Although it took several years to awaken slumbering voters in Middleboro, the Predatory Gambling issues shuffled and awakened many to transform town government, educate voters about the basics such as the Open Meeting Law, address and correct numerous issues that were merely added to the "Old Business" list as a mortuary, to be carried forward in Memoriam.
Pickles? Yes!
An inept Board with one member who seems still not to 'Get it,' transformed into an effective Board partnering with an effective and efficient Town Manager moving the Town forward professionally based on facts and laws and research.
And then I traveled to Plainville and experienced a Town not yet experiencing a similar epiphany, still governed by a Board mired in apathy and misinformation - the same old 'we've done it this way for 100 years....' in an Internet age, behaving like BobbleHeads willingly led.
It's like watching cucumbers get pickled in brine.
And along comes Rob Rose denigrating Slot Barn Opponents because he's consumed too much KoolAid to conduct his due diligence.
The Plainville Board of Selectmen have betrayed residents
by seeking advice from a man who discards his avocation, denies the increased crime attached to Slot Barns (by whatever elegant name) and refuses to document or qualify his statements, refuses to provide FACTS - those dastardly little things!
Although a Palmer citizens' group easily determined the annual increased costs to the Town would be $18 million to $39 million, Plainville Selectmen seem frazzled to address those costs and impacts.
The Plainville Selectmen and Town Manager were invited to an educational forum that revealed and quantified those issues, yet they preferred ignorance instead, carefully avoiding the forum.
For Rob Rose to denigrate and demean opponents instead reveals his choice to blindly follow and refuse to enlighten himself, endorsing
the community destruction accompanying
Predatory Gambling.
What community is better off 5 years after a Slot Barn has opened in its midst? Not one!
Oh! And Mr. Rose, you might consider taking a lesson from Adam Bond who was masterful at dividing a community by calling opponents "Braying Donkeys," comparing opponents to terrorists, Nazis and accusing of racism. What was accomplished?
You might try conducting your due diligence for the benefit of your community and consider the consequences of your petty comments. In the end, Mr. Bond will lose this election, just as he lost the 2 judgeships for which he submitted his name. Yes, the community is polite to him even as they work for his defeat.
Leadership is about uniting not about name-callling.
Final say on racino plan belongs to Plainville voters
To the editor: I feel compelled to reply to Mary Ann Greanier's letter "Plainville should Foxboro lead on gambling" (May 13). Her plea/message was essentially: 1) Foxboro took the right course by denying the Kraft /Wynn casino, 2) slots are bad, 3) the Plainville Board of Selectmen are predisposed to approve a racino and 4) the only way to stop the racino is to pressure the selectmen not to negotiate with Plainridge.
The gambling law has a course of action that towns take when a developer wants to build a casino/racino. In Plainville's case, the selectmen would negotiate an agreement with the developer. After that has been concluded, a town election would be held to approve or disapprove the terms of the agreement. There would be public hearings to discuss the details, the financial and social impacts, and the mitigation. The intent is to have all the angles covered. Ms. Greanier and her anti-gambling "illuminati" do not want that process to move forward. They don't want a discussion of the pros and cons. They don't want residents to participate and make the decision. They believe they know better, that residents are not enlightened enough to make the "right call." If the selectmen elect not to negotiate with Plainridge, the racino is dead.
This decision will affect Plainville far into the future and is so important that it cannot be left in the hands of the selectmen or Mary-Ann Greanier and the anti-racino group.
As a selectman, I feel it is my duty to make sure the town makes the very best deal with Plainridge. Once it goes to the election, it's for the town voters, to decide whether it's in Plainville's best interests. The decision cannot be restricted to a small group of people.
I expect that for the next few months, the "illuminati," which includes many non-Plainville residents, will be in attendance at selectmen's meetings, attempting to intimidate us. As Ms. Greanier recently said, "We need to put the pressure on." I will not bend!
Rob Rose, Plainville
THE WRITER is a Plainville selectman.
The information is out there --
Interest in Horse Racing is declining nationwide, yet the Industry insists on taxpayer subsidies to preserve the failing business.
Even Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby is financially struggling, cutting racing dates.
This is like seeking to preserve 8-track tapes and ignoring the consequences.
Slot Machines have been called the "Crack Cocaine of Gambling" because they are designed to addict, frequently offering small wins or 'near misses' to entice continued playing.
"Crime spiked.....In the vicinity near the
racetrack, overall criminal offences rose from 994 in 1999 to 1,267 the next
year — a 27.46 per cent increase, according to a 2001 police report. Broken
down, violent crime jumped 28.57 per cent and property crime 15.98 per cent.
Just north, traffic offences under the criminal code, such as impaired driving,
shot up 41.51 per cent."
"In the years after the first casinos were built,
Atlantic City went from having the 50th-highest per capita crime rate in the United States to being No. 1 on the
list."
Suffolk Downs keeps reduced racing days
Of horse racing --
the number of thoroughbred
foals produced in the U.S. dropped 20 percent in the last
decade.
CT: Taxpayer Bailouts!
...don’t call it economic development.
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