That about says it all!
Plainville gets OK for slot machine referendum
Posted: Friday, September 6, 2013
BY JIM HAND SUN CHRONICLE STAFF
BOSTON - Penn National Gaming passed another test Friday in its 11th-hour drive to bring slot machine gambling to Plainridge Racecourse in Plainville.
The state Gaming Commission voted 4-0 to approve the transfer to Penn National of a host community agreement between the town and the current owners of Plainridge.
Penn National has an option to buy the track if its can get a slots machine license from the state.
The commission decision clears the way for a townwide referendum on slot machines Tuesday. It also allows Penn National to go forward with the state gaming application process.
The action comes on the same day that one of Penn National’s three competitors for the lone state slot machine license dropped out of contention. Mass. Gaming and Entertainment said it was withdrawing its plans for a parlor in Millbury because of community opposition.
At a Gaming Commission hearing in Boston on the transfer to Penn National, critics said they were opposed because it comes so late in the game.
Voters will not have enough time to adequately evaluate Penn National’s reputation before the election, they said.
They maintained that since state law requires a host community agreement to be publicly available at least 60 days before an election. The referendum should be delayed or canceled, they said.
A delay would effectively kill Penn National’s chances of getting the slot machine license from the state because the final deadline for applying is Oct. 4 and town approval is needed before then.
Town officials contend the agreement has been public since early July and nothing in the deal changes by having Penn National take it over from the Plainridge owners.
Mary-Ann Greanier of Plainville, the leader of the opposition, said the 60-day requirement is “sacrosanct” and Penn National should have to negotiate a new agreement.
To allow the election to go forward would upset the checks and balances put into the state gambling laws, she said.
Vetting the applicant is critical, she said, as it was recently discovered the owners of Plainridge had allowed financial mismanage to go on to the point they got disqualified as an applicant for slot machines.
Grace Lee, an attorney for Raynham Park, a competitor of Penn National, also argued against allowing the transfer.
Supporters of slot machines at Plainridge noted that much of the opposition comes from out-of-town people who do not care about Plainville.
The commission received 36 letters in favor of the transfer, mostly from Plainville residents. It got 13 letters opposing the transfer and six of them were from Foxboro residents. Another 13 asked for a delay.
Ned Merrick, the former police chief in Plainville, urged the commission to approve the transfer and allow the election to go forward so the people of Plainville can decide their own fate.
[Mr. Merrick's wife worked at Plainridge. No CONFLICT there! Mr. Merrick has raved about the conduct of Plainridge, even as the ILLEGAL RAFFLE was conducted and cashed was illegally disbursed to Mr. Piontkowski frequently. Mr. Merrick insisted during the MGC meeting that he was a great judge of character. Yup!]
"That’s our basic constitutional right,” he said.
Merrick also said the election is being called to approve the locating of gambling at the race track and the contents of the host agreement, not who the applicant should be.
Slot machines will bring in $4 million in revenue to the town [NOT ANNUALLY!] and save harness racing from extinction, he said.
“I wouldn’t care if it’s Mickey Mouse. If he is going to throw $4 million at the town, I’m in favor of it,” he told the commission.
Commission Chairman Steven Crosby said the opponents raised important points, calling them “meaningful technicalities.”
However, he said he was reluctant to deny the people of Plainville a chance to have their say.
“The loss vastly outweighs the gain,” he said.
If voters disapprove of the transfer to Penn National, they can vote against the agreement in the election and vote against the selectmen who approved the transfer.
There will also be ample opportunity to vet Penn National at up-coming public hearings and through a background check done by the commission’s investigators, he said.
“There will be a number of bites at that apple,” he said.
The other commissioners basically agreed.
Member James McHugh said the issue on Tuesday’s ballot is the location of the gambling and the terms of the agreement with the town.
He and other commission members said it is important for the board not to interfere with local control over the host community agreement.
http://www.thesunchronicle.com/news/local_news/plainville-gets-ok-for-slot-machine-referendum/article_d6ce3a55-e2e6-5cd5-8913-9ad4b107eff1.html
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