When a casino deal isn’t really a deal

The Brockton Enterprise, as usual, has gotten the facts and issues incorrect, yet it's nice to know they're awake!

OPINION: When a casino deal isn’t really a deal
The Enterprise
Posted Mar 18, 2012


Middleboro officials are correct when they say the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian tribe shouldn’t be moving “from one community to another” in an attempt to get the best deal possible for a casino.

It is unseemly; it smacks of greed and opportunism; and it is unfair to the cities and towns that take the bait, then get tossed back into the water when the Wampanoags move on to the next community blinded by $$.

But that is beside the point. The tribe’s endless wandering – now playing in Taunton! – may look bad, but that is their right and privilege as a sovereign nation. For now, they are trumped by Middleboro’s media blitz to try to get more money from the tribe after it was spurned at the altar.

Town officials are angry that the Wampanoags walked away from a 2007 agreement to build a $1 billion casino complex– a deal that fizzled when Gov. Deval Patrick said he wouldn’t approve casinos in Massachusetts.

But the political landscape has changed a lot in five years and Patrick not only enthusiastically supports three casinos and a slot machine parlor, he has set aside one casino license for an Indian tribe if they can come up with an agreement with the state by July 31. After that, all bets for preferential treatment are off.

So the Wampanoags, after making and breaking a deal with Fall River, cozied up to Taunton and got the City Council to schedule a June 9 referendum. A “no” vote kills any deal and may leave the tribe out in the cold as Patrick’s July 31 deadline gets closer.

As for Middleboro, the town should be happy the tribe paid it $1 million in mitigation funds for a deal that never went anywhere. It was a big payday for, essentially, nothing. Sure there are hurt feelings, but the tone the selectmen have adopted in pushing Patrick to force the Wampanoags to either pay more money to the town or build their casino there is over the top.

The tribe, despite this, is still willing to work with Middleboro to possibly develop the land where the casino complex was to be built. Middleboro officials should look at that as a sign of good faith.

As for the casino itself? We have serious doubts it will be built in Taunton or that the Wampanoags will take care of the extensive local, state and federal requirements needed before it can receive the license.

Middleboro officials are correct when they say the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian tribe shouldn’t be moving “from one community to another” in an attempt to get the best deal possible for a casino.

It is unseemly; it smacks of greed and opportunism; and it is unfair to the cities and towns that take the bait, then get tossed back into the water when the Wampanoags move on to the next community blinded by $$.

But that is beside the point. The tribe’s endless wandering – now playing in Taunton! – may look bad, but that is their right and privilege as a sovereign nation. For now, they are trumped by Middleboro’s media blitz to try to get more money from the tribe after it was spurned at the altar.

Town officials are angry that the Wampanoags walked away from a 2007 agreement to build a $1 billion casino complex– a deal that fizzled when Gov. Deval Patrick said he wouldn’t approve casinos in Massachusetts.
But the political landscape has changed a lot in five years and Patrick not only enthusiastically supports three casinos and a slot machine parlor, he has set aside one casino license for an Indian tribe if they can come up with an agreement with the state by July 31. After that, all bets for preferential treatment are off.

So the Wampanoags, after making and breaking a deal with Fall River, cozied up to Taunton and got the City Council to schedule a June 9 referendum. A “no” vote kills any deal and may leave the tribe out in the cold as Patrick’s July 31 deadline gets closer.

As for Middleboro, the town should be happy the tribe paid it $1 million in mitigation funds for a deal that never went anywhere. It was a big payday for, essentially, nothing. Sure there are hurt feelings, but the tone the selectmen have adopted in pushing Patrick to force the Wampanoags to either pay more money to the town or build their casino there is over the top.

The tribe, despite this, is still willing to work with Middleboro to possibly develop the land where the casino complex was to be built. Middleboro officials should look at that as a sign of good faith.

As for the casino itself? We have serious doubts it will be built in Taunton or that the Wampanoags will take care of the extensive local, state and federal requirements needed before it can receive the license.

By now, any city or town that tries to do business with them should understand that the tribe and its billionaire backers will do what is best for themselves and don’t give much thought to the feelings of local residents.

But that is business. And it is especially endemic in the gambling industry. Partnerships are created almost solely on the basis of how much money can be made. That was the case in Middleboro in 2007 and in Taunton in 2012.

By now, any city or town that tries to do business with them should understand that the tribe and its billionaire backers will do what is best for themselves and don’t give much thought to the feelings of local residents.

But that is business. And it is especially endemic in the gambling industry.

Partnerships are created almost solely on the basis of how much money can be made. That was the case in Middleboro in 2007 and in Taunton in 2012.


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