On Tuesday, the town of Milford will vote on whether to invite Foxwoods in. There’s apparently been no polling in the town, so nobody has any idea what’s going to happen. With the collapse of the Suffolk Downs plan, Milford suddenly looks like a much stronger contender for the eastern license – if the people of the town want to participate.
Do you live in the area? What’s your take? And what else is going on?
Please share widely!
We’re cautiously optimistic – some neighborhoods are evenly split, while others are heavily against. We haven’t identified a neighborhood yet that’s heavily for the casino. Turnout will tell the tale!
We were doing standouts yesterday, I got interviewed by the Milford Daily News, video is here:
http://www.milforddailynews.com/multimedia/video/x825431849/VIDEO-Anti-casino-spokesman-John-Tehan
I also got interviewed by WHDH, haven’t seen that online or on TV yet. There was a reporter from WBUR at Draper Park, she recorded us as we did some “NO” chants, that may air on 90.9 FM Monday morning.
Also, check my YouTube channel for some video of our casino forum, as well as the last couple of episodes of my local access cable TV show, I’ve had casino opponents in for discussions.
http://www.youtube.com/user/Zeit001/videos
I’ve worn off the spots on half of this keyboard!
With a truck like that you should run for Senate!
have reported that Foxwoods/Crossroads, LLC has spent over 68k on polling but not released the numbers. MGM (vested interest in Springfield, MA proposal) had conducted polls regarding the Mohegan Sun (MS) vote in Palmer – as well as Leon Dragone, real estate partner with MS having conducted internal polls. MGMs numbers showed close and leaning toward a NO and Dragone’s numbers had a 10 point yes for casinos according to his statement to media. But the polling was never released……so who knows?
The Telegram & Gazette, the paper of record for central Massachusetts has had a balanced if not skeptical view of casinos throughout the past several years. After reviewing the Milford proposal this is an excerpt of what they editorialized:
Regardless of the polling, the larger issue is the double-standard of suitability that seems to have emerged with the Mass Gaming Commission (MGC) allowing the Foxwoods/ Crossroads LLC proposal to proceed. They showed up at the table (MGC hearing) with 55% of their financing unknown….not in place….pending…..d’oh!
Showing up with a history of near bankruptcy (tribal entities are exempt from certain regulations) and the restructuring of outlandish debt as your financial background and getting a suitability ruling seems like a stretch at best and a different standard that that per-emptively applied to Caesars. Gary Loveman (CEO Caesars, Wellesly, MA resident) do you feel scorned? Readying your law suit against the prejudicial treatment you received…….deserved or not?
Joan Vennochi writes about in boston.com today.
… that, as of now, casinos are his legacy.
That’s not to say he hasn’t done good things. He has. But casinos will be forever. All else will be forgotten.
he’ll be remembered for helping that happen too. At least by me.
On the three most important issues facing our country?
Thank goodness there are still some MSM journalists around that call out the power politics in Massachusetts and lay it straight. What is UP with the MGC deeming Foxwoods/Crossroads LLC suitable when the did not even have their financing lined up? That is simply unacceptable.
Add the incomprehensible debt, creative financing with recent restructuring to slink away from bankruptcy – which I don’t know enough about tribal law and federal compacts if they are shielded from bankruptcy differently than US corporations/businesses and individuals.
They show up to the MGC without 55% of financing in place. Then 48 hours later scotch tape together a letter of intent with a new spin-off from a competitor.
This falls into the WTF Vortex.
Especially bizarre is the strong message to Caesars and then the slider to Foxwoods.
The one selectman who voted against the casino has sent a letter to our town counsel asking for an investigation into this mess – he feels that the election has been unfairly tainted by all this news. See more here:
http://milford-ma.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/milford-selectman-seeks-specifics-contract-on-foxwoods-financing-prior-to-town-vote
It might be.
I’ve been at the Portuguese club, where 4 of the 8 precincts in town go to vote. At 11 AM, over 20% of registered voters had already cast ballots! The thumbs up to thumbs down ratio is running about 20 to 1 for our side, with about 2/3 of voters willing to express an opinion. Looking good!
I’ll post the numbers when I have them – I’m an observer at the polling place, so I’ll be watching the boxes getting sealed for delivery to town hall. We’ll have unofficial results at 8:15.
This could be an awesome message to the MGC, Governor, Legislators and gambling industry. MA voters when given the full picture of the impacts of casinos are saying NO.
It is interesting to see how many NO Votes are coming from communities whose elected state legislators and local elected officials voted YES for casinos.
Dissssssssconnect.