Mirage Resorts Offers Plan for Gambling on the Bridgeport Waterfront
Published: November 13, 1992
Mirage Resorts today presented a plan for a casino and gaming center on this city's waterfront that, at first sight, looked no more implausible than the dolphins and rain forest at the Mirage desert resort on the Las Vegas Strip.
The center, called the Bridgeport Sporting Club, would be designed to look like a huge New England yacht club or oceanfront home, with clapboards and shutters, and would include attractions from a casino, dog track and parimutuel simulcast theater to an ice rink and an amusement area for children.
"It's time for people who love this idea or hate this idea to have something to criticize," Mirage's chief executive, Stephen A. Wynn, said in presenting the plans to business and political leaders at a luncheon at Bridgeport Jai-Alai, the proposed site for the center.
Mr. Wynn has been lobbying hard to open in Connecticut the first non-Indian casino outside Nevada and Atlantic City. Despite a vow from Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. to veto any legislation permitting a casino, he has proposed a convention center and casino in Hartford, as well as the Bridgeport casino. Mashantucket Pequots Connecticut has one casino, Foxwood, on the Mashantucket Pequot Indian reservation in Ledyard. Federal law permits tribes to conduct gambling if a state allows it; the Pequots qualified because Connecticut allows churches and other organizations to sponsor Las Vegas nights.
In many minds, the Pequot casino made Connecticut ground-zero for a coming explosion of gaming across the country, as other tribes seek to emulate the Pequots' success and states starved for revenue begin legalizing casinos off the reservation so they can share in the profits.
The plan presented by Mr. Wynn today is Mirage's attempt to enter the New York day-trip market. The center includes only one hotel, with 350 to 700 rooms (the Mirage, in Las Vegas, has 3,044 rooms and suites). But it is next to the Connecticut Turnpike and the Metro-North Commuter Railroad, and could be linked to Long Island by hydrofoil ferries.
Mr. Wynn said the center would not be like Las Vegas: "There isn't a speck of neon on this building." And it would not repeat the mistakes of Atlantic City, with its concentration of casinos looming behind a deteriorated city.
He said the Bridgeport center, on the waterfront immediately off Exit 28 of the turnpike, would provide a "completely self-contained environment that can be safe, that can be well-lit, that allows people to come and go without upsetting residential neighborhoods." Jobs and Taxes
He said that he would expect the center to employ 5,000 to 7,000 people and that local residents would have the first opportunity to apply for the jobs. He estimated the center would produce $50 million to $100 million a year in local and state tax revenue.
He also said bluntly that the casino, by itself, was not going to solve Bridgeport's economic or social problems.
"Get it straight," he said. "I think I know how to bring people to Bridgeport, and keep them coming, but there is no reason on earth for any of you to expect for more than one second that just because there are people here, they're going to run into your store, or restaurant, or bar.
"That didn't happen in Atlantic City," he said. "It should never have been promised in Atlantic City. It is illogical to expect that people who won't come to Bridgeport and go to your restaurants or your stores today will go to your restaurants and stores just because we happen to build this building here."
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Sunday, March 18, 2012
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Three more casinos could open in Connecticut
Connecticut Today
Connecticut's Casinos Challenged as Revenues Decline, Competitors Rise
BY ERIK OFGANG
The
battle finally seemed over.
About
a year and a half ago a lawyer for the town of Kent wrote to Bruce Adams, Kent’s
first selectman, informing him that the town’s fight to prevent the Schaghticoke
Tribe from receiving federal tribal recognition was essentially won. Federal
recognition for the Schaghticokes would have potentially paved the way for the
tribe to open a casino, possibly in Kent but more likely on purchased property
elsewhere in western Connecticut. It would have also lent weight to the tribe’s
argument that land once part of the Schaghticoke reservation but currently
occupied by the prestigious Kent School (a private boarding school) and housing
the town’s sewer treatment plant, as well as several private properties, should
be returned to the tribe. But with the arrival of the attorney’s letter, both
potential issues seemed things of the past.
“We
were of the belief that it was over,” recalls Adams. About a month later he
received another letter from the same lawyer, informing him that in Washington
there was movement to reform the tribal-recognition process in ways that could
drastically alter Kent and Connecticut’s tribal landscape.
(Foxwoods,
above, and Mohegan Sun, below, in photos from the state's tourism website,ctvisit.com)
The
draft of the proposed reforms, which was publicly released by the U.S. Department of
Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in May, calls for a
rewriting of the Federal Tribal Recognition process. Under the proposed changes,
tribes would only have to trace ancestry and continuity as a community back to
1934. Currently, they need to trace ancestry and continuity back to “first
contact” with European settlers, which in Connecticut means back to the 1600s.
In addition, the new proposed rules would make tribes with state recognition
virtual shoe-ins to receive federal recognition.
If
the proposed rule changes are enacted, three Connecticut tribes might be in line
to receive federal recognition: the aforementioned Schaghticokes in Kent; The Eastern Pequotsin North Stonington; and
the Golden Hill Paugussetts in Colchester and Trumbull.
If
these tribes receive recognition, three
more casinos could legally open in Connecticut. But with the existing
casinos,Foxwoods
Resort Casino and Mohegan
Sun, facing declining revenue and the prospect of increased
competition from proposed casinos in New York and Massachusetts, economists say opening more casinos here could
be quite a gamble.
IF
YOU BUILD IT, WILL THEY COME?
“[Gambling] is nowhere near the strength at
either Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun that it was 10 years ago,” says Peter M.
Gioia, vice president and economist for the Connecticut Business & Industry
Association (CBIA).
Over the past few years, the handle
(the total amount bet at slot machines) at Foxwoods has declined by more than $800 million
per year, from nearly $7.3 billion in
the 2011-2012 fiscal year, to $6.5 billion in 2012-2013, to $5.6 billion in 2013-2014. Mohegan
Sun has seen a similar decline. In the second quarter of this year the company’s overall profits were down 31.6
percent from the same period last year. In July 2014, both casinos
reported significant declines in slot machine betting and
revenue.
Gioia
says you can see the decreased casino business with your own eyes.
“I
remember going to those casinos five or ten years ago. You would go in on a
Tuesday afternoon or a Thursday morning and they would be packed,” he says. “You
go through there right now on a weekday and even weeknights before Thursday
and there’s a lot of sections that are
shut down.”
The
problem for Connecticut’s existing casinos is twofold, explains Gioia. Neither
business has fully recovered from the 2008 recession and now both are facing
increased competition from gaming facilities in nearby states such as Rhode
Island and New York, with even more likely to come. Plans are underway for three
casinos in Massachusetts—though the law allowing these casinos could be repealed
by a public vote in November; Mohegan Sun is actually behind one of the
projects, a proposed $1.3 billion resort casino in East Boston at Suffolk Downs
thoroughbred track. There are also multiple proposals for casinos in New York,
including one in Newburgh that could conceivably attract New York City and
Fairfield County gamers.
Fred
Carstensen, professor of Finance and Economics at the University of Connecticut
and director of the Connecticut
Center for Economic Analysis, says that “historically 70 to 80
percent of the betting has come from people outside of the state of Connecticut
at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun.”
Thanks
to casino development in surrounding states, the number of out-of-state gamers
who visit Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun will likely decline, regardless of whether a
new casino is built in the state or not.
“The
question isn’t will Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods lose some customers to the new
casinos, because they will,” Carstensen says. “The really critical question is
how much they’re going to lose. If the Massachusetts casinos do get built along
with the New York ones, they can easily lose 20 to 25 percent of their betting
base.”
Gioia
of CBIA says he’s not convinced a new Connecticut casino would be a safe bet. “I
don’t’ know if I’d be someone who would want to financially back that
expansion,” he says. “You have a market
that may be becoming saturated.”
CAN
YOU BUILD IT?
Even
with the increasingly crowded casino market, gaming issues are often at the
heart of the debate about federal tribal recognition in Connecticut.
In
the early 2000s, the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation and The Schaghticoke Tribal
Nation (one of two major factions within the Schaghticoke tribe), both received
federal recognition before political pressure from then attorney general Richard
Blumenthal and other Connecticut politicians. A court appeal led to a reversal
in 2005.
Almost
a decade later, Connecticut’s current attorney general, George Jepsen, says the
reemergence of this issue is concerning.
“It’s
immensely frustrating to have played by the rules and fought and won and put
this issue to bed, only to have all that hard work [potentially] undone by a
change in the rules, a change that when you take ten steps back, doesn’t make
any sense,” Jepsen says. “It wasn’t prompted by any change of policy, it’s not
like new information came to light or Congress changed the laws. This is just
unilateral action by the BIA.” He adds, “We think the existing regulations are
adequate and fair and oppose the dilution of them which would be a consequence
of this proposal.”
Of
particular concern, says Jepsen, are the provisions of the proposed rule changes
that require tribes to trace ancestry and community only as far back as 1934,
and the increased importance placed upon state recognition. Connecticut would be
affected because it is the only state that has reservations for tribes who have
been previously denied federal recognition.
Jepsen
says state and federal recognition are two very different things. Connecticut
has recognized the Indian ancestry of groups and designated reservation land for
them, but has never dealt with its state-recognized tribes as sovereign nations,
which is required if a tribe receives federal recognition.
“[Under
the proposed reforms] the mere fact that the state recognizes a tribe for the
purpose of allowing them to have a reservation becomes a proxy for continuous
community and political existence back to Colonial times,” Jepsen says. “The
criteria by which the state has recognized these tribes has a very different
purpose over the years than the federal-recognition process. So this [rule
change] would have the perverse outcome of allowing tribes that could not prove
that they existed from a political organization standpoint, or from a community
standpoint, to bootstrap themselves into recognition.”
Adams
agrees with Jepsen that by recognizing tribes at the state level Connecticut
policy makers never intended to grant them the status of sovereign nations.
“If
you do some research you’ll find that the state reservations in Connecticut were
granted with relative ease and as sort of a goodwill gesture to the Native
American tribes,” Adams says. “It was given so long ago.”
Jepsen’s
office is currently preparing comments on the proposed rule change and will
submit them to the BIA over the summer. Efforts to prevent the tribal
recognition rule change have bipartisan support within Connecticut and strong
support from Gov. Dannel Malloy and U.S. senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris
Murphy.
“We’re
not denying that people who live on the Schaghticoke reservation have
Schaghticoke blood in them,” Jepsen says. “It’s not a denial of their ancestry
but state recognition does not confirm or say the Schaghticoke have been in
existence as a continuous political community all these years.”
WHO
WILL BUILD IT?
The
Schaghticoke tribe split in the 1980s and two major factions emerged, the
Schaghticoke Indian Tribe and the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation, which received
federal recognition in 2004 before the decision was repealed. Under the proposed
new guidelines those who applied and were denied previously would only be
allowed to reapply if all the parties who participated in the original hearings
agreed to the new application. In the case of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation,
that would mean the attorney general’s office would have to sign off on a new
application—something Jepsen has pledged not to do. But there’s a catch.
“The
danger,” says Jepsen, “is splinter groups, for example, within the
Schaghticokes, who have never been part of the formal process—because they were
not credible within the formal process, because they’ve not been denied
previously—would arguably be in a position to say ‘we’re recognized by the state
and therefore we deserve federal recognition.’ So you have this ironic outcome
where groups who were very marginalized and on the fringe could leapfrog or
reach a deal with a more established member of the group.”
He
adds: “It’s also likely that the three tribes who sought and have been denied
recognition would challenge in court the requirement that parties such as my
office consent to their reapplication. So you would see litigation in lots of
different aspects of the case.”
If
either Schaghticoke faction received recognition, it is extremely unlikely a
casino would be built on the tribe’s reservation in Kent. Instead the tribe
would likely purchase property in a more accessible portion of Connecticut. In
the past, Danbury and Bridgeport have emerged as possible locations for a
Schaghticoke casino. Danbury officials have long opposed the concept, but
Bridgeport once welcomed the idea. In an unofficial referendum in 1995, a
majority of Bridgeport residents voted in favor of bringing a casino to the
city.
Paul
Timpanelli, president and CEO of the Bridgeport
Regional Business Council, says that today the prospect of a casino
would probably not be so warmly received.
“During
the mid-1990s, both the city and the Bridgeport Regional Business Council were
very aggressively pursuing the development of a casino in Bridgeport,” he says.
“Now I believe, and I cannot speak for the city, and I cannot speak formally for
the Bridgeport Regional Business Council because we don’t have a formal
position, but my guess would be that if
we were to be asked our opinion 20 years later, it would be the opposite—we
would not be in favor of the development of a casino in Bridgeport.
“There
are two reasons. One, we have two casinos in the state now, both of which are
struggling and we need to ensure that they succeed. Number two, Bridgeport is a
very changed city in 2014 as compared to 1995. We have made very significant
economic development progress and we’re very pleased with where we are today and
the growth that we see in the future in terms of job and tax base. The
introduction of a casino is not in keeping with the city’s current vision.”
Carstensen,
the director of the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis, suggests that to
be viable a new casino in the state would need a prime location. For example, a
Bridgeport casino “would have the rail connection with Metro-North and Amtrak,
you’re along I-95 it’s easy access, and you would say, ‘Oh okay, that would be
quite attractive,’” he says.
Though
the respective businesses may have declined and there may be tough times ahead,
few people expect Mohegan Sun or Foxwoods to fold. Both are expanding the non-gambling aspects of
business, including high-end dining and entertainment options.
“They’re
trying to create competitive advantages through attractions that will overcome
the emergence of new gambling competitors,” Carstensen says. “Mohegan Sun and
Foxwoods have one advantage over any of these other places right now, which is
simply scale—they are huge. They have a good prospect of hanging onto a
reasonably good market share, but it’s going to be a tougher and tougher
competitive environment.”
In
Kent, First Selectman Adams continues to worry about the proposed rule changes
for reasons beyond a new casino opening in the state. He says if the changes
take place, “We’ll have a sovereign nation across the river from us that for the
most part can do what they want.”
Adams
adds: “Certainly, some changes were in order as the system for recognition was
unwieldy—and some would even say broken—but this is just too drastic. There’s no
questioning that Native Americans were not treated way back when as we would
like people to be treated today—but that was a long, long time ago and we don’t
feel it’s fair for such dramatic measures to be taken to make amends now.”
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Wynn Buys Everett, Learns His Lesson
Cramming a deal through quickly successfully prevents residents from educating themselves and organizing.
Steve Wynn's machine learned from their mistakes in Foxborough.
Give people enough time to educate themselves and of course, they oppose Predatory Gambling!
This is what Steve Wynn said of his proposed monstrosity in Bridgeport, CT:
"Get it straight," he said. "I think I know how to bring people to Bridgeport, and keep them coming, but there is no reason on earth for any of you to expect for more than one second that just because there are people here, they're going to run into your store, or restaurant, or bar.
"That didn't happen in Atlantic City," he said. "It should never have been promised in Atlantic City. It is illogical to expect that people who won't come to Bridgeport and go to your restaurants or your stores today will go to your restaurants and stores just because we happen to build this building here."
From: Wynn's Plans for Bridgeport, CT
Wynn spends on casino referendum in Everett; records show no activity by opponents
|
BOSTON — Las Vegas casino operator Steve Wynn is bankrolling an effort to convince Everett voters to support a proposed casino in the city, while nothing has been spent in opposition to the plan, according to campaign finance records. A referendum is scheduled for Saturday on a host community agreement Wynn signed with city officials that calls for $30 million in advance payments to Everett and more than $25 million in annual payments if the casino was to open for business. Supporters and critics of the plan say they anticipate voter approval of the agreement, marking a key step forward for Wynn in a casino selection process that will ultimately be decided by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. Wynn has proposed a $1.2 billion casino on a 37-acre site along the Mystic River that once housed a chemical plant. In a report posted by the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance, the pro-casino group Everett United, which is pushing for a yes vote on the referendum, reported $85,455 in contributions through June 4, all but $455 of which had come from Wynn Resorts. The group reported about $25,000 in expenditures through that date. The group additionally received more than $150,000 "in-kind" contributions from Wynn Resorts for specific purposes, largely consulting services, according to the report. In a separate report, a subsidiary called Wynn MA, LLC, reported about $230,000 in expenditures or liabilities related to the ballot question. There is no law preventing corporations from spending on municipal referenda in Massachusetts. Casino supporters have not purchased any radio or television ads, focusing instead on neighborhood canvassing and meetings with small groups of residents to explain the casino plan, said Sandy Guliano, president of Everett United. "The community has really embraced the project," she said. Wynn's willingness to clean up the polluted site, formerly home to the Monsanto Chemical Co., was a key in convincing her and other residents to support the project, Guliano said, though she still had some concerns about traffic management. The host community agreement would be both "fair and generous" to the city, she said. While some in the city remain opposed to the casino, no organized group has formed to push for a no vote on Saturday's referendum. "I'm kind of heartbroken by the whole thing," said Evmorphia Stratis, a local artist who has emerged as an unofficial spokeswoman against the casino. Stratis said the plan, which is backed by Mayor Carlo DeMaria and other key city officials, was pushed through so quickly that opponents did not have time to organize against it. Traffic is already a "nightmare," in the area, Stratis said, and she also worries about gambling addiction and the casino becoming a magnet for drugs, alcohol and prostitution. Michael Weaver, a senior vice president for Wynn Resorts, said Wynn had directly communicated with Everett residents through a series of letters. He said the company was optimistic about the referendum. Wynn unveiled the Everett plan after abandoning an earlier effort to develop a casino on land owned by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft in Foxborough. Approval of a host community agreement by voters is a requirement for developers seeking a regional casino license. The Wynn plan faces competition for the sole eastern Massachusetts license from Suffolk Downs in Boston and Foxwoods Resorts, which is backing a proposed casino in Milford. http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/78619d09186a4d22ba2588b58fbc27a2/MA-Massachusetts-Gambling-Everett |
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Palmer's KoolAid Consumption
Spectrum Gaming prepared a report for the Connecticut Department of Special Revenue. The report was limited in scope because the State of Connecticut is cash-strapped due to the costs of hosting 2 Tribal Casinos that don't pay their fair share of taxes.
That report may be found here:
http://uss-mass.org/
It includes the failure of Mohegan Sun to reduce DRUNK patrons who have been plied with FREE ALCOHOL to keep them gambling and then depart the Sovereign property causing fatal accidents.
It also addresses Hot Bunking, substandard housing, where low wage workers are forced to live. Those low wage workers have been recruited by Mohegan Sun from overseas, requiring foreign language teachers in public schools. Lack of English language proficiency necessitates public safety translators.
Palmer appointed a Citizens' Casino Study Committee to determine the COSTS of hosting a Slot Barn. Those COSTS were estimated at $18 MILLION to $39 MILLION annually. The cost to bring water from the Quabbin was estimated to be ~ $50 MILLION.
Palmer Town Fathers refused to publicly discuss those costs. That report failed to consider the impacts on local businesses.
From: Lost local businesses
Steve Perskie from the NJ Gambling Commission at the Gambling Commision
educational forum:
'Let me make you a promise. Your legislation requires that operators put up a $500m investment. With that kind of money, you can be sure they're going to build an impressive structure with restaurants, bars, nightclubs, shops. Make no mistake: the delicatessan down the street is going to go out of business. The nightclub around the corner is going to go out of business. Nothing the Mass. Casino Commission can do is going to change that.'
This is what Steve Wynn said:
He also said bluntly that the casino, by itself, was not going to solve Bridgeport's economic or social problems.
'Get it straight,' he said. 'I think I know how to bring people to Bridgeport, and keep them coming, but there is no reason on earth for any of you to expect for more than one second that just because there are people here, they're going to run into your store, or restaurant, or bar.
'That didn't happen in Atlantic City,' he said. 'It should never have been promised in Atlantic City. It is illogical to expect that people who won't come to Bridgeport and go to your restaurants or your stores today will go to your restaurants and stores just because we happen to build this building here.'
'Let me make you a promise. Your legislation requires that operators put up a $500m investment. With that kind of money, you can be sure they're going to build an impressive structure with restaurants, bars, nightclubs, shops. Make no mistake: the delicatessan down the street is going to go out of business. The nightclub around the corner is going to go out of business. Nothing the Mass. Casino Commission can do is going to change that.'
This is what Steve Wynn said:
He also said bluntly that the casino, by itself, was not going to solve Bridgeport's economic or social problems.
'Get it straight,' he said. 'I think I know how to bring people to Bridgeport, and keep them coming, but there is no reason on earth for any of you to expect for more than one second that just because there are people here, they're going to run into your store, or restaurant, or bar.
'That didn't happen in Atlantic City,' he said. 'It should never have been promised in Atlantic City. It is illogical to expect that people who won't come to Bridgeport and go to your restaurants or your stores today will go to your restaurants and stores just because we happen to build this building here.'
After tour, Palmer, Mass., officials say they're impressed by Mohegan Sun
By Brian HallenbeckPublication: The Day
Published 09/23/2012
Tim Cook/The Day
Derrick Williams, hotel manager for Mohegan Sun, right, guides members of the Town Council from Palmer, Mass., on a tour of the Sun hotel facilities Saturday.
Town councilors see possible hint of future
Mohegan - They trod the Uncas Mile. And they liked what they saw.
"It was something that had to be done at some point," Don Blais Jr., a town councilor from Palmer, Mass., said Saturday after visiting Mohegan Sun, the Uncasville casino the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority hopes to duplicate - on a smaller scale - in western Massachusetts.
"I'm glad we did it."
Blais, five other councilors, and Town Manager Charlie Blanchard toured the casino's behind-the-scenes operations for nearly two hours and lunched privately with Mohegan Sun officials before returning to Palmer via back roads, a trip Blais said took about two hours.
The Mohegans optioned property in Palmer years ago, foreseeing a day when the casino-free Bay State would expand legalized gambling. That day came late last year when Gov. Deval Patrick signed into law a bill authorizing three resort casinos, including one in western Massachusetts, and one slots-only facility.
Saturday's tour, led by Paul Brody, the Mohegan gaming authority's vice president of development, provided the group with glimpses of the casino's hotel rooms, including one of the executive suites reserved for high rollers, and the back-of-house kitchen operation accessed via the Uncas Mile, the wide corridor that stretches the length of the facility, unseen to the public.
"I was impressed," Phil Hebert, the Palmer council's president, said. "We got to see behind-the-scenes stuff a customer wouldn't ordinarily see. We saw how they take care of their customers, but I was most impressed with how they value their workers. That was the biggest thing."
Executive Chef Richard Doucette said the casino has to be prepared to feed tens of thousands of people a day, including employees who dine for free in the back-of-house Uncas Grill.
"They don't have to do that," Hebert observed. "They really care about their workers. I got that feeling from the ones I stopped to talk to. They didn't seem coached." [And they have fought unions for years.]
Blanchard said he, too, was particularly impressed with Mohegan Sun's apparent concern for the welfare of its employees as well as with the overall size of the facility. He noted that the legislation authorizing Massachusetts' casinos calls for casino operators to invest at least $500 million in their projects, a sum that would result in facilities much smaller than Mohegan Sun.
Well before the legislation was written, the Mohegan authority proposed a $600 million facility on 152 acres off Exit 8 of Interstate 90, the Massachusetts Turnpike. [And then Mohegan Sun 'down sized' the project because of their financial insolvency.]
Mohegan Sun Palmer would create thousands of badly needed [low wage] jobs, Blanchard said.
These are somewhat outdated because they predate the financial implosion of both Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, but look at the breakdown:
Found here: http://uss-mass.org/
SPECTRUM REPORT FOR DOSR: Low wage jobs
From: CT: Spectrum Gaming Report #11 Low Wage Jobs
A study prepared for the Eastern Connecticut Chamber of Commerce in 2007 arrived at conclusions similar to ours. The study estimated that the two casinos were
responsible for a total of 29,040 jobs in 2007, about 10 percent less than our figure.
Mohegan Sun employment by sector
Mohegan Sun executives provided us with a breakdown of average annual salaries by employee sector for 2007.
•52 senior management, $298,696
108 directors, $104,502.
535 managers $55,877
741 supervisors, $42,745
3,444 dealers and floor persons, $36,700
593 games support, $26,124
1,245 non-games floor support, $17,951
2,114 non-gambling support, $22,189
1,978 general support, $23,504
(note: this totals 10,810 jobs; 9374 (87%) of which pay at
or below $36,700;
5930 (55%) of which pay at or below $26,124)
– page 123 Spectrum Gaming Group (SGG) “Gambling in Connecticut” 2009
Abu Hoque, the Sun's vice president of hotel operations, told the Palmer visitors the casino's 1,200-room hotel checks in more than 1,000 customers a day and checks out as many. He described the hotel-room security system in which sensors detect whether guests are in their room, eliminating the need to hang out "Do Not Disturb" signs. Guests can also push the system's buttons to indicate whether they want service.
Despite their positive reactions to the tour, the Palmer councilors reached Saturday night remained noncommittal about the Mohegan authority's Palmer proposal, pending the release of more specifics.
"I have to look at any business that comes here," Hebert, the council president, said. "As a council, our job is to make sure everything is addressed - traffic, crime, social ills. We need growth in this town. On the other hand, we have a lot of old factories and there's other kinds of economic development. We can't bank on a casino."
Councilor Blais said he's still "open to either side" of the casino debate.
"I've had some reservations," he said. "I'm concerned about some key issues, including traffic and the water supply, and I know that's being worked on. I want to hear more of what they have to say about it."
Blanchard, the town manager, said he, the town attorney and consultants hired by the town are negotiating a "host community agreement" with the Mohegan authority, a required step in the license-application process, as is a binding referendum in which townspeople would have to approve any casino project.
Paul Burns, another councilor who participated in the tour, said it confirmed what he already knew about Mohegan Sun - that it is a "well-run operation" whose employees are satisfied. But, he said, "We didn't address any contentious topics," namely the Mohegans' refusal to make an early payment of the nonrefundable $400,000 fee the state requires of all applicants for a casino license.
"I personally believe they're committed (to seeking a license), but my constituents always ask about it," Burns said. "I believe they could relieve a lot of people's stress by paying it. It creates an issue that doesn't need to be there."
Mohegan authority officials have said they will pay the fee when they file a final application, which is not due for some time. [Are they delaying because of their financial insolvency?]
By contrast, MGM Resorts International, the Las Vegas-based casino giant, paid the application fee last month when it unveiled preliminary plans for an $800 million project in Springfield, which is fewer than 20 miles west of Palmer.
MGM's proposal is one of several on the table for Springfield, at least one of which is expected to compete for the same western Massachusetts license the Mohegan authority covets.
"It was something that had to be done at some point," Don Blais Jr., a town councilor from Palmer, Mass., said Saturday after visiting Mohegan Sun, the Uncasville casino the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority hopes to duplicate - on a smaller scale - in western Massachusetts.
"I'm glad we did it."
Blais, five other councilors, and Town Manager Charlie Blanchard toured the casino's behind-the-scenes operations for nearly two hours and lunched privately with Mohegan Sun officials before returning to Palmer via back roads, a trip Blais said took about two hours.
The Mohegans optioned property in Palmer years ago, foreseeing a day when the casino-free Bay State would expand legalized gambling. That day came late last year when Gov. Deval Patrick signed into law a bill authorizing three resort casinos, including one in western Massachusetts, and one slots-only facility.
Saturday's tour, led by Paul Brody, the Mohegan gaming authority's vice president of development, provided the group with glimpses of the casino's hotel rooms, including one of the executive suites reserved for high rollers, and the back-of-house kitchen operation accessed via the Uncas Mile, the wide corridor that stretches the length of the facility, unseen to the public.
"I was impressed," Phil Hebert, the Palmer council's president, said. "We got to see behind-the-scenes stuff a customer wouldn't ordinarily see. We saw how they take care of their customers, but I was most impressed with how they value their workers. That was the biggest thing."
Executive Chef Richard Doucette said the casino has to be prepared to feed tens of thousands of people a day, including employees who dine for free in the back-of-house Uncas Grill.
"They don't have to do that," Hebert observed. "They really care about their workers. I got that feeling from the ones I stopped to talk to. They didn't seem coached." [And they have fought unions for years.]
Blanchard said he, too, was particularly impressed with Mohegan Sun's apparent concern for the welfare of its employees as well as with the overall size of the facility. He noted that the legislation authorizing Massachusetts' casinos calls for casino operators to invest at least $500 million in their projects, a sum that would result in facilities much smaller than Mohegan Sun.
Well before the legislation was written, the Mohegan authority proposed a $600 million facility on 152 acres off Exit 8 of Interstate 90, the Massachusetts Turnpike. [And then Mohegan Sun 'down sized' the project because of their financial insolvency.]
Mohegan Sun Palmer would create thousands of badly needed [low wage] jobs, Blanchard said.
These are somewhat outdated because they predate the financial implosion of both Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, but look at the breakdown:
Found here: http://uss-mass.org/
SPECTRUM REPORT FOR DOSR: Low wage jobs
From: CT: Spectrum Gaming Report #11 Low Wage Jobs
A study prepared for the Eastern Connecticut Chamber of Commerce in 2007 arrived at conclusions similar to ours. The study estimated that the two casinos were
responsible for a total of 29,040 jobs in 2007, about 10 percent less than our figure.
Mohegan Sun employment by sector
Mohegan Sun executives provided us with a breakdown of average annual salaries by employee sector for 2007.
•52 senior management, $298,696
108 directors, $104,502.
535 managers $55,877
741 supervisors, $42,745
3,444 dealers and floor persons, $36,700
593 games support, $26,124
1,245 non-games floor support, $17,951
2,114 non-gambling support, $22,189
1,978 general support, $23,504
(note: this totals 10,810 jobs; 9374 (87%) of which pay at
or below $36,700;
5930 (55%) of which pay at or below $26,124)
– page 123 Spectrum Gaming Group (SGG) “Gambling in Connecticut” 2009
Abu Hoque, the Sun's vice president of hotel operations, told the Palmer visitors the casino's 1,200-room hotel checks in more than 1,000 customers a day and checks out as many. He described the hotel-room security system in which sensors detect whether guests are in their room, eliminating the need to hang out "Do Not Disturb" signs. Guests can also push the system's buttons to indicate whether they want service.
Despite their positive reactions to the tour, the Palmer councilors reached Saturday night remained noncommittal about the Mohegan authority's Palmer proposal, pending the release of more specifics.
"I have to look at any business that comes here," Hebert, the council president, said. "As a council, our job is to make sure everything is addressed - traffic, crime, social ills. We need growth in this town. On the other hand, we have a lot of old factories and there's other kinds of economic development. We can't bank on a casino."
Councilor Blais said he's still "open to either side" of the casino debate.
"I've had some reservations," he said. "I'm concerned about some key issues, including traffic and the water supply, and I know that's being worked on. I want to hear more of what they have to say about it."
Blanchard, the town manager, said he, the town attorney and consultants hired by the town are negotiating a "host community agreement" with the Mohegan authority, a required step in the license-application process, as is a binding referendum in which townspeople would have to approve any casino project.
Paul Burns, another councilor who participated in the tour, said it confirmed what he already knew about Mohegan Sun - that it is a "well-run operation" whose employees are satisfied. But, he said, "We didn't address any contentious topics," namely the Mohegans' refusal to make an early payment of the nonrefundable $400,000 fee the state requires of all applicants for a casino license.
"I personally believe they're committed (to seeking a license), but my constituents always ask about it," Burns said. "I believe they could relieve a lot of people's stress by paying it. It creates an issue that doesn't need to be there."
Mohegan authority officials have said they will pay the fee when they file a final application, which is not due for some time. [Are they delaying because of their financial insolvency?]
By contrast, MGM Resorts International, the Las Vegas-based casino giant, paid the application fee last month when it unveiled preliminary plans for an $800 million project in Springfield, which is fewer than 20 miles west of Palmer.
MGM's proposal is one of several on the table for Springfield, at least one of which is expected to compete for the same western Massachusetts license the Mohegan authority covets.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Lost local businesses
|
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Waking Up to Bad Deals in Massachusetts
How do you negotiate a Compact, based on a non-existent federal application filled with
TO BE SUBMITTED
TO BE SUBMITTED
TO BE SUBMITTED
and leave "to be negotiated" ??
Steve Perskie, former Chairman of the corrupt New Jersey Gam[bl]ing Commission said this:
Steve Wynn said --
"Get it straight," he said. "I think I know how to bring people to Bridgeport, and keep them coming, but there is no reason on earth for any of you to expect for more than one second that just because there are people here, they're going to run into your store, or restaurant, or bar. "That didn't happen in Atlantic City," he said. "It should never have been promised in Atlantic City. It is illogical to expect that people who won't come to Bridgeport and go to your restaurants or your stores today will go to your restaurants and stores just because we happen to build this building here."
http://middlebororemembers.blogspot.com/search?q=bridgeport+
Is this level of incompetence STUPIDITY or CORRUPTION?
TO BE SUBMITTED
TO BE SUBMITTED
TO BE SUBMITTED
and leave "to be negotiated" ??
Steve Perskie, former Chairman of the corrupt New Jersey Gam[bl]ing Commission said this:
"Get it straight," he said. "I think I know how to bring people to Bridgeport, and keep them coming, but there is no reason on earth for any of you to expect for more than one second that just because there are people here, they're going to run into your store, or restaurant, or bar. "That didn't happen in Atlantic City," he said. "It should never have been promised in Atlantic City. It is illogical to expect that people who won't come to Bridgeport and go to your restaurants or your stores today will go to your restaurants and stores just because we happen to build this building here."
http://middlebororemembers.blogspot.com/search?q=bridgeport+
Is this level of incompetence STUPIDITY or CORRUPTION?
Casino deal fuels retail fears
Tax agreement worries businesses
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Local Business
In his own words --
From Wynn's Plans for Bridgeport, CT
"Get it straight," he said. "I think I know how to bring people to Bridgeport, and keep them coming, but there is no reason on earth for any of you to expect for more than one second that just because there are people here, they're going to run into your store, or restaurant, or bar.
"That didn't happen in Atlantic City," he said. "It should never have been promised in Atlantic City. It is illogical to expect that people who won't come to Bridgeport and go to your restaurants or your stores today will go to your restaurants and stores just because we happen to build this building here."
Saturday, February 7, 2015
CT: Gambling Expansion is NOT really Gambling Expansion
Tribes: Plans To Expand Slots Would Invalidate Revenue Deal
CHRISTOPHER KEATING
9:00 pm, February 6, 2015
HARTFORD — A bill that would legalize slot machines outside the state's two Indian casinos took a huge hit Friday when both the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes said the plan would violate their revenue-sharing compacts with the state.
Representatives from the tribes did not testify this week when House Bill 5378 was debated at a public hearing. But spokesmen said Friday that both tribes oppose the idea of expanding gambling at offtrack betting parlors in Windsor Locks, New Haven and Bridgeport.
"The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation's position is that HB 5378 would violate the memorandum of understanding between the State of Connecticut and the tribe,'' said spokesman William Satti. "We feel any discussions of this nature should be on a government-to-government basis with the present administration to discuss ways to protect jobs and revenue for the State of Connecticut."
The compacts with the tribes that operate Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun requires the casinos to pay 25 percent of their slot machine revenue to the state. The agreements have brought the state $6.5 billion since the arrival of slots in 1993. In return, the tribes have the exclusive right to operate the lucrative slot machines.
The issue of expanding slots is important because the money sent to the state from the casinos has been dropping sharply and is forecast to plummet further.
Slot revenues peaked at $430 million in the 2007 fiscal year and have since fallen to $267 million in the current fiscal year. The revenue is projected to fall to $191 million in the 2018 fiscal year as the tribes face competition in Springfield, Mass., and from places like Aqueduct in Queens, N.Y., and Yonkers Raceway in Westchester County, N.Y.
Chuck Bunnell, chief of staff for the Mohegan tribe, said that even a small number of new slots outside the casinos would knock out the entire amount of money the tribes are currently providing to the state.
"Two slot machines at Windsor Locks would violate the agreement — the whole thing,'' Bunnell said.
"One slot machine. The state has done extraordinarily well based on the exclusive right of the two tribes.''
With fast-growing competition in New York, Rhode Island and soon in Massachusetts, Bunnell said Mohegan Sun is "acutely aware'' of venues that are drawing away Connecticut customers.
"At this point in time, we have done a lot of analysis,'' Bunnell said. "It is our desire to share that data with the state so that they're fully informed and again offer our willingness to sit and work together, if that is something the state wants to do, to protect the jobs that we have created. We are not presenting a plan at this point in time.''
With a casino scheduled to open just over the state line in Springfield in 2017, some Connecticut legislators say the state needs to act to preserve thousands of jobs and millions in state revenues.
Lawmakers are pushing ahead with the proposal to allow slot machines in Windsor Locks, Bridgeport and New Haven so residents will not be tempted to gamble out of state.
The push is particularly strong in north-central Connecticut, where supporters say that slot machines would provide a boost to the Bradley Teletheater in Windsor Locks. The town of fewer than 15,000 residents has 1,500 hotel rooms because of the nearby international airport. State Rep. Peggy Sayers, a Windsor Locks Democrat, said the slots would be popular because "people fly in for meetings and frequently look for evening entertainment.''
State Rep. David Alexander, D-Enfield, said the opening of the $800 million MGM Resorts International casino in Springfield will immediately draw gamblers from Enfield and surrounding towns.
"We're bleeding money now to Rhode Island and New York, and soon to be Springfield,'' Alexander said. "We can stop some of that bleeding. We're not expanding the market. It's three isolated facilities. We can keep some revenue here, as opposed to other states.''
Sayers and Alexander supported the plan during a public hearing this week, the first step in moving a bill through the legislature.
Expansion Of Gaming 'Complicated'
But state Rep. Stephen Dargan, co-chairman for more than 20 years of the legislative committee that oversees gambling, said the tribes' opposition did not surprise him, and that the state must be careful not to break the tribal compacts.
"The expansion of gaming is complicated,'' Dargan said. "If you have someone outside the two tribes who want to do it, it complicates it. They feel they have exclusivity with the compact agreement.''
Dargan says the plans to expand slot machines to the state's three offtrack betting sites — the Bradley Teletheater, Sports Haven in New Haven, and Shoreline Star in Bridgeport, do not include the exact number of slot machines.
"I haven't seen any comprehensive plan,'' Dargan said. "There needs to be broader discussions.''
Malloy has largely stayed out of the issue, saying he would not play a "lead role'' in expanding slot machines.
"It's not something I've been actively thinking about or pursuing,'' Malloy said previously. "I don't see Connecticut doing it, but, you know, that's a legislative matter, at least initially. … I don't think that there is a consensus in Connecticut that people want a lot more gaming.''
Former House Speaker James Amann, now a lobbyist for Shoreline Star, said the two major new gambling venues in New York — Aqueduct and Yonkers — have drawn large numbers of gamblers out of Fairfield County.
"When MGM opens, the erosion will continue, and if there is inaction taken by this General Assembly, it will only get worse,'' Amann said. "This is not about promoting or expanding gambling opportunities. It's about the fight the state is forced to wage with neighboring states for gaming dollars. … Other states are taking the fight to Connecticut. We need to protect what we have and keep Connecticut dollars in Connecticut.''
While some lawmakers are focused on jobs and revenues for the state, other advocates say the state is not paying enough attention to the social costs of gambling. State Sen. Tony Hwang, R-Fairfield, was strongly opposed to keno proposals and he is also opposing the expansion of new slots.
"Gambling addiction is a disease,'' Hwang said. "We're not treating it as a disease in these discussions.''
Hwang has teamed up with former U.S. Rep. Bob Steele, a Republican who represented the state's Second District from 1970 to 1975.
"Today's slots have become highly addictive computers'' that "produce relatively few jobs,'' Steele testified Thursday to the legislature's public safety committee. "They drain wealth from communities.''
In the same way, Cheryl Chandler of the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling raised questions about the proposal.
"This would not only be an expansion of gambling, but an introduction to communities of the form of gambling found to be most closely associated with addiction,'' Chandler said. "One example close to home is that fact that 46 percent of problem gamblers who called the problem gambling helpline identified slot machines as the form of gambling with which they have a problem.''
But Amann said that additional slot machines would not be disruptive because Connecticut residents have been dealing with various forms of gambling for decades.
"For those critics who argue that the promotion of gambling under any circumstances is wrong, they need to realize that gambling is nothing new to the state,'' Amann said. "For the past four decades, Connecticut has been a gaming state, beginning with jai alai, lottery, bingo, and most recently, casinos. … This has the potential to be a win-win for the state of Connecticut and its taxpayers.''
http://touch.courant.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-82750058/
Representatives from the tribes did not testify this week when House Bill 5378 was debated at a public hearing. But spokesmen said Friday that both tribes oppose the idea of expanding gambling at offtrack betting parlors in Windsor Locks, New Haven and Bridgeport.
"The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation's position is that HB 5378 would violate the memorandum of understanding between the State of Connecticut and the tribe,'' said spokesman William Satti. "We feel any discussions of this nature should be on a government-to-government basis with the present administration to discuss ways to protect jobs and revenue for the State of Connecticut."
The compacts with the tribes that operate Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun requires the casinos to pay 25 percent of their slot machine revenue to the state. The agreements have brought the state $6.5 billion since the arrival of slots in 1993. In return, the tribes have the exclusive right to operate the lucrative slot machines.
The issue of expanding slots is important because the money sent to the state from the casinos has been dropping sharply and is forecast to plummet further.
Slot revenues peaked at $430 million in the 2007 fiscal year and have since fallen to $267 million in the current fiscal year. The revenue is projected to fall to $191 million in the 2018 fiscal year as the tribes face competition in Springfield, Mass., and from places like Aqueduct in Queens, N.Y., and Yonkers Raceway in Westchester County, N.Y.
Chuck Bunnell, chief of staff for the Mohegan tribe, said that even a small number of new slots outside the casinos would knock out the entire amount of money the tribes are currently providing to the state.
"Two slot machines at Windsor Locks would violate the agreement — the whole thing,'' Bunnell said.
"One slot machine. The state has done extraordinarily well based on the exclusive right of the two tribes.''
With fast-growing competition in New York, Rhode Island and soon in Massachusetts, Bunnell said Mohegan Sun is "acutely aware'' of venues that are drawing away Connecticut customers.
"At this point in time, we have done a lot of analysis,'' Bunnell said. "It is our desire to share that data with the state so that they're fully informed and again offer our willingness to sit and work together, if that is something the state wants to do, to protect the jobs that we have created. We are not presenting a plan at this point in time.''
With a casino scheduled to open just over the state line in Springfield in 2017, some Connecticut legislators say the state needs to act to preserve thousands of jobs and millions in state revenues.
Lawmakers are pushing ahead with the proposal to allow slot machines in Windsor Locks, Bridgeport and New Haven so residents will not be tempted to gamble out of state.
The push is particularly strong in north-central Connecticut, where supporters say that slot machines would provide a boost to the Bradley Teletheater in Windsor Locks. The town of fewer than 15,000 residents has 1,500 hotel rooms because of the nearby international airport. State Rep. Peggy Sayers, a Windsor Locks Democrat, said the slots would be popular because "people fly in for meetings and frequently look for evening entertainment.''
State Rep. David Alexander, D-Enfield, said the opening of the $800 million MGM Resorts International casino in Springfield will immediately draw gamblers from Enfield and surrounding towns.
"We're bleeding money now to Rhode Island and New York, and soon to be Springfield,'' Alexander said. "We can stop some of that bleeding. We're not expanding the market. It's three isolated facilities. We can keep some revenue here, as opposed to other states.''
Sayers and Alexander supported the plan during a public hearing this week, the first step in moving a bill through the legislature.
Expansion Of Gaming 'Complicated'
But state Rep. Stephen Dargan, co-chairman for more than 20 years of the legislative committee that oversees gambling, said the tribes' opposition did not surprise him, and that the state must be careful not to break the tribal compacts.
"The expansion of gaming is complicated,'' Dargan said. "If you have someone outside the two tribes who want to do it, it complicates it. They feel they have exclusivity with the compact agreement.''
Dargan says the plans to expand slot machines to the state's three offtrack betting sites — the Bradley Teletheater, Sports Haven in New Haven, and Shoreline Star in Bridgeport, do not include the exact number of slot machines.
"I haven't seen any comprehensive plan,'' Dargan said. "There needs to be broader discussions.''
Malloy has largely stayed out of the issue, saying he would not play a "lead role'' in expanding slot machines.
"It's not something I've been actively thinking about or pursuing,'' Malloy said previously. "I don't see Connecticut doing it, but, you know, that's a legislative matter, at least initially. … I don't think that there is a consensus in Connecticut that people want a lot more gaming.''
Former House Speaker James Amann, now a lobbyist for Shoreline Star, said the two major new gambling venues in New York — Aqueduct and Yonkers — have drawn large numbers of gamblers out of Fairfield County.
"When MGM opens, the erosion will continue, and if there is inaction taken by this General Assembly, it will only get worse,'' Amann said. "This is not about promoting or expanding gambling opportunities. It's about the fight the state is forced to wage with neighboring states for gaming dollars. … Other states are taking the fight to Connecticut. We need to protect what we have and keep Connecticut dollars in Connecticut.''
While some lawmakers are focused on jobs and revenues for the state, other advocates say the state is not paying enough attention to the social costs of gambling. State Sen. Tony Hwang, R-Fairfield, was strongly opposed to keno proposals and he is also opposing the expansion of new slots.
"Gambling addiction is a disease,'' Hwang said. "We're not treating it as a disease in these discussions.''
Hwang has teamed up with former U.S. Rep. Bob Steele, a Republican who represented the state's Second District from 1970 to 1975.
"Today's slots have become highly addictive computers'' that "produce relatively few jobs,'' Steele testified Thursday to the legislature's public safety committee. "They drain wealth from communities.''
In the same way, Cheryl Chandler of the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling raised questions about the proposal.
"This would not only be an expansion of gambling, but an introduction to communities of the form of gambling found to be most closely associated with addiction,'' Chandler said. "One example close to home is that fact that 46 percent of problem gamblers who called the problem gambling helpline identified slot machines as the form of gambling with which they have a problem.''
But Amann said that additional slot machines would not be disruptive because Connecticut residents have been dealing with various forms of gambling for decades.
"For those critics who argue that the promotion of gambling under any circumstances is wrong, they need to realize that gambling is nothing new to the state,'' Amann said. "For the past four decades, Connecticut has been a gaming state, beginning with jai alai, lottery, bingo, and most recently, casinos. … This has the potential to be a win-win for the state of Connecticut and its taxpayers.''
http://touch.courant.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-82750058/
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Amherst: Believing the Fairy Tale?
Why would anyone think they are 'different' when evidence abounds?
Palmer appointed a Citizen's Casino Study Committee that determined the annual costs to host Mohegan Sun would be $18 MILLION to $39 MILLION per year [conservatively].
That, in addition to the estimated $50 MILLION cost to bring water from the Quabbin.
When the Town Council viewed the report, they refused to make it public.
The insolvent tribe has finally found someone willing to fund their fairy tale and is spreading their fantasy, just like other developers.
Although the estimates are high, these are far short of the over zealous claims repeated by others [originated in the Spectrum Report]:
According to Mohegan’s estimates, the project would create more than 1,000 construction jobs and more than 2,500 permanent jobs.
From: Casino executive pitches Palmer plan to Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce
By
on January 16, 2013
Palmer appointed a Citizen's Casino Study Committee that determined the annual costs to host Mohegan Sun would be $18 MILLION to $39 MILLION per year [conservatively].
That, in addition to the estimated $50 MILLION cost to bring water from the Quabbin.
When the Town Council viewed the report, they refused to make it public.
The insolvent tribe has finally found someone willing to fund their fairy tale and is spreading their fantasy, just like other developers.
Although the estimates are high, these are far short of the over zealous claims repeated by others [originated in the Spectrum Report]:
According to Mohegan’s estimates, the project would create more than 1,000 construction jobs and more than 2,500 permanent jobs.
From: Casino executive pitches Palmer plan to Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce
Mohegan Sun CEO Mitchell Etess talks Palmer casino with Amherst Chamber of Commerce
By on January 16, 2013
AMHERST — Mitchell G. Etess, CEO of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, on Wednesday contrasted his company's “rural” concept for a $600 million casino in Palmer with competing proposals for sites in Springfield and West Springfield.
After all, he said, the casinos in Connecticut, like Foxwoods and his company's Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, are not in urban downtowns.
“That's the type of facility that people like to go to,” Etess said Wednesday at a luncheon sponsored by the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce. “It's what people are used to and what has been successful in this region.
By building in Palmer, Etess said, Mohegan Sun has a better chance at improving the economy of the entire region.
“Not just to work on fixing things in a concentrated urban area,” Etess said.
His speech to about 100 chamber members gathered at the Lord Jeffery Inn here came just one day after the state's deadline for gaming applications and for the nonrefundable $400 application fee. The proposed project is one of 11 casino proposals that have paid their non-refundable $400,000 fee to the state.
MGM Resorts in Springfield, Penn National Gaming, also in Springfield, and Hard Rock International at the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield are the others competing for the lone resort casino license in Western Massachusetts. Paper City Development, which is considering sites in Holyoke and Chicopee, has appealed to the state for an extension of the filing deadline.
Etess said he always knew he'd have competition for the lone Western Massachusetts casino license.
He said Mohegan's experience in the New England casino market and its site on 152 acres located right on Exit 8 in Palmer make Mohegan the best choice.
“You get off the highway and we are right across the street,” Etess said. “We know we can win this.”
But Palmer officials were questioning whether the project would move forward. Mohegan didn't pay its $400,000 until the deadline was nearly here. While the Mohegan Sun project has been talked about for years, The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority was one of the last local applicants to pay the $400,000. The tribal organization partnered with New York City-based Brigade Capital management.
Etess said, “We didn't see any advantage in paying the fee and making the application any quicker.”
The Mohegan Palmer site is 20 miles, or about a half-hour drive, from Amherst. Many chamber members sounded skeptical Wednesday about Mohegan's impact on downtown business and the spectre of a spike in problem gamblers. One attendee asked about college students and problem gambling.
Etess said Mohegan's facilites in Pennsylvania and Connecticut card underage gamblers and allow problem gambles to self-exclude. The minimum age for gambling in Massachusetts casinos will be 21.
He also gave a spirited defense of his company’s rural casino model contrasted with the Penn National and MGM proposals in Springfield.
“We believe the rural casino model is what is attractive to people,” he said. “That's what people are used to.”
Amherst Town Manager John Musante said leaders here are still mulling whether to go for mitigation money in the casino process.
“There will be impacts,” he said. “All the basics when it comes to traffic and other things. Also, as manager of a college town I'm concerned about problem gambling and its impact on young people.”
Musante said he doesn't yet know how differently he feels about those impacts whether the casino is in Palmer or Springfield or West Springfield.
Tony Maroulis, executive director of the Amherst Chamber, said a casino might cut into trade show and entertainment business at the Mullins Center on the University of Massachusetts campus.
Etess said there are no plans for a big entertainment venue at Mohegan Sun Palmer.
Etess said local businesses, like restaurants, might lose a few customers to a casino. But that business is more than made up by money spent by casino employees who now have jobs.
Oh?
Maroulis said he hopes to have the other potential casino operators in to talk as well.
http://www.masslive.com/business-news/index.ssf/2013/01/mohegan_sun_honcho_talks_palmer_casino_w.html
After all, he said, the casinos in Connecticut, like Foxwoods and his company's Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, are not in urban downtowns.
“That's the type of facility that people like to go to,” Etess said Wednesday at a luncheon sponsored by the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce. “It's what people are used to and what has been successful in this region.
By building in Palmer, Etess said, Mohegan Sun has a better chance at improving the economy of the entire region.
“Not just to work on fixing things in a concentrated urban area,” Etess said.
His speech to about 100 chamber members gathered at the Lord Jeffery Inn here came just one day after the state's deadline for gaming applications and for the nonrefundable $400 application fee. The proposed project is one of 11 casino proposals that have paid their non-refundable $400,000 fee to the state.
MGM Resorts in Springfield, Penn National Gaming, also in Springfield, and Hard Rock International at the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield are the others competing for the lone resort casino license in Western Massachusetts. Paper City Development, which is considering sites in Holyoke and Chicopee, has appealed to the state for an extension of the filing deadline.
Etess said he always knew he'd have competition for the lone Western Massachusetts casino license.
He said Mohegan's experience in the New England casino market and its site on 152 acres located right on Exit 8 in Palmer make Mohegan the best choice.
“You get off the highway and we are right across the street,” Etess said. “We know we can win this.”
But Palmer officials were questioning whether the project would move forward. Mohegan didn't pay its $400,000 until the deadline was nearly here. While the Mohegan Sun project has been talked about for years, The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority was one of the last local applicants to pay the $400,000. The tribal organization partnered with New York City-based Brigade Capital management.
Etess said, “We didn't see any advantage in paying the fee and making the application any quicker.”
The Mohegan Palmer site is 20 miles, or about a half-hour drive, from Amherst. Many chamber members sounded skeptical Wednesday about Mohegan's impact on downtown business and the spectre of a spike in problem gamblers. One attendee asked about college students and problem gambling.
Etess said Mohegan's facilites in Pennsylvania and Connecticut card underage gamblers and allow problem gambles to self-exclude. The minimum age for gambling in Massachusetts casinos will be 21.
He also gave a spirited defense of his company’s rural casino model contrasted with the Penn National and MGM proposals in Springfield.
“We believe the rural casino model is what is attractive to people,” he said. “That's what people are used to.”
Amherst Town Manager John Musante said leaders here are still mulling whether to go for mitigation money in the casino process.
“There will be impacts,” he said. “All the basics when it comes to traffic and other things. Also, as manager of a college town I'm concerned about problem gambling and its impact on young people.”
Musante said he doesn't yet know how differently he feels about those impacts whether the casino is in Palmer or Springfield or West Springfield.
Tony Maroulis, executive director of the Amherst Chamber, said a casino might cut into trade show and entertainment business at the Mullins Center on the University of Massachusetts campus.
Etess said there are no plans for a big entertainment venue at Mohegan Sun Palmer.
Etess said local businesses, like restaurants, might lose a few customers to a casino. But that business is more than made up by money spent by casino employees who now have jobs.
Oh?
From Wynn's
Plans for Bridgeport, CT
"Get it straight," he said. "I think I know how to bring people to Bridgeport, and keep them coming, but there is no reason on earth for any of you to expect for more than one second that just because there are people here, they're going to run into your store, or restaurant, or bar.
"That didn't happen in Atlantic City," he said. "It should never have been promised in Atlantic City. It is illogical to expect that people who won't come to Bridgeport and go to your restaurants or your stores today will go to your restaurants and stores just because we happen to build this building here."
"Get it straight," he said. "I think I know how to bring people to Bridgeport, and keep them coming, but there is no reason on earth for any of you to expect for more than one second that just because there are people here, they're going to run into your store, or restaurant, or bar.
"That didn't happen in Atlantic City," he said. "It should never have been promised in Atlantic City. It is illogical to expect that people who won't come to Bridgeport and go to your restaurants or your stores today will go to your restaurants and stores just because we happen to build this building here."
Maroulis said he hopes to have the other potential casino operators in to talk as well.
http://www.masslive.com/business-news/index.ssf/2013/01/mohegan_sun_honcho_talks_palmer_casino_w.html
Friday, August 9, 2013
Mohegan Sun Crime...pretending it doesn't exist
Bridgeport man who robbed 81-year-old woman in Mohegan Sun garage gets 6 years
Izaskun E. Larraneta
Publication: theday.com
Published 08/08/2013
Judge Arthur C. Hadden told a Bridgeport man convicted of attempting to rob an 81-year-old woman at knifepoint in a garage elevator at Mohegan Sun casino in March 2012 that he "terrified" the victim, who undoubtedly will live with the trauma for the rest of her life.
Hadden sentenced the would-be robber, Winston A. Riley, 28, to six years in prison on Thursday.
Riley was convicted during a two-day trial in May. The six-person jury found him guilty of attempted first-degree robbery, second-degree threatening, attempted second-degree larceny and carrying a dangerous weapon.
Hadden said Riley's crime was in stark contrast to his everyday life, adding that he had no criminal history, is educated and owned his own business.
Senior Assistant State's Attorney Stephen M. Carney asked the court for a significant sentence. Riley faced at least 20 years on the robbery charge alone.
"I would be remiss if I did not remind the court that this is just not any victim, but an elderly woman who was particularly vulnerable," Carney said.
Shortly after Riley's arrest, his defense had said it would explore a sleepwalking medical defense, saying he could have committed the crime while still in slumber. The strategy, however, was not pursued during the trial.
At trial, Riley testified that he went to the casino to gamble. He then unsuccessfully attempted to retrieve money from an ATM. Riley said he went to sleep in his car and decided to rob someone after he woke up.
He took a knife that was in his car and followed the elderly woman into the elevator in the parking garage. The incident was captured on surveillance video.
Riley testified that he had a change of heart and didn't go through with the robbery because he felt bad for the woman.
The prosecution, however, contended that Riley did not go through with the robbery because the woman refused to hand over her purse.
Defense attorney Tina Sypek D'Amato said the crime was completely out of character for Riley, who had at the time recently entered the U.S. military. She said the crime was motivated by a growing gambling addiction.
Sypek D'Amato said that Riley had fulfilled his American dream and, based on his tax returns, had no reason to commit the crime.
"That success of the American dream led to some temptations and the addiction of the casino," Sypek D'Amato said. "It went from 'I hope to get rich' to 'I hope I get my money back.'"
Riley, a native of Jamaica, did not speak on his own behalf during the sentencing. After he completes his prison term, he will be deported to his homeland.
http://www.theday.com/article/20130808/NWS02/130809740/1047/rss01?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Hadden sentenced the would-be robber, Winston A. Riley, 28, to six years in prison on Thursday.
Riley was convicted during a two-day trial in May. The six-person jury found him guilty of attempted first-degree robbery, second-degree threatening, attempted second-degree larceny and carrying a dangerous weapon.
Hadden said Riley's crime was in stark contrast to his everyday life, adding that he had no criminal history, is educated and owned his own business.
Senior Assistant State's Attorney Stephen M. Carney asked the court for a significant sentence. Riley faced at least 20 years on the robbery charge alone.
"I would be remiss if I did not remind the court that this is just not any victim, but an elderly woman who was particularly vulnerable," Carney said.
Shortly after Riley's arrest, his defense had said it would explore a sleepwalking medical defense, saying he could have committed the crime while still in slumber. The strategy, however, was not pursued during the trial.
At trial, Riley testified that he went to the casino to gamble. He then unsuccessfully attempted to retrieve money from an ATM. Riley said he went to sleep in his car and decided to rob someone after he woke up.
He took a knife that was in his car and followed the elderly woman into the elevator in the parking garage. The incident was captured on surveillance video.
Riley testified that he had a change of heart and didn't go through with the robbery because he felt bad for the woman.
The prosecution, however, contended that Riley did not go through with the robbery because the woman refused to hand over her purse.
Defense attorney Tina Sypek D'Amato said the crime was completely out of character for Riley, who had at the time recently entered the U.S. military. She said the crime was motivated by a growing gambling addiction.
Sypek D'Amato said that Riley had fulfilled his American dream and, based on his tax returns, had no reason to commit the crime.
"That success of the American dream led to some temptations and the addiction of the casino," Sypek D'Amato said. "It went from 'I hope to get rich' to 'I hope I get my money back.'"
Riley, a native of Jamaica, did not speak on his own behalf during the sentencing. After he completes his prison term, he will be deported to his homeland.
http://www.theday.com/article/20130808/NWS02/130809740/1047/rss01?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
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