"In reversal, Holyoke mayor backs casino plan" by Mark Arsenault | Globe Staff, November 24, 2012
Reversing his steadfast anticasino position, Holyoke Mayor Alex B. Morse plans to announce on Monday that he supports a proposal to develop a gambling resort in his economically struggling city, intensifying the battle for the most sought-after casino license in the state.
Wasn't he elected on an anticasino platform?
“I think we’re all realizing that casinos are coming to Western Mass., and Holyoke cannot sit on the sidelines,” Morse said in an interview to discuss his stunning pivot on the issue.
Morse, 23, who campaigned for mayor in 2011 on an anticasino platform and defeated incumbent Elaine Pluta, now backs a plan to build a casino resort just north of downtown. The location, Mountain Park, is an outdoor concert venue at the site of a defunct amusement park off Interstate 91 on the side of Mount Tom.
The park’s owner, Holyoke resident and businessman Eric Suher, told the Globe he is negotiating to develop a casino on the land in partnership with Len and Mark Wolman. The Wolmans are top executives of Waterford Group, a Connecticut company that was a partner in developing the Mohegan Sun casino.
Something about that group I just don't like.
City voters will have the final say on whether Holyoke will entertain a casino — no gambling proposal can be licensed unless the project wins their endorsement in a referendum.
I'm $ure the results will be rigged and the odds $tacked (just like at the casino).
Three prominent casino operators — Ameristar, MGM Resorts International, and Penn National Gaming — have proposed major gambling resorts in Springfield, each estimated by the developers to cost $800 million or more. Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno has established a citywide competition to whittle the number of projects to one or two. Downtown Springfield is about 12 miles south on Route 91 from the proposed Holyoke site.
They just raised you.
The current operators of the Mohegan Sun also intend to pursue the sole resort casino license in Western Massachusetts, with a project planned for Palmer.
Despite the protests?
Related:
"A Palmer casino development group filed suit Thursday against Springfield businessman Peter Picknelly and Penn National Gaming, contending that Picknelly’s 2008 investment in the Palmer casino effort prohibits him from joining Penn in a competing project. Picknelly, who has maintained he is no longer involved in the Palmer project, is a partner in a proposed $807 million Penn National casino resort in Springfield. The lawsuit by Northeast Gaming Group says that Picknelly invested $500,000 in the effort to bring a casino to Palmer, in return for a share of Northeast’s profits if it is successful. The suit accuses Picknelly of breaching the deal. Picknelly and Penn National said in December that Picknelly has no obligation to any other casino effort."
Also see: For two casino groups, a dispute over investor
Coming whether the town likes it or not?
At the time Morse won the mayoral job, Hard Rock International was planning a Holyoke casino at the Wyckoff Country Club, and Morse’s election was seen as a blow to those plans. After failing to persuade him to support the project, the company moved on. Hard Rock considered entering the Springfield casino sweepstakes but did not meet the city’s deadline for a proposal. The company continues to look for land in Massachusetts and has been linked to a possible casino site in Everett.
Morse remained opposed as recently as this fall. In a commentary published in October by CommonWealth magazine, Morse argued “a casino in Holyoke would not aid in our economic rebirth, but would ultimately undermine the effort.”
But his position began evolving after Suher quietly shared his Mountain Park proposal. “The more I heard about the specific plan Eric had outlined, the more it resonated,” Morse said.
The mayor expects some supporters will be upset with his about-face. In a copy of remarks he plans to deliver in Holyoke on Monday, Morse included a line attributed to economist John Maynard Keynes: “When the facts change, I change my mind.” He urged supporters to “stick with us.”
Morse said he believes his city could be hurt by a Springfield casino, which could take customers from Holyoke businesses.
“The fact that, inevitably, a casino will be coming to our region does not mean we should settle for what has so far been offered,” the mayor’s prepared remarks say.
In addition to a gambling floor, the Mountain Park proposal calls for a 350-room hotel, convention center, performance amphitheaters, and restaurants. Morse said the proposal would also provide opportunities for outdoor recreation, such as hiking and canoeing around Mount Tom....
Suher said the site offers an ideal location for a casino resort: “Off Route 91 and also tucked away, so we believe it will not harm any neighborhoods or downtown Holyoke.”
--more--"
Casino opponents in Holyoke are stunned and infuriated by Mayor Alex B. Morse’s reversal of his longstanding anti-casino positions, and promise a fierce political fight as they renew their resistance to a gambling resort in their city.
“This was a calculated betrayal on the mayor’s part,” said resident John P. Epstein, a staunch casino opponent who supported Morse’s 2011 campaign for mayor. “He would not have been elected without the efforts of the anti-casino citizens in Holyoke. We have been caught completely off guard.”
Morse was elected last year at age 22 on an anti-casino platform, beating incumbent Mayor Elaine Pluta, who favored bringing a gambling resort to Holyoke.
Imagine how she feels.
The casino issue was one of the strongest contrasts between the candidates, and many members of the anti-casino groups in the city campaigned on Morse’s behalf....
After discussing his pivot on the issue with the Globe for a story that ran over the weekend, Morse formally announced his new position in a speech Monday at Holyoke City Hall. He faced heckling from anti-casino residents upset about his U-turn....
They bring it on themselves.
Holyoke’s City Council president, Kevin Jourdain, said more than 100 people showed up to hear Morse’s remarks, and that many were furious. “If I could have a dollar for every time he was called a liar, I’d be a millionaire,” Jourdain said in an interview....
Casino opponents, who thought they had defeated the casino industry with Morse’s election, are steeling themselves for another long, hard political battle against well-funded proponents. “We’re very disappointed, very concerned,” said Lyn Horan, a member of the group Citizens for a Better Holyoke. Casino interests “will use a divide-and-conquer strategy, which will be damaging forever.”
--more--"
I'll bet he's not so happy now. What they should do is legalize drugs; that way Holyoke would prosper because so much of the s*** comes from down there.
In Holyoke, a Shakespearean saga unfolds
Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse’s too-sudden shift on casinos
In another reversal, Holyoke mayor drops pursuit of casino
Called his bluff.
"Police find loaded gun during traffic stop
A traffic stop early Sunday led to the discovery of a loaded handgun that might have recently been fired, according to Massachusetts State Police. A State Police trooper stopped a gold Honda Accord at about 2 a.m. Sunday for failing to stop at a red light on Resnic Boulevard in Holyoke. The trooper noticed the barrel of a gun peeking out from under the thigh of the front-seat passenger. The driver sped off and crashed, and when the trooper caught up, the driver and two passengers were not in the car, police said. The trooper and a Holyoke police officer found a loaded 9-millimeter handgun and several used casings, which the officers described as having “the fresh scent of being recently fired,” according to State Police."
"11 arrested in drug investigation
Authorities have arrested 11 Western Massachusetts men on federal indictments accusing them of distributing illegal drugs. The US attorney’s office in Boston said Friday that the arrests came after a drug task force investigation of heroin and cocaine trafficking in Holyoke. Two of the men also face illegal firearms charges. Ten of the men arrested are from Holyoke and one is from Springfield. An FBI affidavit filed in the case alleges that one of those charged, Francisco Diaz, 34, was a local leader of the La Familia street gang who headed a drug distribution operation in South Holyoke (AP)."
And yet the government is always so worried about medical marijuana and potential for abuse. Kinda tells you which drug industries the intelligence agencies are invested in, doesn't it?
And yet the government is always so worried about medical marijuana and potential for abuse. Kinda tells you which drug industries the intelligence agencies are invested in, doesn't it?
