Massachusetts: Incapable of Critical Thought

Political hack, Lt. Governor Tim Murray, like too many others, failed to consider the evidence elsewhere, the increased crime, community destruction, the devastation of Gambling Addiction, lack of economic development.




Sunday, May 19, 2013

Murray awaiting slots parlor details , too

John J. Monahan Mass Politics


Lt. Gov. Tim Murray will get one vote on the slots casino proposal for Worcester proposed by Rush Gaming out of Chicago if it makes it to the ballot later this year.

But having put nearly two decades of focused political effort into reshaping and revitalizing the city’s commercial core — and also having a hand in bringing casino gambling to the state along with Gov. Deval Patrick three years ago — the Worcester resident and former mayor has played a key role in events leading up to the slots parlor proposal.

“We know that we lose a billion dollars a year in revenue with people going to Connecticut and Rhode Island and other places,” he said of the decision by the Patrick/Murray administration to propose legislation to award three casino licenses and one slots parlor license in Massachusetts.

“The debate when we filed the legislation was whether there was an opportunity to capture some of that revenue, put adequate protections in place from a public safety and public health point of view and set up a process that was going to be independent with the Gaming Commission,” he said in talking about Rush Gaming’s slots parlor plan for Green Island, a few blocks from the CitySquare redevelopment area.

So far, he did not sound impressed with what he has seen from the Chicago casino company competing with other slots proposals in Massachusetts.

“I think the people haven’t seen a business proposal. So all you can do is kind of speculate until there is a detailed proposal on the table,” Murray said.

“Some people have made up their minds. But to me you have got to see what the specifics are. I don’t think any community should base their economic development strategy solely on this, but it is something to consider and then weigh the pros and cons,” Murray said.

“There are benefits in the form of [LOW WAGE] jobs, but there are cons in that there are a certain number of people that this becomes a health issue with and there is a public safety component that you have to make sure you are vigilant about. So we will see if we get a detailed proposal,” he said.

“It’s ultimately going to be a decision by the voters of the city of Worcester and the Gaming Commission, but like a lot of people, I have mixed feelings about it as I did with our gaming bill to begin with.”

Murray recalled that Richard Friedman — the Cambridge developer who could offer a high class hotel for downtown that would be subsidized by the slots parlor — played a critical advisory role years ago when Worcester officials set about remapping its downtown development plans.

“Long before any of this gaming stuff came up he has been plugged in and exploring the feasibility of doing something in Worcester,” Murray said. “I initially invited him to the city back when the whole idea of CitySquare was just an idea. He has reused historic buildings and that was kind of the idea with CitySquare and Notre Dame Church, whether there could be some similarity to what he did with the Liberty Hotel, which is the old jail,” in Boston.

More recently, “probably over a year ago,” Murray said, he helped arrange a meeting with the city manager, Friedman and others working on the CitySquare project as it was taking final shape.

“He came into Worcester last year, interested in what was going on and exploring in a very preliminary way whether there may be some development opportunities. At that point it is really the manager and Opus/Hanover (the real estate arm of the Hanover Insurance Group developing CitySquare) to deal with that,” Murray said.

“I don’t know, after that initial introduction, who he has spoken to or any of the specifics behind what the proposals are,” Murray said explaining that was the limit of his role.

Murray said he has been encouraged by Friedman’s continuing interest in the city, because he has a reputation for high quality redevelopment and because it shows outside developers see opportunity coming with the revitalization of downtown. The value of the slots proposal, however, remains as much a question to him as many others waiting for specifics from Rush Gaming.


John J. Monahan covers the Statehouse for the Telegram & Gazette.
http://www.telegram.com/article/20130519/COLUMN05/105199886