Campaign aims to end slot bid once and for all

Campaign aims to end slot bid once and for all

Posted: Thursday, August 15, 2013
BY JIM HAND SUN CHRONICLE STAFF

PLAINVILLE - Critics of expanded gambling will organize a campaign to defeat a ballot question on slot machines at Plainridge Racecourse even though it is doubtful the track will ever get slot machines.

The critics thought a campaign would be unnecessary when the state Gaming Commission ruled the owners of Plainridge were unsuitable for a gambling license because of financial irregularities at the harness track.

But, selectmen have decided to go ahead with a Sept. 10 referendum on slot machines at the Route 1 track just in case a new owner should emerge.

Mary-Ann Greanier, a leader of the opposition to bringing slot machines to Plainridge said she and her colleagues now have no choice but to work to defeat the ballot question.

Greanier said voters should put an end to talk of slot machines, once and for all.

She said it should be obvious by now that slot machines would be bad for the town, contending Plainridge misled town officials on the issue all along.

Even if a new company buys the racetrack, she said, voters will not have enough time to adequately study its background before the election.

"The voters of Plainville need to be very, very clear about what the slots referendum could mean. If Plainridge is sold before September 10th, there will be little or no opportunity to learn about the new owners before we vote on allowing slots at the track," she said in an email.

"Worse yet, if there is no new owner in place before we vote, and the referendum passes, Plainridge could be bought after we vote, and the new owners would be in position to apply for the slots license.

That means that owners we've never met and know nothing about might be allowed to operate a racetrack casino in our town, and we would have no say at all."

She said her group would try to organize a forum to talk about the problems with the referendum question and the trouble that comes with gambling.

Her opponents in the election at this point are unknown.

Plainridge had planned to run an all-out campaign. It has had a public-information office operating for months.

But, with the current Plainridge owners out of the running, it is unclear if anyone will take up the cause.

Selectmen said they went ahead with the referendum to keep the door open in case a new owner should suddenly appear.

A spokeswoman for the Gaming Commission said new owners would need to have their application in by Oct. 4.

She also said there is no process available for the commission to reconsider its rejection of the Plainridge owners.

Meanwhile, horsemen at the track said they do not know when racing will end at Plainridge.

The owners have long said the track cannot survive without the additional revenue slot machines would bring in.

Mike Perpall, president of the Harness Horsemen's Association of New England, said track official Steve O'Toole met with the horsemen this week, but did not give a definitive date on the end of racing.

The current harness racing meet ends in November.


http://www.thesunchronicle.com/news/local_news/campaign-aims-to-end-slot-bid-once-and-for-all/article_92e5e172-a2b0-58e0-911a-81a87a5e9570.html