Residents fret over casino’s Eastie impact
Insurance, pollution raised as concerns
By O’Ryan Johnson and Christine McConville
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Plans for a new Caesars casino at Suffolk Downs got a mixed response from East Boston residents who worried about crime, traffic, air quality and light pollution but welcomed the idea of new jobs in the area neighborhood where the billion-dollar casino is planned.
The meeting last night at East Boston High School featured a panel of those backing the casino including the architect, a traffic consultant, Suffolk Downs Chief Operating Officer Chip Tuttle, former Boston Police Commissioner Paul Evans and Caesars Entertainment Corporation Central Division President John Payne.
Brian Gannon asked how the casino planned to make up for the possible impact on car insurance rates and air pollution, with as many as 5 million vehicles headed to the site annually.
“You’re bringing in about 3.6 to 5.8 million new vehicle trips according to your own numbers. How are you going to mitigate that air quality first of all, and secondly, how much is our car insurance going to increase?” he said. “It’s already the highest in the city.”
Tuttle said the project would go through a “full permitting and DEP review.” He said they are concerned about the effect on insurance, but cannot do anything about it.
“The question of car insurance rates has come up,” he said. “How that is determined is beyond our control.”
On crime, Tuttle said planners are looking at success stories in other communities and cited Wilkes-Barre, Pa., as a town that introduced casino gambling, and he said saw crime decrease.
There are +1500 legal Gambling facilities in the US and he actually found ONE relatively NEW facility with reduced CRIME??? Just wait! Studies have shown that CRIME takes time.
There were also those in the crowd who favored the project.
Debra Patti of East Boston told the crowd she supported it because it would provide [LOW WAGE] jobs with good benefits to a community that needs it. IGNORING THE TRUTH!
“My daughter has lived in Las Vegas for eight years,” Patti said. “She moved out of here because there’s no money to be made. She went to Las Vegas. ... They get medical out there. She’s doing great. Move it in, absolutely. There’s revenue to be made.”
Las Vegas has HIGH CRIME, HIGH POVERTY, THE NATION'S HIGHEST RATE OF HOME FORECLOSURES, HIGH DIVORCE RATES, HIGH PERSONAL BANKRUPTCIES, HIGH SUICIDE RATES, HIGH DROPOUT RATES, LOW COLLEGE GRADUATION RATES. Something to copy?
There is another community meeting set for June 25.
Meanwhile, the state’s fledgling Gaming Commission — with a staff of eight — is looking to add more workers.
Commissioners pitched hiring an ombudsman yesterday and an outside consultant. The new hires were rolled out as members debated how to handle community concerns as casino projects become a reality.
Currently, there are five commissioners, one director of communications, a chief of staff and two assistants on the commission.
“We are working with consultants who are in the process of creating a strategic ‘work plan,’ which will outline mandatory hires,” board communications director Elaine Driscoll told the Herald.
Commission Chairman Stephen P. Crosby said while the five-member board will have its own “ombudsman who will assist the developers and maybe the towns,” there also needs to be an outside consultant to mitigate disputes between casino developers and the town that will house them.
“I’ll work on pulling together a list of people,” Crosby said during the afternoon meeting.
The commission also is about to hire a search firm to help locate a permanent executive director.
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?&articleid=1061138581&format=&page=1&listingType=MA2004#articleFull
The meeting last night at East Boston High School featured a panel of those backing the casino including the architect, a traffic consultant, Suffolk Downs Chief Operating Officer Chip Tuttle, former Boston Police Commissioner Paul Evans and Caesars Entertainment Corporation Central Division President John Payne.
Brian Gannon asked how the casino planned to make up for the possible impact on car insurance rates and air pollution, with as many as 5 million vehicles headed to the site annually.
“You’re bringing in about 3.6 to 5.8 million new vehicle trips according to your own numbers. How are you going to mitigate that air quality first of all, and secondly, how much is our car insurance going to increase?” he said. “It’s already the highest in the city.”
Tuttle said the project would go through a “full permitting and DEP review.” He said they are concerned about the effect on insurance, but cannot do anything about it.
“The question of car insurance rates has come up,” he said. “How that is determined is beyond our control.”
On crime, Tuttle said planners are looking at success stories in other communities and cited Wilkes-Barre, Pa., as a town that introduced casino gambling, and he said saw crime decrease.
There are +1500 legal Gambling facilities in the US and he actually found ONE relatively NEW facility with reduced CRIME??? Just wait! Studies have shown that CRIME takes time.
There were also those in the crowd who favored the project.
Debra Patti of East Boston told the crowd she supported it because it would provide [LOW WAGE] jobs with good benefits to a community that needs it. IGNORING THE TRUTH!
“My daughter has lived in Las Vegas for eight years,” Patti said. “She moved out of here because there’s no money to be made. She went to Las Vegas. ... They get medical out there. She’s doing great. Move it in, absolutely. There’s revenue to be made.”
Las Vegas has HIGH CRIME, HIGH POVERTY, THE NATION'S HIGHEST RATE OF HOME FORECLOSURES, HIGH DIVORCE RATES, HIGH PERSONAL BANKRUPTCIES, HIGH SUICIDE RATES, HIGH DROPOUT RATES, LOW COLLEGE GRADUATION RATES. Something to copy?
There is another community meeting set for June 25.
Meanwhile, the state’s fledgling Gaming Commission — with a staff of eight — is looking to add more workers.
Commissioners pitched hiring an ombudsman yesterday and an outside consultant. The new hires were rolled out as members debated how to handle community concerns as casino projects become a reality.
Currently, there are five commissioners, one director of communications, a chief of staff and two assistants on the commission.
“We are working with consultants who are in the process of creating a strategic ‘work plan,’ which will outline mandatory hires,” board communications director Elaine Driscoll told the Herald.
Commission Chairman Stephen P. Crosby said while the five-member board will have its own “ombudsman who will assist the developers and maybe the towns,” there also needs to be an outside consultant to mitigate disputes between casino developers and the town that will house them.
“I’ll work on pulling together a list of people,” Crosby said during the afternoon meeting.
The commission also is about to hire a search firm to help locate a permanent executive director.
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?&articleid=1061138581&format=&page=1&listingType=MA2004#articleFull
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