The King Has Spoken!

The majority of voters, according to a recent poll, believe Massachusetts politics is corrupt.

You certainly can't blame them when Boston Mayor Menino doesn't want anyone to consider the high costs of his paid-for support for a Slot Barn at Suffolk Downs.

What is sad is watching reason and democracy genuflect before a tyrant.


Boston City Council drops casino panel plan
By Andrew Ryan Globe Staff

When Stephen J. Murphy won a second term as president of the Boston City Council earlier this month, he announced that he was creating a special committee to study the drive to build a casino at Suffolk Downs.

The move angered Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who is pushing hard for a casino at the racetrack, and sparked anxiety among several council members, who were reluctant to jump into the crossfire between Las Vegas lobbyists and gambling opponents.

Murphy changed course yesterday and abandoned the special committee on gambling before it could even have a meeting. The issue will instead be tackled by the council’s Economic Development Committee.

I don’t have a monopoly on good ideas,’’ Murphy said yesterday. “I can be persuaded. I saw the rationale to do it this way. A number of my colleagues expressed concerns. . . . People said, ‘I’m not sure I want to be on that [special committee], because I’ll be bombarded by this interest and that interest.’ ’’

Murphy and other councilors said yesterday that the issue will still face robust debate before the Economic Development Committee. But the change underscores the political volatility of the issue.

The council president acknowledged that Menino expressed his surprise at the short-lived special committee, but Murphy added, “I don’t generally run things up the flag pole with the executive branch.’’

Menino learned of the gambling committee from reporters who questioned the mayor about it shortly after Murphy made the announcement in the City Council chamber.

“I’m not going to comment on the inner workings of the City Council,’’ Menino spokeswoman Dot Joyce said yesterday. “This is the very early stage of this process, and the mayor is most concerned about protecting the integrity of city government and, more importantly, the reputation of our city.’’

Under the state law that paved the way for casinos, voters in most cities or towns get a say before a gambling emporium can open in their municipality. But that is not the case in Boston, where the vote is limited to the ward that includes Suffolk Downs, meaning that only East Boston residents would get a say about a gambling resort. However, the City Council can authorize a citywide referendum.

Menino remains adamant that a casino vote be limited to East Boston, and the state law gives the mayor the power to block a citywide referendum. It is unclear under the law whether the council could override Menino’s veto.

Murphy said yesterday that he pushed for the special committee to “put the issue under a microscope’’ and pressure Steven Roth, a developer who owns a share of Suffolk Downs and who has left a gaping hole in Downtown Crossing after demolishing Filene’s department store. Murphy said he hoped the Suffolk Downs casino could be used as leverage to push Roth to finish what he started in Downtown Crossing.

Salvatore LaMattina, a councilor who lives in East Boston and who supports a casino, had been tapped to lead the special committee. In hindsight, LaMattina said that could have been a mistake.

“I just don’t think it would have been fair for the council, because I strongly believe that a vote on a casino should be strictly an East Boston vote,’’ LaMattina said yesterday. “I look at this strictly as a development issue.’’

In a separate action, the council voted yesterday to extend the term of its president from one to two years, starting in 2014. The president will still be limited to serving two consecutive years.

As part of a deal, Murphy will be allowed to seek a third consecutive year as council president in 2013.