Casino Deal Comes Up Snake Eyes

It was the bottom of the ninth inning, and the City of Fall River struck out again. The casino deal that Mayor Flanagan, Senator Menard, and the Fall River Office of Economic Development worked so hard to put together fell apart due to the political wrangling on Beacon Hill. At the end of the day, the attitudes and egos of Governor Deval Patrick and the speaker of the house limited their ability to compromise and get this critical economic development package through for a handful of cities around the Commonwealth.

Governor Patrick has received most of the blame in the local media and from our populace on the casino deal's dying at Beacon Hill. Other political insiders whisper about the speaker of the house's refusal to compromise and his staunch support of slot machines at the racetracks, saying that was ultimately the final nail in the coffin. Others point to a continued pattern on Beacon Hill to turn a deaf ear on the wants and desires of the hard-working people from the SouthCoast. Whatever or whichever it may be, it's another deal gone bad.

Lots of talk, lots of hype, the customary artists' renderings, and the bountiful promises, all coming up empty again. The following are five observations that have piqued my curiosity. I've managed to pull these from the wreckage of this latest casino fiasco in the SouthCoast.

1. Deval getting re-elected (???). Rightfully or wrongfully so, Deval Patrick has taken much of the blame of the deal going bad, especially in the SouthCoast, which I believe cripples his chances of being re-elected the governor of Massachusetts. The SouthCoast has long been a bastien of liberalism and a Democratic stronghold. With a tight, three-way race against Republican Charlie Baker and Independent Tim Cahill, Governor Patrick is going to have to pull around 70% of the vote from the SouthCoast to be able to win this hotly contested gubernatorial battle. Now, I think the chances of him dominating the way he has to in the SouthCoast have dwindled. I can't see the unions around here mobilizing and being as energized and dedicated to getting him re-elected now that the casino deal, which they wanted so badly, has come and gone. I also cannot see the SouthCoast's political leaders and operatives getting behind Deval fully and making sure he wins this region overwhelmingly. If he had given us the casino deal, I think he would have dominated the two challengers. Because he didn't, it could be his death sentence.

2. What happens with the bio park? A lot of effort and energy was blown trying to bring the casino deal here. Supporters of the biopark opposed the casino deal from the very beginning and argued that they had the deal and the land in place for some time and that the state had already committed to the necessary capital improvement for the exits and on-ramps. As soon as the casino deal became front and center, though, the biopark was pushed aside as a priority. The question remains now, what is the viability of the biopark, and if it is still feasible, how quickly can we count on it to create jobs and become the stimulus so many of its supporters claimed it could be? Did we lose the momentum we had for the biopark by putting all our eggs in one basket for the casino? That is the million-dollar question, one that we'll have to wait for to see the answer.

3. Community skepticism. As I've mentioned before, the citizens of the SouthCoast have had their fill of big dreams, bright promises, and wonderful artists' renderings of what the anticipation of these projects' development would entail. We have heard all the rhetoric about developing the waterfront, all the promises of the commuter rail and how it would pump life back into the area, we've danced with the casino deal on multiple occassions now, only to be left alone at midnight when the music stopped. All of these unfulfilled promises have left many in the SouthCoast jaded. Promises, promises, promises - that's all we ever get. The fact of the issue here is that the actual work on the commuter rail hasn't begun yet, and it's going to cost an inordinate amount of money during tough fiscal times. The biopark is at least 10 years away from our getting any of its fruits. The waterfront still looks the same (if not worse), with the eyesore of the Regatta being overrun with weeds and trash. People in the SouthCoast are tired of the smoke and mirrors, and, as a community, we've been left jaded by "them" and their empty promises.

4. Forget the myth of casino gambling being bad. Essentially, in the SouthCoast right now, every convenience store, liquor store, corner store, and bar is, in itself, a defacto casino. We all know what it's like waiting in line at Tedeschi's, trying to buy a gallon of milk, or waiting at our favorite watering hole for a cold beer, only to be behind someone buying scratch tickets, playing the daily numbers, Keno, or any of the other multiple games the Mass Lottery stuffs down our throat every day. There is nothing to stop a hard-working family from blowing his entire paycheck, chasing the million-dollar dream, behind every 20 dollar ticket. Statistically, Fall River and New Bedford are among the highest consumers of Mass lottery, but the money we get in return is only a pittance. Gambling and the lottery are here to stay, and any convenience store or bar can take all your money just as cruelly - and with worse odds. I haven't even begun to talk about illegal sports gambling, online gaming, illegal gambling halls, football cards, office pools, etc. Gambling is ingrained in our culture, and people are going to do it whether it's at at resort destination casino or at the mom-and-pop store down the street.

5. The final observation I think is the most curious. What would an Independent or Republican governor do about a future casino deal in the SouthCoast? Would they be open to the idea as part of some economic development package? Would they try to break the long-lasting Democratic stranglehold on us by being casino-friendly? Traditionally, Independents and Republicans hate to raise capital by raising taxes. Putting casinos in three corners of the state would definitely raise capital without raising taxes. What would a new administration do with the casino bill and the political hot potato it has become? Just wondering.

The casino deal is done, and the governor has rolled snake-eyes. Will it be the political death knell that some people would suggest? If I were Deval Patrick, I wouldn't want to gamble on it.