Plainridge is not a good neighbor

To the editor:

Plainridge is not a good neighbor
 ("Plainville says Plainridge Racecourse has been good neighbor" Oct. 30).

"Good neighbors" don't take millions from the money room at the track, then skip town when they're caught. The selectmen sang Gary Piontkowski's praises until the day he disappeared and the owners with whom we still have dealings gave Piontkowski a huge severance package - why? What else was going on there? Who else was involved and are they now working for or with Penn National? We don't know because neither the gambling commission nor the attorney general investigated what looks like a major crime at the racetrack in our town.

"Good neighbors" don't keep their abutters silent by threatening to sue them. Ten families whose property abuts or sits close to Plainridge can't actively participate in meetings or make public statements about Plainridge under threat of a lawsuit from the "1999 Non-Interference Agreement" signed by former owners of Harness Path and Plainridge. Piontkowski threatened the residents, but Ourway, Penn National, and the selectmen don't seem to mind.

"Good neighbors" don't break state gambling laws, threatening the not-for-profit status of local groups. The attorney general found that Plainridge ran an illegal raffle here for more than a decade, and ordered them to stop. The much-lauded raffle's "charitable donations" ran afoul of the charitable gaming laws, but the selectmen didn't seem to mind local groups accepting the ill-gotten gains.

"Good neighbors" don't keep information to themselves in order to put others in an inferior negotiating position. The host community agreement was negotiated and signed when Plainridge knew all about their considerable troubles with the gambling commission - troubles that would eventually disqualify them for a slots license. Unfortunately, Plainville wasn't told until well after the host community agreement was signed. How can a host community agreement that was not negotiated in good faith even be valid? Why didn't the selectmen contest it?

I don't know how anyone who cares about the letter and the spirit of the law can think that Plainridge has been a good neighbor to our town and its citizens.

Mary-Ann Greanier
Plainville


http://www.thesunchronicle.com/vip/opinion/letters_to_editor/four-reasons-why-track-is-not-a-good-neighbor/article_7a5736c9-fb6b-5076-9d3d-fde2278aeb01.html