Letter to Fall River

Tuesday's vote by the RDA marks a critical moment in the long and noble history of Fall River. It will change the city forever and the repercussions will be felt for generations. Whether you are for or against casino gaming in the Commonwealth, you should know that what could have been, that dream of excellence and prosperity, has been dashed on the rocks of time. The future of Fall River as a family and business friendly, historically appealing, urban open space community is no longer possible.


Do you wish to move to a city with a casino? Do you think that casinos are great places for family fun? Do you want to see your husband, your wife, your kids, lose their paychecks and savings to a group that will offshore the winnings?


If you are against outsourcing, against sending jobs overseas, against NAFTA, then you must also be against this Indian tribe building a casino. Anywhere. The Mashpees have no money. 100% of their funding for this land buy and casino build comes from Arcana, Ltd., a company from Malaysia. When you lose money at the casino, the money goes overseas. It does not stay in the US.


So we get a few jobs, after the tribe gets first dibs on all the high paying ones. And we build a few buildings, but wouldn't those same union construction workers get paid for building a bio-tech facility as they would for building a casino? Isn't a construction job a construction job?


Why was this deal so secret? Why didn't the Mayor involve the citizens in this debate early on? Why the rush when gaming isn't even legal in the Commonwealth? Why tie up this choice parcel of land for two years or more on a possibility of a possibility?


Let me make myself clear here. I may not have been born here, but I know Fall River's history. I know how the mill owners worked their craftsmen and laborers to the bone. I know how they made great fists full of money and then fled this city, often with financial scandals in their wake. The mills put Fall River on the map, but the mills also created a poverty class that has yet to rise above that standard of living. The rich families, the Durfees and Bordens and Braytons, are all but gone. Fall River today is populated by the children of the mill workers, a depressed, impoverished, undereducated, and dreadfully frustrated citizenry. Immigrants seeking a better way of life have found, instead, a government that can at best be described as dysfunctional and seems out for what is best for the special interests instead of the people who live here.


A casino is nothing but a mill with flashing lights. Congratulations, Mayor Flanagan. You have indeed left your mark on this city. You have recreated the past EXACTLY like it was before. And just like then, the money will leave the city, the jobs will be low to minimum wage, and poverty will reign for yet another generation.


This is on your head, Mayor Flanagan. And long after you are gone, future immigrants looking for a better life will once again learn that Fall River is not the place for that dream to be realized. It could have been, but one day in the year 2010, its Mayor sold his city's soul for a few million pieces of silver.




Stefani Koorey