You can now read 5 articles in a month for free on BostonGlobe.com. Read as much as you want anywhere and anytime for just 99¢. | BOSTON.COM
NEWS
METRO
SUBSCRIBE
Opinion ARTS
BUSINESS
SPORTS
OPINION
POLITICS
EDITORIALS
0
Bruins Live
4
LETTERS
LIFESTYLE
LOG IN
Search MAGAZINE
INSIDERS
TODAY'S PAPER
IDEAS
2nd Prd 10:50
THE PODIUM | ALEX J. GRANT
A letter to Patrick over casinos EMAIL
open in browser PRO version
GOOGLE+
Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
2
pdfcrowd.com
MGM RESORTS IN TERN A TION A L V IA A P/FILE 2012
A rendering of MGM Springfield.
By Alex J. Grant
OC T OBER 3 0 , 2 0 1 4
Dear Governor Patrick, The hour is late, and this is your chance to stand for something great again. I am talking about the casino repeal referendum. Right now, you will go down in history as the governor who brought casinos to Massachusetts. After all the budget battles and ribbon cuttings and political appointments are long forgotten, this is what people will remember you for. Are you OK with that? I am a selectman from Longmeadow, and the would-be open in browser PRO version
Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
pdfcrowd.com
I am a selectman from Longmeadow, and the would-be MGM casino in Springfield will be parked on our doorstep. We did not have any say in that decision. In fact, our Town Meeting voted overwhelmingly against it. Under the casino legislation, the Gaming Commission was supposed to take surrounding community input into account, but the MGM license was a done deal after all the other towns in western Massachusetts said no to casinos. When you were campaigning for governor in 2006, people knew that you were different. You were not just the next Democrat in line for the state’s highest office. You were not just espousing progressive Democratic policies. You were asking us to aim higher, to believe in something larger than ourselves. That was the magic of 2006, and it was recaptured on a national scale in 2008. Together we can. Remember those heady, hopeful days? You did not campaign on a casino platform. As governor, you mulled over casinos and you weighed the costs and benefits, and I always felt your heart was not really in it. When you knew something was right, when a policy was a moral obligation or a stark necessity, you did not hesitate. You knew where you stood and spoke passionately for it, win, lose, or draw. Casinos were a concession to the budget and political realities of the time. You are someone who believes in government as an instrument to solve social problems. You decry powerful open in browser PRO version
Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
pdfcrowd.com
corporate interests that care little for the public interest and care nothing at all for the powerless in our society. And yet, the casino legislation invites those very corporate interests into our state and confers on them the exclusive and valuable right to do business in a section of the state. If lotteries are a tax on the poor, then what are casinos, with their capacity to rob people of their homes and savings? With the casino law, government becomes an instrument of social destruction. Are you OK with that? Even as you reluctantly advocated for casinos, you insisted they be more than a means to save Suffolk Downs. You insisted that they be “resort-destination” style casinos because only those would spur tourism more generally in the region. MGM has already admitted that its gambling hall/movie theater/bowling alley complex in Springfield is not going to be a draw for out-of-town tourists, but rather will be a casino for the residents of western Massachusetts. Remember how there were supposed to be multiple cities and towns vying for casino licenses, each trying to out-do the other with an ineffable “wow factor” that would attract visitors from nearby states? Time has shown that there are precious few places in Massachusetts which want a casino. Where they have been accepted, the casino advocates in cities like Springfield and Everett have had to trade on fear and desperation. “If not this, then what?,” they say, as if the casinos are the last chance to avoid oblivion. The “wow factor” is long gone. This cannot be what you planned, what you hoped for. If the casino legislation is not going to lift tourism and if it is not going to save Suffolk Downs, then what is the point? If the facts change, why not change your mind? Governor Patrick, your action on the casino referendum could be your last chance to make a difference in public life. Sticking to a pre-set course, refusing to admit that a law has not fulfilled its purposes? That is open in browser PRO version
Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
pdfcrowd.com
commonplace. Politicians do that all the time. Opposing a law you helped to enact simply because it is the right thing to do? That is historic. Let us do something great again.
More casino coverage Boston to sue gam bling com m ission ov er Ev erett casino approv al Vennochi: What did Ev erett really win? Opinion: Suffolk Downs’s silv er lining Gam bling com m ission approv es Wy nn proposal for Ev erett casino Gam bling panel’s decision spells end for Suffolk Downs races Winners, losers in decision on casino repeal v ote
Alex J. Grant is a selectman from Longmeadow. EMAIL
GOOGLE+
Get Today's Headlines from the Globe in your inbox: Enter your email address
SIGN UP
Pri v acy Pol i cy
open in browser PRO version
Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
pdfcrowd.com
HIDE 2 COMMENTS
2 Comments
Oldest
Newest
Best
Bendogger 10/30/14 10:36 AM Well said. I don't gamble but I have nothing against those who do who would like to have casinos in MA. My biggest issue with this is the way it's been sold to us, that it will be a boon to the economy. I don't see that happening in any meaningful way. It's not going to increase tourism. The state has enough going for it that it doesn't need casinos for tourists. It's going to provide jobs for some people and make it more convenient for those who enjoy gambling. The big winners are the casino owners. Just call it what it is. Don't tell me it's raining when you're p issing on my leg.
nahantjim 10/30/14 12:59 PM Eloquent. I hope the Governor reads it and does the right...and great...thing.
open in browser PRO version
Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
pdfcrowd.com
Please log In to comment.
Top 10 Trending Articles Most Viewed
Most Commented
Most Shared
Dear David Ortiz, since you brought it up . . . Officer in critical condition after Roxbury shooting open in browser PRO version
Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
pdfcrowd.com
Racially tinged emails, charges of retribution roil Plymouth County District Attorney’s office Officer ‘fighting for his life’ was also at 2013 Watertown gunfight Obama’s hypocrisy with Netanyahu Tom Brady dives off a cliff Senator Elizabeth Warren shoots back at Wall Street after banks reportedly withhold contributions to Democrats Eye-popping design unveiled for condos in former South End church A Ted Cruz loss would help GOP recover Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez concerned after MRI
More in Opinion
Obama’s hypocrisy with Netanyahu open in browser PRO version
Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
pdfcrowd.com
Before he lambastes other political leaders for their “divisive rhetoric,� the president really ought to take a good look in the mirror.
Elizabeth Warren casts a shadow on Hillary Clinton The senator will affect a Clinton campaign, regardless whether the Mass. Democrat runs for president.
A Ted Cruz loss would help GOP recover The simple fact of the matter is that the modern Republican Party has gone off the deep end.
open in browser PRO version
Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
pdfcrowd.com
Is the Olympic opposition going to turn? Hold the smelling salts; the group No Boston Olympics has laid out some specific demands.
After Germanwings crash, airlines should tighten cockpit rules A second individual in the cockpit would have served as a powerful deterrent in the flight.
Require high school civics test With woeful regularity, researchers confirm Americans’ dismal knowledge of civics.
open in browser PRO version
Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
pdfcrowd.com
Boston 2024, or The Raven Returns John Fish and other organizers failed to provide adequate answers as to how they’ll achieve the Olympics without taxpayer money.
Fraternities, sororities make college life worse Whatever value they might offer is more than compensated for by the surplus of stupid and mean behavior they produce.
US should integrate China into existing institutions Making some room on the global scene would help avoid future diplomatic fiascoes.
open in browser PRO version
Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
pdfcrowd.com
Confirm Loretta Lynch now It’s unconscionable that Senate Republicans should hold up a vote while the congressional body debates the unrelated sex-trafficking bill.
Principles for reselling the Olympics Boston 2024 organizers need to go into political campaign mode.
Richard III shows that history’s verdict isn’t inevitable It is a mistake to assume that today’s adamant consensus will win tomorrow’s approval.
open in browser PRO version
Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
pdfcrowd.com
Boston 2024’s effort needs transparency on donations Is this effort funded primarily by a handful of donors, or does it truly have a broad base of financial support?
Parental leave benefits everyone In a long-overdue move, Boston is set to become the next city to offer paid parental leave to some of its employees.
Olympics referendum should ask the right question It would provide a welcome opportunity for voters to decide whether the gamble is right for Massachusetts. open in browser PRO version
Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
pdfcrowd.com
The artifice and artificiality of Ted Cruz The Texas Republican is the kind of candidate who usually falls flat when the campaign moves to New Hampshire.
Paid parental leave is a must for working families For the City of Boston, supporting working families cannot wait, write Mayor Walsh and City Councilor Wu.
It takes a ‘millennial’ village to get cheap housing in Boston At heart, “millennial villages” are a freshened-up version of age-old forms of inexpensive, open in browser PRO version
Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
pdfcrowd.com
space-efficient housing.
More than 500 years later, a royal burial for Richard III The last of the Plantagenet kings was depicted as a nasty villain, but some historians believe His Late Majesty was an enlightened ruler for his day.
Reform is the best weapon against radical Islam The horrific lynching of an Afghan woman falsely accused of burning the Koran perfectly illustrates the desperate need.
Charlie Baker must deliver on child protection open in browser PRO version
Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
pdfcrowd.com
The governor owes the children of Massachusetts more than lip service.
Learn more
SUBSCRIBE
MY ACCOUNT
CONTACT
SOCIAL
MORE
LOG IN
HELP
ARCHIVES
MANAGE MY ACCOUNT
FAQS
PRIVACY POLICY
DOWNLOAD CUSTOMER SERVICE APP
GLOBE NEWSROOM
GOOGLE+
TERMS OF SERVICE
BOSTON GLOBE INSIDERS
EPAPER EDITION
NEWS IN EDUCATION
ADVERTISE
TERMS OF PURCHASE YOUR AD CHOICES WORK AT BOSTON GLOBE MEDIA
© 2015 BOSTON GLOBE MEDIA PARTNERS, LLC
open in browser PRO version
Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
pdfcrowd.com