Playing cards close to the vest the wrong move for Foxboro

GOUVEIA: Playing cards close to the vest the wrong move for Foxboro

Whenever large private businesses are engaged in detailed planning with local municipalities, there are going to be problems. And in Foxboro, those problems are beginning to get a lot more complicated and quite a bit more worrisome.

In business, keeping your future plans close to the vest is generally considered a smart move. You don't want to give your competition any kind of edge. You want to perform due diligence and check out all the possible problems before extending yourself too far on any project. Do this, and you are generally considered a good businessperson.

But in municipal government, secrecy is the double-edged sword that has ended many a political career. You are expected to maintain transparency in town government, even when doing so may be disruptive and generally create more problems than it solves. This is one of the reasons you simply cannot run a town like a business. Keep things quiet in local government and they don't call you a good town official - they call you sneaky and question your motives.

Which is why Foxboro Selectmen Chairman Larry Harrington and Town Manager Kevin Paicos suddenly find themselves in an entirely different spotlight from the already intense one focused on them as a result of the initial casino debate. To quote that great TV character Ricky Ricardo when talking to his wife Lucy: "You got some 'splainin' to do!"

It was revealed this week that Harrington and Paicos had a previously undisclosed private meeting in Robert Kraft's office on Aug. 8 where the subject of a possible casino development on Kraft land near the stadium came up. On Aug. 28 Paicos presented to the planning board a proposal that would change zoning laws to allow casinos, explaining he had received communications from would-be developers inquiring on the subject.

He did not, however, reveal publicly that he and the chairman had met personally with Bob Kraft and learned there was interest there. Chairman Harrington also made no public statement to that effect, nor did he tell all his fellow board members. Anti-casino person Paul Mortenson, left, hands out no casino stickers prior to the Foxboro selectmen’s meeting at Foxboro High School last month.The change wound up within a report by Kraft Group attorney John Twohig, and Kraft Group spokesman Jeff Cournoyer said he understood the town manager had made the request.

When the private meeting was discovered, Paicos confirmed it and said he was not "endorsing the proposal" but was merely there to "explain a concept." The veteran town manager, who has served in Foxboro now for over a year, said he may have been "purposely manipulated and taken advantage of, because I did not have the knowledge or context" that Foxboro voters had specifically removed gaming from its zoning books about eight years prior. He says officials "left me holding the bag."

Poor Mr. Paicos - nobody told him something it would have taken him five minutes to discover had he bothered to bring it up to the board members he serves or the planning officials to whom he was "explaining." No matter how hard he tries to pass the blame off here, he is responsible for his own actions - or lack of same.

It would appear Chairman Harrington also failed to live up to his responsibilities. Having served as the chairman of a local board of selectmen, I can tell you one of the primary duties is to keep all your members informed. Sometimes legal situations restrict you in that regard. However, that does not appear to be the case here.

If the selectmen chairman and the town manager meet with the owner of the local NFL franchise and the topic of changing zoning laws to allow for construction of a billion-dollar resort casino in town comes up - the rest of the board should be informed. It's that simple. There just is no logical or sensible reason for that lack of notification - unless of course, you just don't want them to know.

The casino issue is still one that should be decided by a vote of all Foxboro citizens. That has not changed. But the actions - or inaction - of both Harrington and Paicos has done much to further the cause of those who say local government simply can't be trusted to conduct a fair and objective process.

Even Lucy would have a hard time 'splainin' this one.

Bill Gouveia is a local columnist and a longtime area town official.