Repeal the Casino Deal collects double the amount of signatures needed to maintain anti-casino ballot question's viability with court ruling pending
Opponents of casino gambling gather at a July rally sponsored by at the Council of Churches of Western Massachusetts at Court Square in Springfield. (Dave Roback / The Republican file)
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on June 17, 2014
his story was updated Tuesday afternoon to include a quote from Jeff Ciuffreda, president of the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce Greater Springfield.
BOSTON — Anti-casino activists in Massachusetts report they have collected more than double the amount of signatures needed to keep a ballot question repealing the state's Expanded Gaming Act alive while everyone awaits a ruling about its fate from the Supreme Judicial Court.
In accordance with state law, a ballot question which gets the 68,911 certified signatures needed to be considered for the ballot must get an additional 11,485 certified signatures if it isn't accepted on the first consideration, as was the case with the question repealing the state's casino law.
Attorney General Martha Coakley in Septemberrejected the proposed anti-casino ballot question, ruling that it's passage would violate the constitutional right to compensation for the taking of private property for public use. About a week later, Coakley, who is running for governor, allowed a challenge to her decision to proceed, kicking up the decision to the state's highest court, which is expected to issue a decision by July 9 at the latest.
"Our grassroots supporters statewide have amazed me with their tenacity and drive to meet voters and share our message, always growing our base of support and momentum to repeal this bad casino deal," said casino repeal chairman John Ribeiro in a statement. "Once these legal and organizing hurdles are behind us, we see a clear path to victory because voters are fed up and know we can do better than casinos for Massachusetts."
Organizers said the final push toward collecting the approximately 26,000 signatures they collected in the latest round was aided by voters who "flooded the casino repeal table" at the Democratic State Convention this past weekend in Worcester. The group claims that more than half of the delegates to the convention offered their signatures to allow the repeal effort to go before the voters in November.
"The interest and excitement around this question is tremendous and only growing," said casino repeal campaign manager Darek Barcikowski in a statement. "The one thing we kept hearing from voters is that this mess keeps getting worse and that the state just doesn’t need the downsides we know will come with casino gambling."
Jeff Ciuffreda, president of the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce Greater Springfield which endorsed the MGM casino, said it is frustrating to watch the effort play out while Springfield is on the edge of several major development projects.
"Downtown Springfield should have shovels in the ground as we speak. The people behind the repeal do not respect the voters of Springfield, and have no answers for our stressed economy and struggling workforce," Ciuffreda said. "The gaming act provided our city an opportunity, and we seized that opportunity. They are delaying our future and should not be allowed a do-over."
The company which stands to lost the most if the question proceeds and passes is MGM Resorts International, which last week was granted the state's first casino license, pending a decision by the court.
If the Supreme Judicial Court decides the ballot question is illegal, MGM gets the license the next day for its Springfield casino project. If the court allows the question to proceed, MGM would be granted the license the day after the Nov. 4 election, assuming that voters don't vote to kill the law.
Penn National Gaming's investments may also be in jeopardy as the company has already begun construction on its $225 million slots parlor at the Plainridge harness race track in Plainville.
In the greater Boston area, Mohegan Sun's proposal at Suffolk Downs is still in competition with Wynn Resorts proposal for Revere. Since licensing in that region is expected to come after the court case, the potential for a loss of millions isn't the same as with the Western Mass. region where MGM outlasted several other casino campaigns.
Activists say they intend to gather signatures through the final deadline Wednesday at 5 p.m. The signatures will be filed with city and town clerks and with Secretary of State William Galvin's office by July 2.
http://www.masslive.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/06/repeal_the_casino_deal_collect.html
Anti-casino group says it received warm welcome at Massachusetts Democratic Convention in Worcester
Handing out “Repeal the Casino Deal” buttons inside the DCU Center, Anti-casino activist John Ribeiro said initiative petition activists have more than 20,000 certified signatures ready to submit to local officials next week in order to qualify their repeal proposal for the November ballot. (Republican File Photo)
WORCESTER — While Democrats on Beacon Hill led the charge in 2011 to put a law legalizing casinos on the books, anti-casino advocate John Ribeiro told the News Service he is getting a “great” reception at Saturday’s Democratic Convention.
Handing out “Repeal the Casino Deal” buttons inside the DCU Center, Ribeiro also said initiative petition activists have more than 20,000 certified signatures ready to submit to local officials next week in order to qualify their repeal proposal for the November ballot - 11,485 signatures are required in the next and final round of submissions.
Asked to reconcile the “great” reception with the fact that Democrats led the push to pass the casino law, Ribeiro said, “When the speakership changed, one hundred votes changed overnight.”
Celeste Myers, a leader in the No Eastie Casino group who said she is challenging Rep. Carlo Basile, an East Boston Democrat, said she believes casinos could become a major issue in statewide campaigns.
“We’d love all the candidates to show up for us,” Myers told the News Service, who said she wanted No Eastie Casino to serve as a resource.
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