YOUR TURN: Trust, but verify on Plainville racino deal
Posted: Thursday, June 7, 2012
Among the core principles of our government are checks and balances, inclusion, and transparency. Unfortunately, we saw very little of these at the recent Plainville town meeting relating to Article 43. The article petitioned the selectmen to obtain an independent cost/benefit analysis on the impact of a slot machine parlor at Plainridge Racecourse prior to, or concurrent with, negotiating a host community agreement and that the analysis be shared with the public. As none of the selectmen (or quite frankly most of Plainville's residents) are slot machine gambling experts, coupled with the fact that the analysis would come at no cost to Plainville (analysis would be paid by Plainridge Racecourse per the Massachusetts gaming legislation), it seemed like a reasonable request. Yet it did not pass.
As a citizen of Plainville, I was embarrassed at town meeting when Selectmen Andrea Soucy and Rob Rose commented that they "were insulted" by residents asking that some of the most basic values of our government be enforced. Instead of embracing inclusion and transparency, they did the opposite, essentially saying they did not need any checks and balances - just "trust us" was their common refrain.
http://www.thesunchronicle.com/vip/opinion/columns/your-turn-trust-but-verify-on-plainville-racino-deal/article_e58395d3-bc57-5b95-b27e-fbe579773431.html
As a citizen of Plainville, I was embarrassed at town meeting when Selectmen Andrea Soucy and Rob Rose commented that they "were insulted" by residents asking that some of the most basic values of our government be enforced. Instead of embracing inclusion and transparency, they did the opposite, essentially saying they did not need any checks and balances - just "trust us" was their common refrain.
http://www.thesunchronicle.com/vip/opinion/columns/your-turn-trust-but-verify-on-plainville-racino-deal/article_e58395d3-bc57-5b95-b27e-fbe579773431.html
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