Friday, October 29, 2010
Fall River Shortchanges Residents
Beacon Hill politicians misstated the threat of a Tribal Casino, ignoring 2 SCOTUS decisions to suit their purposes and cram through flawed 'casino' legislation, while Fall River officials have betrayed the residents and taxpayers of a beautiful City that possesses great potential.
Fall River City Officials have danced around a land sale, ignoring legal opinion from the IG, failing to ensure additional revenues to protect citizens against the increased costs and impacts of predatory gambling.
The land sale hands wealthy investors prime commercial land for $100,000 per acre.
Instead, the Mayor chose to reward wealthy Malaysian investors with a tax free, low cost venture for a profitable Slot Barn deal.
On the right side of the Fall River Herald News article, you will find the injunction issued by Judge Richard T. Moses, the Ten Taxpayers Complaint, the RDA response and the Purchase & Sales Memo.
They are worth reading both for what they contain and what the DON'T contain.
Nowhere is there consideration of monies Fall River will receive from the Tribe, in lieu of taxes. This is a business deal for the City's future, not a charity.
At the very least, the City should reasonably expect a percentage of slots participation, worth at least $20-$30 million per year to cover additional costs.
Can we blame the failure of leaders, including the Mayor, to conduct public discussions that consider the increased costs to the City solely on ignorance?
When the City is bankrupt by increased public safety costs caused solely by this "Something for Nothing Scheme," residents will bear the burden.
Can we blame the Fall River Herald News for its failure to ask the right questions?
Foxwoods has defaulted.
Mohegan Sun laid off 350 employees, "redeployed" 120, reduced their workforce by 900, closed restaurants, froze upper management salaries.
Twin Rivers is in bankruptcy.
Casinos around the country are filing bankruptcy. Tribal Casinos have simply stopped making payments.
How is this sensible economic development for Fall River?
Who is protecting Fall River residents while wealthy foreign investors are rewarded?
This could be your town.
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2 comments:
The Mayor said the wampanoags will pay for a citizens vote but it can't be done until gambling is legalized. So the land will sit for years, no immediate jobs.
Anon,
You're quite right!
Regarding the stipulation that the casino investors would pay for the vote, that was included in each flawed version of legislation that was proposed on Beacon Hill.
If I recall correctly, from all I've read, there is a specified dollar amount.
Now let's just say that this isn't viable for 5 years and additional precincts are added, costs increase. Who picks up the additional costs? Will this be a federal court food fight over a nominal amount?
Included in the P & S, is there a clause to resolve disputes?
As flawed as the Middleboro IGA is, it's worth reading for some of the issues that were included.
I'm not seeing any indication that anyone involved in this deal representing the City have expertise in Indian Gaming. If so, why would they omit/ignore numerous other issues that should have been included?
This isn't a sound byte, but rather a complex issue that requires experts - not corporate counsel, to protect the City.
And if the land sale is allowed to proceed without the intervention of reasonable people who recognize the need to address surrounding issues, the future doesn't bode well for the subsidies Fall River resident will pay for wealthy foreign investors.
To me, this deal is like selling your house, transferring title and THEN negotiating a price.
Let's stop allowing ourselves to be blinded by Casino Glitter and insist that the Mayor and his lackeys conduct their due diligence.
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