 percent of the undecideds swung the other day because of the outcome with Caesars.

It was a bad day in general for casinos in Massachusetts yesterday, as you know. Voters in the western Massachusetts town of Palmer also rejected a casino proposal — the one from Mohegan Sun. Springfield and Everett, on the other hand, have approved casino proposals. What do these conflicting votes tell you about where sentiment is right now on casinos in Massachusetts?
We knew it was divided. Even at the time the legislation was passed, it was showing about 57 percent of Massachusetts residents supported casino gambling. But there were strong pockets of anti-casino sentiment. It wasn’t really rural or urban. It’s distributed in different places. And then it also has to do with mobilizing voters.

The two remaining casino proposals in eastern Massachusetts are one in Milford, one in Everett. Those background checks have not been done yet. Is it possible that we could get to the end of this process and have no approved casino projects, either because the developers didn’t pass the background check or the host community rejected it?
That is a real possibility, and don’t forget that MGM in Springfield hasn’t been found suitable yet, either.

Do you expect that outcome?
It’s a possibility. Given what happened with Caesars, it’s certainly a possibility now with Wynn and MGM, because they both have issues with SEC investigations or issues in Macau that have been raised by other commissions such as New Jersey. So if they’re going to apply that same strict standard, yeah, we could get to the end of the road and have to start over all again.

So they would start over — that’s what would happen? They wouldn’t just throw up their hands? They’d open up the application process again?
I think that’s what would happen.


NO! WE'RE GOING TO REPEAL THE CASINO DEAL!

Clyde, this kind of seems like a big mess. Is that a fair assessment?
At this point, I think it’s on the verge of being a big mess.

And how do we prevent it from going all the way there?
We issue a license. The next step in the process here is to issue the slot parlor license. So they can get that issued fairly soon. I think the expectation is that they would be issuing it before the end of this year.

http://www.wbur.org/2013/11/06/big-mess-casino-vote

Winners and Losers!

Let's not forget.....

Two communities won in the vote defeating well-funded machines and protecting their communities.

Elected officials, community leaders and Beacon Hill ignored voters when they promoted Predatory Gambling. Let's remember who they are and vote them out of office.....

after we REPEAL THE CASINO DEAL! and protect all communities in the Commonwealth!
If you haven't signed the Petition yet, download a copy from the website, have your friends and family sign and drop it in the mail! SIMPLE!

Let's get this done.



Nov 5, 2013, 9:49pm EST Updated: Nov 6, 2013, 8:35am EST

Here are the big winners and losers in the 'no casino' votes in East Boston and Palmer

Jon Chesto

Managing Editor, Print- Boston Business Journal

Voters in East Boston and Palmer just handed major defeats to the casino industry.

Palmer voters narrowly rejected Mohegan Sun’s longstanding plans to build a casino resort in that town. Meanwhile, voters in East Boston defeated a host community agreement that would have set the stage for a casino resort to be built at the Suffolk Downs horse track. (Revere voters, however, approved the Suffolk Downs agreement for their city.)

Here’s a rundown of the big winners and losers from those two votes:

The winners in Palmer

Quaboag Valley Against Casinos: The opposition group in Palmer didn't seem as loud as the one in East Boston. And yet the message obviously resonated with voters, giving the opponents a surprising win over a well-financed opponent.

MGM Resorts International: MGM and city leaders in Springfield are celebrating, for now. MGM’s plan is the last resort casino plan left standing in competition for the Western Massachusetts license. But questions still remain about whether MGM will clear the Mass. Gaming Commission’s strict background checks.

Foxwoods: This is also a big victory for Mohegan Sun’s biggest rival. The operators of the original Connecticut casino have proposed a casino resort in Milford, which falls into the Greater Boston license region per the 2011 state law that legalized casino gaming. But Palmer’s less than an hour’s drive from Milford. That’s close enough for gaming regulators to worry about the overlap in the two casinos’ target markets, overlap that would minimize the projects’ revenue potential.

The losers in Palmer

Mohegan Sun: No out-of-state gaming operation has been plugging away at building support for a casino in Massachusetts for longer than the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority. Mohegan opened an office in town back in 2009, two years before casino gambling was even made legal by the Legislature. It’s not necessarily over yet: Mohegan says it will push for a recount, citing the close vote and technical problems with a voting machine.

Leon Dragone: The Palmer property owner has been trying to land a casino deal for years, and the Mohegan Sun proposal for roughly 150 acres he owns off the Mass. Pike seemed like his best bet.

Palmer town officials: Budgeting would have become easy once the casino opened in town, as it would have essentially doubled the property tax base with $15 million in new annual payments. Now, officials will be hard-pressed to find new large taxpayers to take the place of the industry that has left this town.

The winners in East Boston

No Eastie Casino: The opposition group’s momentum certainly was building on the way to Tuesday’s victory during the past month or so. There was that coalition of clergy in East Boston that threw its weight behind the cause. And then there was the withdrawal of Caesars Entertainment, the company that was supposed to operate the casino, after a few red flags went up during the Mass. Gaming Commission’s background checks. With no new operator named, the owners of the Suffolk Downs track were suddenly put at a big disadvantage.

Steve Wynn: The Las Vegas mogul must be smiling tonight, even if he was just publicly carping about how hard it is to get by the gaming commission’s suitability reviews. Is he still serious about his plan to build a Wynn Resorts casino in Everett, one that had been poised to compete directly with Suffolk Downs for the sole Boston area gaming license? It’s hard to know for sure, after those complaints. But this vote could embolden him to plow forward.

Foxwoods: The rejection of Suffolk Downs, once considered the odds-on favorite for the Boston-area casino, also bodes well for Foxwoods and its plan for a Milford casino. However, that project has its own referendum to face on Nov. 19, and there’s a well-organized opposition group in Milford hell-bent on stopping the plan for a casino off I-495.

The losers in East Boston

Richard Fields: When Fields bought a significant stake in Sterling Suffolk Racecourse in 2007, he was essentially betting the farm that casinos would be approved in Massachusetts, and that one would go up at Suffolk Downs. Suffolk didn’t necessarily concede defeat today. Chief operating officer Chip Tuttle issued a brief statement thanking Revere for the positive vote — the Suffolk Downs property straddles the Revere-Boston border —and thanking the supporters in Eastie. The track owners, Tuttle said, will “reassess our plans.” But this vote essentially makes Fields’ dream of a Boston casino an improbable one, at best. (Revere Mayor Dan Rizzo is still hoping a reshaped project could be built on his side of the city line.)

Tom Menino: The departing mayor didn’t pick a side in the race to succeed him, but he did pick a side in the casino issue. Menino has trumpeted the economic benefits that the track had promised — at least $32 million in payments to the city, up to 4,000 permanent jobs, among other things. But in the end, Menino’s legendary political machine couldn’t generate enough support during the last election that he needed it.

The local thoroughbred industry: Suffolk Downs officials say the track has been losing money for several years. As New England’s last thoroughbred racetrack, the casino project was seen as crucial to propping up Suffolk Downs’ operations. If Suffolk should close, there would be significant ripple effects among the businesses that support it throughout the region and the nearly 1,500 people who work in that industry.

http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/mass_roundup/2013/11/casino-votes-in-palmer-east-boston.html?page=all

Sore Losers!

Neither Suffolk Downs' Chip Tuttle, nor Mohegan Sun offered comments or congratulations to the great activists that defeated them!

Let's REPEAL THE CASINO DEAL and be done with them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ballot box failure leaves the future of New England’s last thoroughbred racetrack in grave doubt. The 78-year-old track has been losing money for years, as its owners have pumped in cash to keep Suffolk Downs afloat in anticipation of adding a profitable casino.

“Voters . . . struck a decisive blow to the casino culture, a clear signal that the Commonwealth believes there are better economic options than casinos and slot barns,” John Ribeiro, chairman of the Repeal the Casino Deal campaign, said in a statement Tuesday night.

Celeste Myers, a leader of the Suffolk Downs opposition group, No Eastie Casino, said she was not expecting such a resounding victory. “This is East Boston — folks are protecting their lives, livelihoods and homes,” she said in an interview. “These people can’t be bought.”

Myers said the group will oppose any 11th-hour effort to try to move the project. Public officials, she said, “need to take no for an answer.”

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/11/05/suffolk-downs-defeated-boston-will-explore-revere-only-project/o2VK5haGBzosrwvu7mTLiI/story.html?s_campaign=email_BG_TodaysHeadline

Congratulations East Boston!

Steve Holt

New York Times (you DO realize this is national news, RIGHT?) on East Boston's HUGE win tonight:

"In Massachusetts, voters on Tuesday rejected a proposal that sought to bring a gleaming $1 billion resort casino to the fading Suffolk Downs racetrack in East Boston, according to The A.P. After a heated campaign that pitted the promise of thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in new investments against worries about crime and gambling addiction, voters in East Boston and the adjacent town of Revere voted against a dramatic new addition to their neighborhoods.

The vote was a victory for the opposition group No Eastie Casino, which ran a shoestring campaign and was vastly outspent by proponents. Many small-business owners in East Boston believed the casino would siphon off whatever discretionary money people had, and No Eastie Casino asserted that gambling would snarl traffic and increase drug use and crime.

Supporters of the casino, including Mayor Thomas M. Menino of Boston, who sent his troops into the area on Election Day to pull out “yes” votes, said that it would bring the communities 4,000 jobs and an infusion of money for things like new roads.

Even before Tuesday, the fate of the Massachusetts measure had been thrown into doubt when the state gambling commission raised questions last month about the suitability of Suffolk Downs’s partner at the time, Caesars Entertainment, to operate the casino. Suffolk asked Caesars to withdraw from the bid, which it did.

Chip Tuttle, the chief operating officer of Suffolk Downs, told reporters that he was not certain how the track would proceed, but the apparently lopsided vote against the casino could well have doomed the effort."

Colorado Rejects Move for Schools as Casino Fails in Massachusetts

Matthew Staver for The New York Times

Madeline Doak, 18, a student election judge, collected ballots in Denver. Taxes and marijuana were up for statewide votes.

By JACK HEALY

Published: November 5, 2013

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/06/us/politics/key-ballot-measures.html?_r=1&