Call:
"Casino foes prevail in Foxborough vote; 2 selectmen elected on antigaming stand" by Mark Arsenault and Michele Morgan Bolton | Globe staff | Globe Correspondent, May 08, 2012
FOXBOROUGH - Casino opponents swept the town selectmen’s race on Monday in a stark public rebuke to Wynn Resorts and the casino developer’s plans to build a billion-dollar gambling resort across from Gillette Stadium.
Though the casino proposal from Las Vegas entrepreneur Steve Wynn was not on the ballot, the issue dominated the campaign, and the race came to be seen as a referendum on the project. The vote shifts the five-member board further against the project, with four selectmen opposed to the casino and just one willing to entertain more information on it.
Wow, four of a kind. Good hand.
Monday’s election was the first time local voters have weighed in on a
casino proposal since Massachusetts’ expanded gambling law passed last
year. The voting margins seemed to confirm academic studies that suggest
casino opponents are highly motivated voters who turn out in great
percentages....
A little too motivated perhaps?
I'm proud of you, Foxborough.
Casino opponents now plan to appeal to Kraft to consider the vote and pull his support for the project.
“I would think Mr. Kraft and Mr. Wynn would take a look at these results,’’ said Challenger Virginia M. Coppola, a former state representative and a casino opponent [who] was elected to the board by topping all candidates with 3,608 votes.
Four of a kind vs. a pair. Who wins that one?
The casino issue drove residents to the polls in what is typically a sleepy municipal contest. Turnout Monday was 6,196, or 58 percent, of Foxborough’s registered voters. By comparison, just 1,876 participated in the town’s 2011 annual election.
Early in the day, voters such as Mary MacDonald had trouble finding parking as residents overwhelmed the Ahern Middle School on Mechanic Street, the town’s sole polling place. MacDonald said her votes for Selectwoman Lorraine Brue, a casino opponent and consistent critic of the proposal, and Coppola were a direct result of her animosity toward the casino proposal.
“Under no circumstances do I want to see a casino in this town,’’ MacDonald said. “I have no interest in hearing Wynn’s proposal. I don’t want to be bought.’’
Related: Foxborough casino foes get most financial backing
Just did(?).
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So whadda ya' got, Steve?
"Steve Wynn drops casino proposal; Decision follows Foxborough vote" by Mark Arsenault | Globe Staff, May 09, 2012
Casino developer Steve Wynn abandoned plans Tuesday to build a Foxborough gambling resort on land owned by Robert Kraft, a decision that reshuffles the competition for the sole Greater Boston casino license by eliminating a top-tier competitor.
We still want to see your hand.
Wynn’s retreat - which leaves Suffolk Downs the leading contender in the Greater Boston region - was announced a day after anticasino candidates swept the Foxborough selectmen race. That vote marked the first ballot-box defeat for a would-be casino developer in Massachusetts.
The vote also underscores the difficulties in locating a casino resort within the most populous region.
Interesting. Same odds when you are pulling that lever.
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Foxborough voters effectively ended Wynn’s casino bid on Monday by filling the two selectman seats on the ballot with anticasino candidates: one an incumbent and the other a challenger who replaced a more casino-friendly selectman. The vote shifted the five-member board further against the proposal, with four members opposed.
No casino company can apply for a state license unless voters of the host community endorse the proposal in a referendum. And although Wynn had previously vowed to push for a referendum vote regardless of the results of the vote in the selectmen race, even supporters of the project agreed Tuesday that pressing on despite the overwhelming vote would be quixotic.
“With Monday’s election, we believe the citizens of Foxborough have spoken,’’ said the Kraft Group, in a statement. “As we originally committed, we have heard them and respect their collective voice. With that democratic statement . . . we will be suspending our efforts regarding a destination resort development.’’
That is a LITTLE DIFFERENT than ABANDONING THEM, Globe!!!
WTF!!!????
Wynn’s company, in a statement Tuesday, was equally resigned. “Yesterday’s election demonstrates the community’s will and Wynn Resorts respects the outcome,’’ the company said.
Opponents in Foxborough celebrated their victory, and quickly extended an olive branch to Kraft, the town’s largest taxpayer.
“We are incredibly grateful to the citizens of Foxborough for coming out in force and also incredibly appreciative of Mr. Kraft for listening to residents,’’ said Stephanie Crimmins, an organizer of the citizens group No Foxborough Casino. “We thank him for his generosity and look forward to a continued, productive relationship going forward.’’
Supporters took the defeat hard....
Kraft declined to be interviewed Tuesday.
Spokesmen for Wynn declined to comment further, leaving unanswered the question of whether Wynn would choose another site in Massachusetts or focus on projects elsewhere, as he had suggested he would do.
In a March interview with the Globe, Wynn said he would leave Massachusetts if Foxborough turned him down. “I’m not going to go to another location,’’ he said. “To hell with it. It’s either there or it’s nowhere.’’
See: Sunday Globe Special: A Real Wynner of an Interview
Roger Gros, publisher of Global Gaming Business magazine, doubts Wynn will reconsider Massachusetts, noting that he has walked away from other states, such as Pennsylvania, when his plans hit a roadblock.
“He loses interest in these things when he loses a round like this,’’ said Gros.
He FOLDS!
Wynn also recently had another casino approved in the lucrative China market and is locked in a messy boardroom legal fight with a former partner. “I wouldn’t expect him to find another site right now, while he has so much else on his plate.’’
Related: Asia is Where the Action Is
That's where all the money went.
Wynn, 70, a billionaire, art collector, and one of the most prolific developers of high-end hotels on the Las Vegas Strip, thought he had the perfect location in Massachusetts, and the perfect partner in Kraft, a celebrity developer heralded for philanthropy as well as for his team’s Super Bowl championships....
The hostile reaction from local townspeople and some local officials seemed to puzzle Wynn, who has spent his adult life in and around the gambling business. He plied residents with letters and a video DVD promoting the benefits of the resort: thousands of jobs, up to $15 million per year in local taxes, and a place to shop, dine, and see shows. He even promised a skating rink.
“You’ve got to have a reason to be against it, theoretically,’’ Wynn said in March.
In the end, Foxborough was unwilling to risk changing the community, despite the potential reward.
The divisive casino debate split the town, tested friendships, turned public meetings into shout-fests, and even led to an alleged death threat against a town selectman.
I told you to deal me out, Globe.
And he is going to get even:
Kraft firm can publicly speak to Foxborough board in land dispute
Foxborough manager sees bid to fire him
Kraft dispute prompts Foxborough squabble
“I’m hoping the town’s relationship with the Kraft Group gets better,’’ said Dan Flynn, who campaigned for the casino as part of the group Jobs for Foxboro. “Hopefully they can develop that property and there will be jobs there.’’
I doubt it unless the guys get their way.
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