On April 18, the Massachusetts Gam(bl)ing Commission voted to allow the host communities schedule votes prior to the results of the financial/background analyses being finalized and made public.
... THE RESULT: What this means is that East Boston and Revere will be asked to vote on the proposed Suffolk Downs Casino BEFORE their financial background check has been completed.
They did this using the "emergency regulation" authority that state agencies have, claiming that it is in the public interest to move ahead as quickly as possible--regardless of whether or not we have all of the information we need about the investors-- with the vote. They cited pressure from the cities and towns and developers as the reason to move the process ahead and made light of the fairly significant concerns raised by groups like No Eastie Casino when asked what the hurry was.
This happened about 3 weeks after one of Suffolk Downs' largest investors, Vornado Trust pulled out because they didn't want to submit to background checks.
According to the Globe, "The gambling commission approved a transfer of Vornado’s shares Thursday to a blind trust over which the company will have no control. That is an interim step that will allow the track’s casino application to move forward while Vornado works to sells its interest “as soon as possible,” said Catherine Blue, the gambling commission’s general counsel."
THE RESULT. This means that the MGC is conducting a background check on on a blind trust, and East Boston Residents aren't even going to see the results of this analysis before we vote on Suffolk Downs' proposal.
The MGC is an agency set up to "strive to ensure that its decision-making and regulatory systems engender the confidence of the public and participants, and that they provide the greatest possible economic development benefits and revenues to the people of the Commonwealth"
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