Casino Shill Barrow Exposed -- Again!

Critics hit ‘objective’ researcher for pro-gambling tilt
Prof makes casino pitch

By Jay Fitzgerald

A University of Massachusetts professor, who has billed himself as an objective voice in the long-running debate over casino gambling in the Bay State, is now a paid consultant for a gaming proponent in New Hampshire.

Clyde Barrow, whose research has been criticized for being biased in favor of gambling, will testify today for a developer who wants to open a resort casino just across the border in the Granite State.

Gambling opponents say Barrow’s work for a gaming interest confirms their belief that his research has a pro-gambling tilt.

“It’s about time the people of Massachusetts know where the (gambling) proponents are getting their numbers” on jobs and tax revenue,” said Kathleen Conley Norbut, a critic of casino gambling and a member of the Western Massachusetts Casino Task Force.

Barrow’s work has been cited by Gov. Deval Patrick and other Bay State gambling proponents as proof of the benefits Massachusetts would reap from resort casinos.

Barrow, director of the Center for Policy Analysis at UMass-Dartmouth, acknowledged yesterday he’s getting paid an unspecified amount of money for producing a “market feasibility” study for the Greenmeadow Golf Course, which is pushing for a resort casino in Hudson, N.H.

“It’s really not much,” Barrow said of the amount he’s getting paid.

Though his UMass-Dartmouth center touts its financial independence on its Web site, Barrow said he’s doing the paid Granite State casino-development work “on my own.”

Some gambling critics have long insisted Barrow has had at least indirect ties to the gambling industry in recent years. But Barrow said yesterday the Greenmeadow work is the first time since 1999 that he’s performed paid work for a gaming interest.

He claims the New Hampshire contract doesn’t discredit his past gaming research, which has been used by Gov. Deval Patrick and other casino proponents to justify opening new resort casinos in Massachusetts.

Barrow’s studies have touted the gains in jobs and tax revenue if resort casinos are approved in Massachusetts - and his study for the proposed “Sagamore Crossing” project in New Hampshire predicts roughly the same benefits.

A spokeswoman for Patrick, who cited some of Barrow’s findings in legislative testimony he delivered last year in favor of new resort casinos, said Barrow’s past research wasn’t the only material Patrick used to support expansion of gambling in Massachusetts.

“The administration based its support for destination resort casinos on their economic development and job creation potential,” said spokeswoman Kofi Jones. “Numerous sources, studies, and analysis were used in reaching our estimates’ conclusions.”