We told you so!
It's over! .... for Middleboro
It gives me great pleasure today to thank all the dedicated members and friends of Casino Facts who have been fighting and supporting us to maintain the quality of life that we so well deserve. For almost three years we have been trying to drive a message home that a Casino in Middleboro was "not inevitable". Many will say it was the SCOTUS decition to not allow land to trust, or the high cost of the infrastructure, or the environmental impacts, or one of the many other road blocks that put an end to the Tribe's ill-fated plan, but in my heart I truly believe it was the culmination of dedicated research, and the tireless effort to educate and help people understand the logic and the basic principle that there is no price tag for an exchange of "quality of life". Today is not only a victory for Middleboro, but for the area as a whole, but the war is far from over, for now is the time to fight for the rest of the residents of Ma. and help them understand the dark and hidden secrets of predatory gambling.
Thank you,
Frank Dunphy
President Casino Facts Committee
Rebuttal to Casino Mailing
In addition to the many, many phone calls being made by
the agents of the casino backers, we were sent a mailing
that was typical of the process thus far.
It was long on promises, short on details, and didn't match
up with reality or the agreement that is on the table.
- Resort Casino will provide 7 million per year
Rebuttal: And little more. In exchange we will incur millions more
dollars in cost for police, fire emergency, schools, and every other
town department. West Warwick RI - a community similar in size to
Middleboro, negotiated a deal that would have given more than 20
million dollars a year tied to slot revenues. This deal is worth
less than half of that.
- The 7 million dollar payment is twice as much tax
as all other commercial properties
Rebuttal: For good reason - it will have a much larger impact.
- Resort Casino will provide thousands of construction jobs and
hundreds of guaranteed well-paying permanent jobs for Middleboro
residents.
Rebuttal:
There will be a lot of temporary construction jobs. There is
nothing in the agreement that "guarantees" that the jobs will be
well-paying and only a "good faith" promise to give Middleoboro
residents some preference after tribal members. Do you notice how
it is worded "hundreds of well-paying permanent jobs". That implies
that the rest of the 10,000 jobs are going to be low paying - which
would be consistent with other similar facilities.
- The Resort Casino will pay millions of dollars in traffic
improvements to local roads including Route 44 and the Rotary.
Rebuttal: The agreement says nothing about "local roads". The Tribe
will pay for improvements to route 44 that will benefit the Casino.
These improvements are to benefit the casino - not the people of
Middleboro. Rt. 44 will become a place to be avoided by anyone who
is not going to the casino - limiting our access to Plymouth and any
other Rt. 44 destination town.
- The Resort Casino's financial contributions to Middleboro will
include much needed funding for police and fire as well as for
public schools to reduce class size and improve education overall.
Rebuttal: The agreement will not provide enough money to pay for the
casino impacts, let alone improvements to any existing department.
We will at best break even and very likely wind up losing money.
- The Resort Casino will bring improvements to Town's water, sewer,
electric, and gas and make Middleboro eligible to join witht he
Tribe to obtain a number of Government grants.
Rebuttal: We don't need infrastructure improvements - the casino
does. Any upgrades needed by our systems due to natural growth or
age, can be handled the way every other town handles them.
- The Tribe will be a large contributor to local community
organizations and charities.
Rebuttal: That's a possibility but is not specified in any
agreements. Any large business is expected to do their social
responsibility for the community. That's not a benefit - it's
expected behavior.
- Annual payments from the Resort Casino will reduce the growing local
budget deficit in the first year of casino operation and greatly
relieve pressues for more property tax increase in future years.
Rebuttal: For that to be true, the Tribe would have to pay us enough
money for offsetting and exceeding the cost of hosting the casino.
The deal on the table will not do that. This is an empty promise
with not facts, data, or financial data to back up the claim.
The Resort Casino has been endorsed by the Police, Fire, Business and
Industrial Commission and the School Committee.
Rebuttal: When these "endorsements" were made, the town had not yet
done any significant impact assessments leading one to wonder on what
basis the endorsements were made. It is fact that casinos bring
gambling addiction. Gambling addiction has the same social negatives
as any other addiction - crime, bankrupcies, divorces, child abuse,
robbery, rape, and other violent crimes.
Is this what these agencies are endorsing? Now ask yourself if you
endorse it.
Back To Opinions
|
