No one says it better....

than Gladys Kravitz !

Nope! No Conflict Here!

Massachusetts gaming commissioner reveals he gave casino officials tour of Springfield

Published: Friday, May 18, 2012, 8:09 PM Updated: Friday, May 18, 2012, 8:10 PM

By Dan Ring, The RepublicanThe Republican

BOSTON — A member of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission from Springfield on Friday disclosed that he gave two employees of a Pennsylvania casino company a tour of Springfield last year when he worked for the city, including driving them by an old manufacturing site now owned by a separate casino company.

Bruce Stebbins

Gaming commissioner Bruce W. Stebbins said the state Ethics Commission has advised him that he can have no contact with city of Springfield officials about the old Westinghouse site on Page Boulevard until a year has passed since he left his job as the city's business development manager.
Stebbins said he showed the former Westinghouse property to the two employees from Penn National Gaming in September of last year, a couple of months before Ameristar Casinos announced it intended to buy the property for a possible casino resort.

Stebbins said he mentioned the tour with the Pennsylvania casino company when he was interviewed for his five-year appointment to the Gaming Commission, a new state agency created to license and oversee casinos. Stebbins said he also told the Ethics Commission about his contact with Penn National.

"That's the only contact I ever had," with a casino company while working for Springfield, Stebbins said.

Stebbins said the tour should not affect his ability to vote on the Western Massachusetts license for a casino, even if Penn National applies for a license.

The state's casino law, signed in November by Gov. Deval L. Patrick, authorizes the commission to approve up to three casino resorts in different areas of the state including one for Western Massachusetts.

Stebbins said he went on "a quick windshield tour of Springfield" with Brian M. Connors, deputy director of economic development for Springfield, and two Penn National officials who had asked for the tour. They saw the riverfront, the downtown and the 41-acre Westinghouse site on Page Boulevard purchased by Ameristar for $16 million in January.

Stebbins and Troy Stremming, a senior vice president for Ameristar, both said that Stebbins has never met with officials of Las Vegas-based Ameristar.

"No one from our company has met with him," Stremming said Friday. "I want to assure you it was not Ameristar."

Penn National has talked about a possible casino resort for Western Massachusetts, but so far has unveiled no plans for a casino in the region.

In the only other casino proposal announced for Western Massachusetts, the Mohegan Sun is planning a resort on about 150 acres in Palmer off Exit 8 on the Massachusetts Turnpike.
Stebbins was among the final two members of the commission who were selected jointly by Patrick, Attorney General Martha M. Coakley and Treasurer Steven Grossman.

Stebbins said he has been cleared to vote on a Western Massachusetts casino license by the Ethics Commission, as long as he discloses his intent to vote on a Springfield issue such as awarding a license in Western Massachusetts.

Stebbins on Tuesday said he requested an opinion from the state Ethics Commission, partly because he had been working as a business development manager for the city and would need to make decisions on the commission that could impact his former employer.

Stebbins, a former two-term member of the Springfield City Council and city employee, has faced some criticism that he might be biased in favor of a casino for Springfield in a possible competition for the single casino license that could be available in Western Massachusetts.

Stebbins has said he will be impartial and diligent if he votes on a casino license for Western Massachusetts.

But Stebbins said he does not know at this point about whether he would be allowed to vote on the Western Massachusetts casino license. Under the state's gaming law, the commission must establish a code of ethics that is tougher than key chapters in the state's conflict of interest laws and that ethics code could exclude him from participating in the Western Massachusetts vote.

Before being appointed to the commission in March, Stebbins had worked as a development manager for the City of Springfield since September of 2010 and had previously served on the city council.
Stephen P. Crosby, the chairman of the commission, receives $150,000 a year for the full-time job. Stebbins and the other three commissioners — Gayle Cameron, James F. McHugh and Enrique A. Zuniga — receive $112,500 and also work full time.


http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/05/massachusetts_gaming_commissio_8.html

Mashpee Wampanoag Pipe Dreams

GUEST OPINION: Mashpee Claims vs. Regulatory and historical reality

By James P. Lynch

Posted May 13, 2012

A rendering of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe's proposed casino in Taunton.

In the May 8 edition of the Taunton Daily Gazette, Michael Speller, a spokesman for Arkana, the local subsidiary of the Malaysian Genting Syndicate, the financial backers of the Mashpee tribe’s efforts to establish a gambling facility within Taunton, remarked in regard to the proposed casino “that the first of four phases can be built within 15 months.” That same day in an article appearing in “Massachusetts Live,” Stephen P. Crosby, chairman of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission remarked, “it will be three to five years before a casino is up and running” in Massachusetts. Here we are faced with a rhetorical dichotomy. Which, if any, of the two conflicting statements are true in regard to the Mashpee?

To begin, we ask what are the regulatory and legal obstacles facing the Mashpee in order to have lands taken into federal trust in Taunton, that is, the Secretary of the Interior assuming the title to lands purchased by the Mashpee within Taunton to be held for the benefit of the Mashpee? There are significant issues facing the tribe in this endevour.

First and foremost is the 2009 US. Supreme Court decision in the matter of Carcieri v. Salazar. Here the court ruled that the Secretary of the Interior could not take land into federal trust for a tribe unless it was under federal jurisdiction prior to June 18, 1935. The federal and state records are clear that the Mashpee were totally under Massachusetts legal jurisdiction since 1655 to the time of their federal recognition in 2007. Secondly, the Mashpee are attempting to have two tracts of land simultaneously declared initial Indian reservations and taken into trust as the tribe’s initial reservation. This is a unique request to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Other similar attempts have failed. The federal regulations that legally define what an Indian reservation is, speaks only of a single parcel of land having contiguous boundaries. Here the Mashpee are asking for a reservation on Cape Cod and one in Taunton.

The odds, so to speak, are against such a request being granted by the Bureau. Third, a tribe asking for land to be taken into trust, especially for gambling purposes, must demonstrate a significant historical association or connection to the lands so requested. The regulations state, “The regulation sets forth that the tribe must have present and historical connections to the land, and that the land must be proclaimed a new reservation pursuant to 25 USC 467 before land can qualify under this exception…. Significant historical connection is defined by the federal government as, … the land is located within the boundaries of the tribe’s last reservation under a ratified or unratified treaty, or a tribe can demonstrate by historical documentation the existence of the tribe’s villages, burial grounds, occupancy or subsistence use in the vicinity of the land…The definition of ‘significant historical connection’ establishes criteria which require something more than evidence that a tribe merely passed through a particular area.”


The historical record clearly demonstrates that the Mashpee never occupied or utilized lands off of Cape Cod, especially in Taunton, nor did any lands within Taunton hold any culturally significant meaning to the Mashpee such as burial grounds or mythlogically significant locations.

The Mashpee are claiming that they were part of a historically non-existent “Wampanoag” tribe of Indians that they assert encompassed all the Indians of Cape Cod and southeastern Masachusetts. The only Indian groups that historically and legitimately could be called “Wampanoag” were those of the so-called Wampanoag Confederacy” (Pokanoket, Narragansett, and Nipmuc tribes) which sided with King Philip (c. 1675) the Pokanoket tribal sachem, in their war against the colonists. Mashpee sided with the colony in that conflict and were therefore not historically “Wampanoag.”

Another federal regulation that must be met by the Mashpee, is that the tribe must have a present day presence in the area in which the land being sought is located. The regulation requires, “The land is within a 25 mile radius of the tribe’s headquarters or other tribal governmental facilities that have existed at that location for at least two years at the time of the application for land into trust. ...”
The Mashpee recently opened a administrative office in New Bedford. That location is well outside the mandated twenty-five mile maximum radius. So the Mashpee would have to open a tribal administrative office within twenty-five miles of Taunton and wait two years before any action to take the land into trust could be taken.

Lastly, assuming the Mashpee could somehow circumvent the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, and meet the rigid regulatory requirements posited by the Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Indian Affairs has, at last count, some 150 similar requests for land to be taken into trust by other tribes in front of their petition. That process may take up to ten years to complete. This is the reality facing Taunton.

Mr. Lynch is owner and principal of Waterbury, Conn.-based, Historical Consulting & Research Services, LLC. He has been a practicing Ethno-historian for more than 25 years. He is also the author of four books addressing colonial — tribe land issues, tribal history, and the development of Federal Indian Policy


Read more: http://www.tauntongazette.com/dcover/x85610280/GUEST-OPINION-Mashpee-Claims-vs-Regulatory-and-historical-reality#ixzz1usHDXbaw

This fails to include a potential Aquinnah lawsuit, the resolution of the KG Urban appeal scheduled to be heard in June and a potential lawsuit by the Pokasset Tribe to whom it would seem Governor Slot Barns promised support for a Slot Barn in Freetown.

Is Cedric Cromwell being truthful about even having an active application for lands-in-trust?

Massachusetts: Heal thyself!

The Predatory Gambling legislation crafted by the Gambling Industry, allowed the Gambling Commission 'discretion' to conduct background checks.


Since the Gambling Industry has historically been known as corrupt, widely tied to organized crime, money laundering and loan sharking, after the McGee disaster, this clearly required correction.


The legislature immediately acted to correct this flaw, yet the Governor vetoed it - endorsing the future corruption and potential disasters to come.


Discretion has no place in this matter.

Governor Slot Barns Endorses Corruption

Candidate "Slot Barns" offered the meaningless promise to end the 'Big Dig Culture,' even as he schmoozed with Big Dig lobbyists.

Governor Slot Barns then conducted back room meetings and made secret promises about Gambling Legislation - one in particular benefited his generous supporter, Bob Kraft by moving the line on the map to include the recently defeated Foxboro Kraft/Wynn Folly.

Governor Slot Barns agreed to support an INDEPENDENT COST ANALYSIS of Predatory Gambling and developed amnesia after re-election [by a plurality, thanks to Tim Cahill]. It is unclear whether the amnesia struck before or after he met with the Pokassets and promises them a Slot Barn in Freetown, even denying it in an email.

And now this????  Endorsing corruption? Maybe Governor Slot Barns hasn't figured out the uproar regarding a campaigner he reinstated without investigating charges in Florida.

But then he profited from Predatory Lending, why not profit from Predatory Gambling? As long as you suck money from the poor, it's OK with Slot Barns Patrick!

Deval Patrick vetoes mandated background checks for future Massachusetts gaming employees

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/05/deval_patrick_vetoes_mandated.html

Published: Friday, May 11, 2012, 10:31 PM

By State House News ServiceThe Republican
By MATT MURPHY
BOSTON — Gov. Deval Patrick on Friday vetoed portions of a spending bill sent to him this week by the House and Senate requiring the Gaming Commission to conduct full criminal background checks and drug screenings on future employees.

A day after it arrived on his desk, Patrick signed a $72 million mid-year spending bill that included additional funding for public assistance for low-income disabled residents, family shelters, legal aid and youth jobs accounts that were in danger of running out of money before the fiscal year ends on June 30.

The governor, however, rejected amendments to the bill that were added during floor debate in the House and Senate this week in response to an outcry over the attempted hiring of C. Stanley McGee as the interim executive director of the Gaming Commission.

McGee, who works as an assistant economic development secretary in the Patrick administration, turned down the job after some lawmakers, child advocates and Treasurer Steven Grossman raised questions about his suitability for the post due to previously disclosed allegations that he sexually abused a teenaged boy in Florida in 2007. McGee was never charged, and settled a civil lawsuit with the boy’s family out of court.



Patrick struck the two sections of the bill that would have made criminal history checks, urine screenings and state police approved fingerprints and photographs a prerequisite for employment at the Gaming Commission. The bill also would have required background and credit checks.

“While the importance of thorough background investigations is unquestioned and already provided for the by the recently enacted legislation establishing the Gaming Commission, the highest levels of background checks and screening may not be necessary nor appropriate for every employee,” Patrick wrote in his veto letter to the House and Senate.

“Under the current law, the Gaming Commission has the discretion to make those decisions,” Patrick continued.  NOT ACCEPTABLE!

House Minority Leader Brad Jones, who offered the amendment in the House to require the background checks, said by vetoing provisions in the bill that had broad support among Democrats and Republicans, the governor was taking full responsibility for the commission’s future hires.

“I think it’s disappointing. Even the governor has acknowledged the commission suffers from a lack of focus and I think that’s why we put this forth. Now he says they have all the tools they need, but they haven’t done the job even though they have the tools. Any missteps going forward fall on the doorstep of the governor,” Jones said.

Rep. Daniel Winslow, a Norfolk Republican, went further warning that the governor’s veto could open the door to corruption. Winslow announced this week that he had hired a private investigator with his own campaign funds to look into the McGee case, but dropped that pursuit when McGee stepped down from the director’s position.

“Given the recent history of corruption on Beacon Hill, the House and Senate were clearly concerned that we need to have the highest degree of integrity for all employees of the Gaming Commission. Leaving weak links in the chain is an invitation for criminal interests to take advantage of every opportunity,” Winslow said Friday, citing the past hiring of reputed mobster James “Whitey” Bulger as a custodian in Suffolk Superior Court as an example of what could go wrong.

Patrick on Thursday lamented what he described as distractions that have taken the focus of the Gaming Commission off the main task of implementing expanded casino gambling in Massachusetts. He urged the commission to refocus itself “promptly.”

The governor’s communications director Brendan Ryan, however, said requiring all employees, even secretaries, to undergo drug and police background checks was unnecessary.

“The administration agrees that every hire needs to be of the highest integrity, but mandating urine test for every potential receptionist seems like an overreach. The commission has the tools it needs to do the job it needs to do,” Ryan said.

Asked whether receptionist should be put through the same screening process as high-level employees, Jones said, “Conceivably no, but it doesn’t seem to this point that their high level employees had gone through that either. We want to create a scenario that’s above reproach, and so far they haven’t acted above reproach so that’s why we have to act.”

According to the Gaming Commission, McGee was already undergoing a State Police background check as a condition of his employment before he formally withdrew from the position on Wednesday.

“The commission appreciates that the governor recognized that provisions of this law as passed by the Legislature are already both comprehensive and effective,” said Karen Schwartzman, a spokeswoman for the Gaming Commission.

Broadside: Mass. State Rep. Dan Winslow

Broadside: Mass. State Rep. Dan Winslow
http://www.necn.com/05/09/12/Broadside-Mass-State-Rep-Dan-Winslow/landing_politics.html?blockID=705186&feedID=4212
May 9, 2012


NECN) - Republicans in the Massachusetts House of Representatives aren't backing down in a dispute over the newly-named director of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission - in fact, they've gone so far as to hire a private detective to investigate.

Mass. State Rep. Dan Winslow, a Republican representing Norfolk, says a former state police detective will look at the initial charges against Stanley McGee, and will report on the findings to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission and Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick.

McGee was accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy in a steam room at a resort in Florida in 2007. Prosecutors dropped the charges after they determined there was no evidence to corroborate with the allegation.

Winslow said at an earlier press conference that it is unacceptable for the commission to not conduct its own investigation.

The files of the charges in Florida were sealed, but Winslow says that he would like for them to be at least unsealed for the commission.

"I think that when you sign up for public service, you give up a few of your privacy considerations, and that's for the benefit of transparency," said Winslow.

Watch the attached video for more.

Stan McGee steps aside

Interim chief of gaming agency declines job offer

By Associated Press

Associated Press / May 9, 2012   

 

BOSTON—The interim executive director of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission declined an offer Wednesday to serve as acting executive director over an old allegation of child sexual abuse.

Carl Stanley McGee told Massachusetts Gaming Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby that he cannot be effective in the job and wants to allow the commission to do its work.

"After much personal thought and given the growing distractions, I have decided that I cannot be effective in the job I was offered," he said.

Crosby responded that if McGee accepted the job, he would impede the commission work, citing "the interest of maintaining public confidence" in the commission's work.

State Rep. Daniel Winslow, R-Norfolk, said earlier that a former state police detective will examine the initial charges against McGee and deliver a report to the commission and to Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick.

Winslow said it's unacceptable that the commission didn't conduct its own investigation.

"The core function of the gaming commission is due diligence," Winslow said at a Statehouse press conference. "Due diligence starts at home."

Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby said the panel knew McGee had been accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy in the steam room of a Florida resort in 2007.

But Crosby said the commission felt comfortable hiring McGee because Florida prosecutors determined no evidence corroborated the allegation and criminal charges were dropped.

McGee, who began working for the commission this week, was asked Tuesday at a meeting about the abuse accusation, and he told reporters, "No comment."

Karen Schwartzman, a commission spokeswoman, said that when the organization voted to extend the offer to McGee to be interim executive director, it was clear that the appointment was subject to a background check. She said every other commission hire would be subject to the same background check.

McGee won't be placed on the commission payroll until the review is completed, Schwartzman said.

Winslow said his investigation should take a few weeks and cost about $5,000. Winslow said he will pay for the probe, but he'll also take the unusual step of asking for donations from the public to help cover the cost of the investigation.

"After the report is prepared, I will again ask the gaming commission and the governor to review the findings and to take whatever action is appropriate," Winslow said.

Also Wednesday, Winslow's fellow Republican lawmakers successfully pushed the House to adopt an amendment requiring stricter candidate review procedures, including mandatory background checks, for everyone applying for a job with the gaming commission.

"The original gaming law outlined a reasonable and appropriate vetting procedure, but apparently that wasn't enough," said House Republican Leader Brad Jones of North Reading.

The amendment also requires that the commission "strive to avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety" in all matters.

Winslow said the state law that created the gaming commission requires the panel to file its own code of ethics with the state Ethics Commission intended to go above and beyond the state's existing conflict of interest and financial reporting rules.

This week, a child advocacy group called on McGee to waive the confidentiality agreement from a settlement in a lawsuit filed by the 15-year-old boy's family. The Massachusetts Citizens for Children said the gaming commission has a duty to ask McGee to disclose terms of the settlement.

McGee and Crosby had no comment on the request.

The gaming commission has sweeping powers to enforce the casino law, including awarding the highly coveted licenses for the three casinos and single slots parlor proposed in the law.

He previously said the panel knew McGee had been accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy in the steam room of a Florida resort in 2007. Crosby said the commission felt comfortable hiring McGee because Florida prosecutors determined no evidence corroborated the allegation and criminal charges were dropped.

McGee, who began working for the commission this week, said `No comment" when asked Tuesday about the accusation.

Massachusetts Gambling Commission 5/1/12 minutes

http://www.mass.gov/gaming/docs/meeting-docs/mgc-meeting-transcript-5-1-2012.pdf

Massachusetts Gambling Commission's Edumacational Forum

I'll blog facts, but I need to share impressions first.

Attending the sham debates on Beacon Hill (where no one knows the definition of 'debate' and everything takes place behind closed doors), several of us have commented about being surrounding by SUITS costing more than our entire wardrobes. Gambling is SUPER profitable!

Today, the Gambling Commission's edumacational forum was filled with SUITS whose total value exceeded the value of my home.

Look around the room.

Except for reporters, several opponents and myself, the room was filled with GENTRY

6 figure incomes, taxpayer funded guaranteed pensions, lifetime health care and benefits.

This is the 1%, folks!

They will formulate regulations that will enslave, they can't vaguely comprehend.

One wonders, when Gambling Addiction is discussed, the term rolls off their tongues as if discussing the life-changing consequences of a hang nail.

Is there a single member on the Commission who has been driven by mounting debts to consider SUICIDE?

One wonders who in the room hasn't had money for rent, food or heat?

Who among them has worked 2 or 3 jobs to get through college or feed their kids?

They appear like the 1% the Occupy Movement protests, preparing to condemn communities with next wave of pestilence on the pretext of a few low wage jobs, drowning more neighborhoods with the pestilence of crime and despair, over the loud denials by the ELITES.

Do you see the first African-American Governor waving his banner of SOCIAL JUSTICE while bestowing the scourge? [This after his 'feel sorry for me' poor boy autobiography that fails to learn the lessons and went on the promote Predatory Lending. "I made good! Screw you!]

These meetings are held with the pretense of TRANSPARENCY on WEEKDAYS when the working public can't attend.

One of the panelists at today's edumacational forum chided "Trust, but verify."

The same holds true of Propaganda perpetuated by the Gambling Industry and its proponents.

Stop the Taunton Casino! Growing Opposition!

Who wants a 'casino' in their neighborhood?

It seems not many.

http://stoptauntoncasino.com/

Thanks Governor Slot Barns and Senator Pacheco!

Hit the road, Wynn!

Ever notice that the Gambling Vultures promise to go away if they're unwanted? Then, when a community says "NO!" they just won't go away?

Steve Wynn has a long list of communities that didn't want him. Maybe it's time for him to pack his bags and leave, along with his lengthy list of shareholders' lawsuits and FCPA investigations.

Can Steve Wynn Beat the Odds in Massachusetts?

By Christopher Palmeri - Apr 26, 2012

Gaming magnate Steve Wynn doesn’t shy away from a fight. In Foxborough, Massachusetts, the founder of Las Vegas-based Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) has been working hard to get a $1 billion casino built. He’s sent a video pitch, bought full-page newspaper ads, and sent canvassers door-to-door to persuade residents to support the project.

Wynn faces plenty of obstacles, Bloomberg Businessweekreports in its April 30 issue. Civic leaders won’t negotiate with him, an opposition group has attracted 1,200 members, and rival Caesars Entertainment Corp. (CZR) wants to build its own Boston-area casino. On April 16 a supporter of Wynn’s project was arrested for allegedly threatening the life of a town selectman, according to police.

“I don’t think Steve Wynn anticipated the negative feeling in the community,” said Ray Poirier, executive editor of Gaming Today. “He’s got to turn the town around.”

Maybe he needs to accept "NO!" as he has in other communities that didn't want him!

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed legislation in November authorizing three casinos and a slot machine parlor in the commonwealth. The law divides the state into three regions, allowing one casino in each.

The winning proposals will be picked by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission based in part on their potential economic contribution to the state. Before the commission can review an application, however, the operator must negotiate an agreement with the host community and win a local referendum. Licenses aren’t expected to be awarded until mid-2013. When Massachusetts residents will be collecting signatures to REPEAL THE CASINO DEAL and allow the public to have a vote!

Boston is The Prize

The prize is the permit for the Boston region. With 4.5 million residents, it’s the 10th-largest metropolitan area in the U.S.

Per capita income in Boston, at $31,856, is 16 percent above the national average. Clyde Barrow, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth who studies the New England gambling market, estimates a Boston-area casino could generate as much as $800 million in gaming revenue a year. The state will be entitled to a 25 percent cut.

If this revenue projection didn't send you to the floor, rolling with laughter, maybe you haven't looked at the income other Slot Barns are sucking from their local economies. And just maybe, the Patron Saint of Gambling has imbibed too much Casino KoolAid.

Wynn identified Foxborough, a town of 17,300 that lies 30 miles south of Boston, as his site of choice last year. He plans to build the casino on land leased from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and adjacent to Gillette Stadium. Neither Wynn nor Kraft responded to requests for comment.

Wynn identified Foxborough after being chased out of every other venue he has pursued. No one wants him!

Previous Rejections

The Las Vegas billionaire shouldn’t be surprised that Foxborough’s residents are digging in their heels. The town twice rejected zoning changes that would have allowed gambling, in 2004 and 2011, says Paul Mortenson, a former selectman. In a December letter to government officials and Wynn, the board of selectmen said Foxborough did not want to pursue casino negotiations.

Yet the balance may shift after elections on May 7 in which two of five seats are being contested. Two candidates oppose the casino and two favor negotiating with Wynn, according to Mortenson.

Residents are just as divided. Collin Earnst, a marketer at a software company, says he’s concerned about the effect the project will have on traffic and property values.

“The zoning they applied for is the size of the Statue of Liberty,” said Earnst, who has joined the No Foxboro Casino group.

Real estate agent Millie Cetrone, who supports the casino because it will bring in tax revenue, points out that the neighboring town of Walpole has a prison, “and the [property] values there are a lot higher than Foxborough.”

‘No-Brainer’

She calls the decision “a no-brainer.”

Wynn has said the casino would create 4,000 permanent jobsand could generate as much as $15 million in revenue for schools and other public services. The billionaire has funded a grass-roots group called Jobs for Foxboro, which has organized three town meetings to drum up support.

Ahhhh....so 'grassroots' suddenly means billionaire funding?

Barrow questions whether Wynn has chosen the right locale. A casino north of Boston would have less competition and keep more dollars in Massachusetts in the event that New Hampshire legalizes gambling, according to the professor.

Las Vegas-based Caesars, Wynn’s longtime rival, has teamed up with Suffolk Downs, a horse racing track in East Boston, to pursue its competing bid.

On April 12, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino named an advisory panel to pursue a deal with the Caesars/Suffolk Downs group, a move he likened to firing the starting gun for the Boston Marathon.
In a statement, Menino predicted the outcome of the race“could be the largest economic development game changer in Boston’s recent history.”

It could also be the most colossal mistake by the Mayor!