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Friday, May 18, 2012
Sweet Deal?
"Our tribe shares residents' interest in protecting natural resources. In fact, that is one
of the main reasons we identified these parcels to set aside property for land in trust. We want to make sure a significant
portion of these parcels is safe from development in perpetuity." - Wampanoag Gay Head (Aquinnah) Chairwoman
Cheryl Andrews-Maltais
Then why even have a casino? Is this the same reason you want to preserve land in Fall River?
Or, New Bedford way back when? Even on Martha's Vineyard? The Aquinnah want to sweeten the deal by claiming
they will preserve any remaining land of the 400+ acres not dedicated to the casino for historic preservation, education, buffer areas to separate residential areas and other non-development
purposes to benefit the area. That sounds awfully nice of them, but there is still a casino and all the impacts associated.
That is like saying the house is clean with the exception of the spilled over garbage can in the middle of the living room.
Please! They may love the land, but they love a casino more. That is the sweet deal breaker. Would you like
a little more lead paint on your lollipop little boy?
1:23 pm est
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Dear John,
“The last communication we got from the tribe was a letter telling us to shut up,’’ said Rullo.
“Well, we’re not going to shut up.’’- Alfred P. Rullo Jr., chairman of the Middleborough Board of Selectmen
Divorces are always messy and the Barry White swooning of the old Midddleborough BOS is history.
No more, "Adam, you are my man." "I love you, Mimi." "Patrick, my sweet." "Marsha, Marsha, oh Marsha." Only Stevie
"Wonder of it all" Spataro is left and the shine is off the jewels. It is no longer like Cheers "Where everybody knows your name."
Middleborough is rightfully feeling jilted like the late Elizabeth Edwards when it hit fan that John
was messing around with Reille Hunter. Can you blame Middleborough now that the tribe is so in love with Taunton and
Captain Casino A Hoye? The tribe wants to have Taunton's love casino. All the promises of jobs, infrastructure
improvement, payments in lieu of taxes and kiddie parks are going to Taunton.
So what is their response to Middleborough?
“The Tribe demands that these actions cease immediately.’’
They don't want any bad publicity. Can't ruin the affair before committing at the alter.
What, the Mashpee look bad and Taunton may get cold feet? How could that happen? They do it to themselves. Constant bad behavior does a relationship in every time.
Taunton, don't say Middleborough didn't warn you.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Casino complex in the "remote" Red Zone
Above is the Aquinnah casino land "options" proposed
in the "remote" area of Freetown & Lakeville. In this remote area of a 1 mile radius
is our school campus a considerable number of homes along Long Pond and other surrounding residences with an access road on
Freetown St.
In the Standard Times today:
The 100 acres entirely in Freetown are zoned
commercially but located in a residential section, not far from local schools. Ideally, the tribe would like access to the
casino land directly from Route 140, tribe spokesman James McManus said in an email.
"The property we are looking at in Lakeville is on the west side of Route 140 at the Lakeville-Freetown
border," Andrews-Maltais told Lakeville officials Thursday night. "It is remote enough and far enough from impacting on housing
and communities."
It doesn't look "remote" enough for me.
Does it to you?
Freetown selectman Lisa Pacheco has yet to give
details from her "private meetings" with the tribe. Even during a candidate's forum last night she was tight lipped.
At least my Lakeville BOS is keeping our meetings with the Aquinnah so far public. Good for them.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
No "Private" or "Closed Door" Meetings, Please!
To our Board of Selectmen Stephen Olivier, Derek Maksy, Scott Belliveau and town admintrator Rita Garbitt,
Please do not allow private or closed door meetings with the Aquinnah regarding any proposal to build
a casino in Lakeville. Although they are scheduled to disclosed the potential location shortly, how is it that any one
in town can make any informed conclusions on the viability of such a project if its location is undisclosed and there are
private meetings. Even Martha's Vinyard's weekly newspaper asks the question. The Aquinnah like their casino-seeking cousins exploring Taunton are short on answers and
quick to rush things through. No locations made public yet in Lakeville, Freetown or Fall River.
Freetown selectman Lisa Pacheco and town adminstrator Richard Brown have had there "closed door
meeting" to get all their "ducks in a row". So Lisa, where are these ducks? The location is still undisclosed
and you have already scheduled a vote for May 29th. Wake up Freetown! At least two weeks ago Lakeville BOS when acknowledging the receipt of the
letter from the Aquinnah to have a vote in town, the BOS told them to comeback when you are ready to disclose and we'll consider
a vote.
The chances of Lakeville voting to approve a casino of any type here is slim to none. If they
would not take Sysco, they won't take a casino. Also, the Aquinnah as well as the Mashpee Wampanoags cannot get that land into federal trust as needed in the Mass Gaming Law. Only tribes recognized in 1934 and prior can have their land
placed in trust by the Secretary of the Interior. This all really is an exercise of fulitity, wasted time and money
for all involved. It is pipe dream feed on casino Kool-Aid.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Close to Home
 "I have goose bumps. It's a good feeling." - Credric Cromwell, chief of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe
It seems that the "goose bumps" are speading like the chicken pox and who should catch them but Taunton mayor Thomas "casino a Hoye."
This brings the latest stop of the wandering Hekowee tribe which startedin Middleborough, then Fall
River, New Bedford, Bridgewater and now Taunton. All a shore that is going to shore Captain Tom. You know why.
We have been on this road before. Now they are calling a vote by Taunton for the new casino "imminent", instead of inevitable. They think they know so much. It is the same trash talk from 2008. The Middleborough
casino was inevitable and 4 years later the Mashpee are desperate to have the inter-governmental agreement become null & void. So hard pressed these Mashpee. They can't have two initial reservations on their request for land into trust
with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Wait... that is what they have now. Mashpee and Middleborough. So they
can't have three on the same application.
“If I understand it correctly, the compact negotiations begin once the town or city has taken
a vote, or once they schedule the vote maybe it is, and as soon as they do we’re ready to go.” - MA Governor
Deval Patrick
Devalue understands nothing. He helped write the casino legislation and he doesn't understand
that the Mashpee need to be on there way to get the land into trust first. Devalue doesn't understand the federal law
for Indian tribes to acquire it, especially for casinos. When will they learn.
First they need the land, then they have to have an IGA with Taunton, then they submit their application
with proof of historical ties to that specific land. Regrettably they don't mention Taunton in their Final Determination
to be a federally recognized tribe. They mention only MASHPEE. After submission and acceptance by the BIA, then
a series of environmental impact meetings must take place. Only one of which happened in Middleborough and that took
8 months since the application submission. After all those public meetings, the application has to be approved.
This can only happen now by an act of Congress since the US Supreme Court had ruled that the Secretary of the Interior only
can approve applications for tribes recognized in 1934 and prior. If all that happens, then and only then can the Mashpee
go into negotiations with the governor.
The governor can't cut in line. So you see, Gov. Devalue doesn't understand or he is real smart
and just pulling the Maspee along to make them feel included. Whatever the case, it is obvious that Captain Casino A
Hoye doesn't get it.
"This could potentially be a shot in the arm our city needs to once again be the gem of southeastern
Massachusetts."
All he sees is Taunton becoming a "gem". A gem like Atlantic City, Detroit or even Gary Indiana.
Hoye wants the town of my birth to become like them. Please. It is bad enough that I will see the lights of this
gem of a "resort casino" five minutes from my house. Not if I can help it.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Wander Lust Or Just Plain Lost?
"We have been evaluating and investigating multiple sites throughout our ancestral
homeland in southeastern Massachusetts for our proposed resort casino. We have had preliminary conversations about possible
sites and we are excited about the options that we have identified; however, it would be premature to comment on any location
specifically at this time." - Cedric Cromwell, chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribal council
 The Heckowi Tribe of Mashpee is at it again. Wandering around Southeastern Massachusetts looking for a sucker town/seller.
First Middleborough, then Fall River, now Raynham. It seems the medicine man can manipulate the simple minded so easily. The Farse is with them. Except maybe
George Carney, who I suspect is just trying to get out of the losing business of simulcast dog racing.
That breed has been
dead or dying for decades. Carney is in it for the money. The Mashpee must have the cash. They don't even pay their other bills.
The article suggests Raynham residents are all for a tribal run casino that would
pay no taxes, only a negotiated fee in an agreement the town would have to approve first, then the Bureau of Indian Affairs
would have to pull out from the dust bin the Mashpees old agreement and ammend it AGAIN to approve it and then return it to
the dust bin because the Secretary of the Interior still has no authority to approve tribal lands anymore. The current
Mashpee tribal council will go by the way of their ancestors before Congress gives the SOI the authority again. Please.
Can you really compare the traffic a dead tv screen betting parlor to a full blown casino and resort? Don't
say no one told you so, but we will if it comes and it won't.
 Raynham Selectboy, Joseph Pacheco (no relation to Carney lap dog State Senator Marc "But for" Pacheco) wants the money so
bad he'll roll the dice on a tribe that can't pay it's bills, promises Middleborough the moon and then gives them a moon.
I think the Mashpee tribal land is on the moon. I'm sure they think so. They seem to claim tribal land everywhere
else that isn't theirs. Middleborough, Fall River and now Raynham. A sucker born every minute. This
minute, it's Raynham.
Comments:
Michael Striar said:
I
just stumbled across your web site while checking out the status of the various casino proposals in S.E. Massachusetts. I've
never previously seen your site. Your article from Tuesday, June 14, 2011 is extremely racist. Are you really the bigoted,
racist pig you appear to be from that article? You have every right to your opinion on casino gambling. But it's disgraceful
that you reflect your opinion in such a degrading and demeaning manner. I think you should consider removing or revising that
particular article.
My Reply:
Mr. Striar,
Apparently your knee-jerk
reaction can not be readily explained through just your one e-mail to me, except that it is a knee-jerk reaction. It takes a reactionary to make false accusations quickly.
I use satire and other literary devices to paint a broader meaning.
Do you watch
any television besides the race baiters on MSNBC? Entertainment television is ripe with what would appear as racist
and bigoted stereotypes all for the purpose of entertainment and social commentary. Please, you need to look outside
the smallness of calling people racist when they are not. Please keep reading, otherwise.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Santa Claus: Only Coal for Mashpee Wampanoag
 No Carcieri fix in 111th Congress
The Senate voted 79-16 on a continuing resolution mid-afternoon Tuesday, Dec. 21 to fund the federal
government through March 4. There is no Carcieri fix in the bill. The House was to approve the measure later in the day. The
current funding was to expire at midnight Dec. 21.
It does not seem to be the year of the Mashpee. Though US Congressman
Byron Dorgan tried to sneak into the appropriations bill to further fund the federal government past the December 21st deadline
a "Carcieri Fix", the measure was removed from the Senate version, HR 3082. It seems there still will not be any land taken
into federal trust by the Secretary of the Interior for some time.
Another lump of coal came also from a Massachusetts Appeals Court judge has ruled against a casino on the Fall River Bio-Park land.
“It’s up to the city to withdraw from the contracts (with the Mashpees), go and change the law
(prohibiting a casino on the land) and enter a proper process.”
“I think they should probably move on with a biopark. There
are plenty of places for a casino when the time comes.”
Atty. Lesley Rich, representing the Pocasset Wampanoag
tribe.
And the last coal for these historically praying Indians is the Fall River Chamber of Commerce has come out against the casino in place of the bio-park.
The decision to seek out an alternative economic vision, while systematically
scorching the life out of the commerce park project, was a significant breach from the comprehensive economic development
plan for Fall River. Without community input, or a referendum, the city administration unilaterally turned its back on a $21
million dollar economic partner, the University of Massachusetts. UMass – Dartmouth was slated to be the first tenant of the
life sciences park by producing the long sought after bioprocessing facility.
In May, the Chamber of Commerce believed
it had a duty to the community it serves to ask a simple question. Why are we discarding a state supported shovel ready economic
development and job creating project for the remote possibility of capturing a casino license? Seven more months have passed.
Merry Christmas everyone and another Happy No
Casino New Year!
Friday, September 3, 2010
Mashpee Tribe/Middleborough Town Officials' Casino Web Revealed & Untangled
"To be a pain." -
Yes, Ruth, it must be a pain to had once been the favorite of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe
and then be dumped. I guess they knew who to pick when they wanted to throw under the bus.
Ms. Geoffroy said the memorandum, as well as other documents from the town manager’s office apparently
not included in the request, were likely lost during the transition from Mr. Healey, to an interim town manager, to the current
administration of Town Manager Charles Cristello.
Maybe they should try checking the garage of one supporter's rental properties where other casino
related items have been found to had materialized.
The relationship is also illustrated in e-mail exchanges between town officials and Stephen J. Graham,
the tribe’s political handler and scheduler who advised (the convicted) Mr. (Glenn) Marshall during the campaign contribution
scheme.
The town followed the tribe’s request to commence gaming state compact negotiations in 2008 with a letter of its
own. In response to the town sending a draft copy of the letter to the tribe, Mr. Graham responded, “Town Manager, Chairman
Hendricks certainly appreciates your expedited action on sending the letter and the wording suits him fine. Thanks, Steve.”
Mr.
Graham invited Ms. Geoffroy to a Christmas party and a family function.
Mr. Graham, reached by telephone this week, declined
to comment on the documents.
I am sure you enjoyed the party while it lasted. It is your party and you can cry, if you want
to.
Oh, what a tangled web was weaved.
11:39 am est
Friday, August 6, 2010
A little long, but funny and to the point.
Menard
vs. Montigny, Casino Debate, Amendment 31
Monday, August 2, 2010
Another Conservative's View of Gambling
July 28, 2010 Salem News
Barbara Anderson: Sadly, government
can't seem to get anything right
At first I was conflicted on the state gambling issue. Sometimes I get in libertarian
mode and start my thinking with the phrase "in a free world..."
In a free world, people who want to open a casino, put slot machines in their clubs,
or even have a little dice game on the town common, can do so without having to get permission from the
state government. The role of that body is only to make sure the games aren't rigged, that the winnings are paid,
that thugs don't kneecap someone who owes them money from a loss, and that hard-drinking gamblers don't drive.
Free people who choose to gamble do so at their own financial risk. They are warned in
advance that taxpayers will not bail them out or take responsibility for their neglected family. The odds are against them,
so they may have to get in line at the food bank and soup kitchen with everyone else.
I also note that legalized gambling worked well in Nevada as a way of funding government
for quite awhile, until the recession hurt the gaming industry there.
But then I return from Fantasyland. First, this isn't a free-world commonwealth. And
second, what worked in Nevada won't work here, because nothing works here for long.
Nevada used gaming revenues instead of a state income tax to run a relatively small government,
with a part-time citizen legislature.
Gambling revenues here would be piled onto the fifth highest per-capita tax burden in
the country, funding our ongoing full-time, "professional" legislature, which would soon have all its relatives on the casino
payrolls getting lifetime pensions and health care after 20 years. Whitey Bulger would have to return from retirement to loan
money to the gambling addicts.
Crime-wise, we'd be a lot more like New Jersey than Nevada.
Also, taxpayers would soon be paying for programs for gambling addicts, as well as housing
for their impoverished families, while providing subsidized chips for poor people who can't afford their own.
Better to leave well enough alone and let gamblers be satisfied with standing in line
at the convenience store for their scratch tickets.
Unfortunately the unions that ran the worst campaign in ballot history against the abolition
of greyhound racing — focusing on themselves instead of voter concern about the greyhounds — will be left in unemployment
lines if the gambling bill fails. The campaign ads opposing abolition of greyhound racing should have said, "The accusations
are false; the dogs are happy!" instead of "What about my union job?"
If it makes them feel any better, they wouldn't have gotten the new casino jobs anyhow
unless they had legislative connections.
One more thing: The new gambling revenues, should they materialize, would be wasted along
with our tax dollars, just like now.
In the past, Massachusetts has had some good ideas. I remember when Gov. Ed King and
the Boston business community just wanted to build a little tunnel to the airport.
More recently, there was a fairly sensible plan to get everyone covered by health insurance.
Politicians celebrated a new law that required all of us to be covered, but promised basic plans that anyone could afford,
and a state subsidy for those few who weren't covered elsewhere.
But they never got around to the affordability part, soon wiping out the very basic plans
with mandated benefits. A hard-working laborer was telling me this week about his effort to get insured after he was fined
by the state for noncompliance.
After filling out all the paperwork to be accepted for the state program, he lost his
low-income job and went on unemployment. So they rejected his paperwork and told him he'd have to apply for the subsidy that
goes with unemployment, instead of low income. He knows that when he finds another job he'll have to start filling out forms
all over again.
Meanwhile, inevitably, as premiums climb, employers who once offered health insurance
are dropping it and sending employees to the subsidized state system. Hey, didn't see that coming!
In between the Big Dig and the health insurance debacle, there was the Education Reform
law of 1993. To the surprise of many of us, it actually seemed to be working, albeit with billions of additional taxpayer
dollars earmarked for education, much of which was spent on teacher raises, pensions and extraordinarily generous health insurance
benefits.
But at least in return for this huge expenditure, we got charter schools and the MCAS,
which began to hold school systems accountable for student performance.
Though people are accustomed to hearing that Proposition 21/2 is destroying local schools,
the fact is that public education in Massachusetts rates very high compared to most of the rest of the country.
So who ya gonna call to mess it up? Why not Washington, D.C.?
Last week Governor Patrick decided to substitute federal education standards for our
own, successful state program. After all, nothing succeeds like the federal government — look at the economy, Fannie Mae and
other regulation, various recent wars, immigration policy, response to national disasters, etc. And Uncle Sam has the debt
to prove its success.
Too bad we're going to gamble on our kids'
education by turning it over to the feds.
• • •
Barbara Anderson, a Marblehead resident and executive director of Citizens
for Limited Taxation, is a regular contributor to the opinion pages.
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