Keller @ Large: Casinos Will Also Destroy Jobs And Revenue
BOSTON (CBS) – One more day to go until Beacon Hill begins the public part of a process that seems destined to finally put Massachusetts into the casino business, and today, the Democrats who call the shots in the House are meeting to hammer out the final details — behind closed doors, of course.
How else do you expect our elected officials to take care of messy business like this?
My goodness, if citizens were exposed to the full details of this too far in advance of this week’s vote, they’d never let it happen!
And that just won’t do, because, as Senate President Terry Murray admitted in a speech last week reported by the State House News Service, casinos pose a serious threat to existing businesses and cultural institutions.
They are so worried about entertainment venues at the new casinos putting our wealth of community performance centers out of business that they have written into the bill bureaucratic “protections” for local theaters, under which the casinos will peel off a few million to mollify the locals, and supposedly negotiate with them to make sure they don’t siphon off too much business.
“The Gaming Commission will ensure a level playing field,” Murray insists.
Madame President, with all due respect, whom do you think you’re kidding?
Non-gambling entertainment was supposed to be a cornerstone of these alleged “resort casinos,” and now you’re going to limit the size of their venues, force them to subsidize competitors, and slap their wrists if they try too hard to make money?
That’s music to the ears of the gang at Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun, Twin River, etc.
The head of the Hanover Theater in Worcester tells the News Service proposed mitigation payments “might keep me in a job, but it won’t keep people coming through the door.”
And that says it all.
Yes, the casinos will create jobs and tax revenue.
But in the end, when the jobs and revenue they destroy are counted, will this gamble come up snake eyes?
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Fall River Casino?
According to Flanagan’s expense filing, the first-term mayor spent $79,555 on salaries for two campaign managers, a finance director and to pay for the services of the Liberty Square Group, which Flanagan lists as a campaign adviser. Flanagan reported total expenditures of $178,148 during the first eight months of the year.
Flanagan said the expenditures on campaign personnel allowed him to balance the responsibilities of running a campaign and serving as mayor.
Liberty Square coincidence??
Former Brockton Mayor John T. Yunits Jr. is one of four finalists for town manager in Middleboro, a job advertised at $130,000 a year.
The town manager search committee finished its culling process Tuesday and gave selectmen the names of four candidates.
The three other finalists are James P. Purcell, Norton town manager; John O. D’Agostino, Mansfield town manager; and Charles J. Cristello, Hingham town administrator.
Selectmen could name a town manager as soon as Saturday, said Wayne C. Perkins, search committee chairman.
Yunits, who headed the city’s government for 10 years, is president of the Brockton Rox baseball team and has opened a consulting firm since leaving office.
Yunits is also a consultant for the Liberty Square Group, the firm that handles public relations for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and their bid to open a casino in Middleboro
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