CasinoLiesInBoston

CasinoLies InBoston

Transparency is the new buzz word in government and politics, especially here in Boston. From the tippy top of the State House’s grand staircase on down to the basement of Boston City Hall, everyone’s claiming transparency as a top priority. It’s for the benefit of our democracy and our society, your elected government servants say. As residents, tax-payers, and voters, you have a right to know everything that happens in your government, they tout.



Yet, most of your elected officials, on the state and city levels, are still using their stock of smoke and mirrors in the Commonwealth’s casino discussion. They may be declaring they are opening windows for you to see the process and become engaged. But it is more like they are just wiping down the old mirror with glass cleaner so it appears to be a window. They’re just relocating the smoke machine from one side of the room to the other, not removing it.



It makes sense, actually, that such seasoned smoke and mirror users would seek out the very best smoke and mirrors that money can buy – those that casino developers sell.



Prior to the casino bill passing into law, a group of six Massachusetts residents representing United to Stop Slots (USS-MA) sat down with Governor Patrick’s secretary of economic development Gregory Bialecki and another of the governor’s top aides, to discuss the group’s concerns with the legislation and ask questions. Over the course of nearly two hours, group members repeatedly tried (and failed) to get clear answers to simple questions – at least simple for those so well-versed in casino industry research as the Governor’s office. Many questions sought financial cost figures: How much will it cost the state to support the casino industry? How much will it cost the taxpayers to fund the new gambling commission’s staff, insurance, and pensions? Which impartial studies were used to get their revenue and jobs data? Plenty of smoke and mirrors, but no answers. No answers for you, the taxpayers. No transparency.



You have likely seen or heard by now the projected state revenue and job figures developers and their mouth pieces on Beacon Hill are promising. Hopefully many of you have also noticed that those numbers have shrunken over the last five years. The fact is, the casino industry has been suffering, and casino developers have taken on enormous debt. They come into a state and individual cities and towns, promising the moon and stars. In the end, they urge legislators to ease regulations imposed on them and to reduce tax commitments. Ultimately, more rights are given to the casino developers, taken from the hands of the host communities and the state. Your elected leaders aren’t too quick to be transparent about these facts, however. (Do you think they might have something to gain personally?)



How about jobs? Your legislators commit to thousands of temporary construction and permanent full-time jobs. They say there are thousands of residents who need jobs, and need jobs now. Not later, but now! Is that really the goal or just another hazy mirror? Because by recent account of the newly formed state gambling commission, to do all that needs to get done and do it properly, they won’t even start accepting casino bids until 2013. Casino construction would not begin until 2014 or beyond. Is that helping Boston’s jobless pay their bills now? Sure, it would be terrific to put thousands of Boston tradesmen and tradewomen back to work today. But is tomorrow today? Or is later still not now? Perhaps the politicians are trying to buy themselves some votes today for some possible jobs next year? (And we won't even discuss here how most of the best paying jobs that casinos create are filled by out-of-state professionals who already work at and are trained by the casinos. We also won't mention here how each new casino job actually costs the existing local business community the elimination of more than one existing job, that the money that residents spend in the casino is money that are not spending in the local businesses you work at right now. And we certainly won't mention that it could be your job that gets cut!) It seems like city and state politicians may be playing with the smoke machine again.



Finally, Boston’s Mayor and City Council insist that only one neighborhood – East Boston – deserves a vote in the local referendum, to determine if Suffolk Downs can even submit a casino application. They will tell you it is because the one neighborhood will bear the burden of the casino. Wait, perhaps they won’t say “burden.” Because a casino isn’t a burden; it’s a godsend. They will say that only that only East Boston should vote, because that community will see the majority of the negative impacts. Well, perhaps they won’t say “negative impacts.” They’ll state that East Boston is the most deserving of mitigation. (That’s better: mitigation.) As a tax-paying resident of the City of Boston, your city officials should be telling you that research shows again and again, a casino has significant impacts on communities within a 50 mile radius of its site. It’s transparent that all of Boston would lie within that impact zone. So why do ninety percent of city residents not deserve a vote in the referendum? Residents should approach the Mayor and Councillors and ask. Maybe they’ll be transparent. Or maybe they’ll just blow smoke.



In the end, the information is out there for those who want it. All across the country, casino developers and their lobbyists lie and corrupt. (Just for kicks, look up Jack Abramoff on 60 Minutes.) Elected officials, purposely or unintentionally, aid the casino efforts and mislead their constituents. Local communities and states suffer, financially and socially. Google the group United to Stop Slots in Massachusetts, or Neighbors of Suffolk Downs, if you value transparency. You probably won’t get much from your elected officials, or even often from your traditional news media (because they have something to gain from a casino in town: advertising revenue).

Smoke and mirrors serve a wonderful purpose inside of a carnival fun house. Though, would you want to live there? If not, seek the real answers and move to nip this casino movement in the bud. If you truly enjoy the misdirection of the carnival fun house, you’re probably better off there in the end, anyway – completely in the dark.

What a Boston that would be.

- CasinoLiesInBoston