Casino fallout may hit at polls

Casino fallout may hit at polls
Selectmen chair unclear on run

No matter how the issue plays out in the coming months, the recent vote by selectmen to reject a casino in Foxborough is likely to reverberate at the ballot box for two incumbents - on opposite sides of the gambling issue - whose terms expire in May.

Selectmen chairman Larry Harrington and Selectwoman Lorraine Brue have clashed repeatedly recently on a range of issues, but their disagreement escalated to a full-on confrontation last month over the gambling proposal floated by Las Vegas developer Steve Wynn and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.

While Brue opposes siting a high-end “destination’’ resort on 200 acres across from Gillette Stadium, Harrington reversed a September vote against it, saying he’s keeping an open mind now because residents should hear details before making any decisions.

Harrington, a former School Committee member, said he hasn’t decided whether he’ll run again but that the casino won’t determine whether he does or doesn’t.

“I love this community,’’ he said. “I would hope that voters look at an entire record and not just one issue, but who knows?’’

Brue, a former chairwoman of the town’s Advisory Committee, has already announced reelection plans. She said her position on the gambling issue that has sent the town into pandemonium hasn’t wavered since the five-member board first discussed it in September.

A casino is not right for Foxborough, she said. “And the voters in Foxborough will want to know where the candidates stand on this very important issue.’’

That is very true, agreed longtime lawyer and Foxborough resident John Michelmore - although he said whether any candidates emerge to challenge the incumbents, whom he described as diametrically opposed, has yet to be seen.

“There isn’t anyone who doesn’t have an opinion on this,’’ he said. “But anyone who has been watching these meetings would be reluctant to step into this hornets’ nest. . . . There is some hostility that is clearly boiling over.’’

Tensions surged when Brue asked whether Harrington, and other selectmen who changed their votes, had been influenced by the casino developers to back away from their unanimous stance against gambling in September. Harrington angrily denied it in public last week, slapping back at Brue’s steadfast support of an unpopular town meals tax proposal that failed twice before finally passing last year.

Stress from the casino plan has been palpable at recent public meetings, with people shouting each other down and some selectmen slapping the table with their hands or threatening to walk out.

Traci Bridge Longa, who facilitates the Facebook page “Foxboro Casino Discussion,’’ said the casino debate will affect the spring election in a number of ways, including by bringing out more voters than usual to support the candidate who feels most as they do.

“I hope Larry Harrington will run again,’’ she said. “To me, he has been the one board member that has taken a balanced, business-oriented approach to this issue.’’

Longa said she wouldn’t blame Harrington if he doesn’t seek another term because of how difficult and time-consuming the job has become.

“It will be interesting to see who runs,’’ she said. “I would assume that the anticasino movement would be encouraging someone to come forward that will back their cause. They have been extremely impressive with their ability to get their view across, but I can tell you it is not the view of the majority of the town.’’

Residents and others have vented strong feelings on both pro- and anticasino blogs all month. They have waved signs at meetings and circulated petitions.

Last Saturday, casino opponents posted an online petition titled, “Mr. Kraft: Please Do the Right Thing,’’ following a statement from Town Manager Kevin Paicos that Kraft and Wynn will lose credibility if they don’t drop the casino proposal as they promised if residents said they don’t want it.

That followed a joint statement by Kraft and Wynn that expressed disappointment with the board’s decision “to deny Foxborough taxpayers the due process they are entitled under the state’s gaming law.’’

Meanwhile, some say they believe the chaos in town in recent weeks was unnecessary. Resident Hector Ballon said he holds Harrington responsible as the selectmen chairman.

“We have a bylaw that precludes gambling in town,’’ Ballon said, adding selectmen should have assembled a subcommittee to assess whether residents even want casino gambling before discussing potential zoning changes to accommodate it.

They should gather statistics from towns that have allowed a casino, independent of Wynn Resorts, and then perhaps ask for bids from casino developers if residents indicate that they want it, Ballon said.

“My feeling is Mr. Harrington has been pushing to allow Mr. Kraft and Mr. Wynn to make a sales pitch to us without any counterbalance,’’ he said.

But Harrington said selectmen were doing the best they could to serve the town and hold down their own full-time jobs and lives.

“As one person said to me last night, ‘No wonder we have so few people willing to run for these non-paying, part-time public positions when you have to go through meetings like tonight and the last two months,’ ’’ he said a day after the Dec. 27 vote to tell Wynn and Kraft thanks but no thanks.

“It is what it is.’’