Friday, February 13, 2009

Hope and a Prayer

The question was raised today - does new Mashpee Wampanoag Leadership give renewed hope to the pro-casino lobby at the Statehouse for a Tribal casino in Massachusetts?

You know, the same pro-casino lobby who'd like, once again, to feed this monumental cow patty of inevitability to the citizens of the Commonwealth in the hopes of weakening opposition to slots.

To which I would reply, "Have you been listening?"

Last year I wrote:


New era or not, nothing has changed to alter the Land in Trust process except that New Regulations, born from two decades of abuse by Tribes and casino investors, WERE passed in August 2008, making this supposedly 'done deal' more like a dead one.

And I know some of you may disagree, but if it comes down to it (which I highly doubt) I believe that a really good lawyer (not one from Michigan, or one with an upcoming gig at CasinoFest '09 and certainly not one chosen by the Middleboro Board of Selectmen) could find a way, based on new information, to set a match to the IGA.

Which would make a dead deal deader still.

So, if the pro-casino crowd up at the Statehouse really thinks Glenn Marshall's exit and a fresh faced new Tribal leadership makes a casino seem as much, if not more of a done deal as it did last year, it only demonstrates their complete and continued lack of research and understanding, as well as their pathetic dependence on lies in the absence of a compelling argument or real leadership.

But what else can you expect from people who are convinced you can win big with slots.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

That new Mashpee leadership might not be the leadership for too long. Questions were raised about voter irregularities that the FBI was investigating. Many of the members are grumbling as well.
And, of course, we haven't seen the last of the investigation and indictments.

carverchick said...

I have heard that it is the same corrupt tribal council, only different names. I guess only time will tell if that is true or not. I am sure Glenn will be happy to provide any information about the new tribal leaders, if any, to the feds to ensure his oh so gracious deal.

Either way, it doesn't matter. There will be no Mashpee Tribal casino in Middleboro. They have failed to prove their significant historical ties to the land - not to mention the endless list of other flaws and missing links - so their application will be denied. The sad thing is, the new council probably doesn't realize this since they haven't even seen the application, and here we have had it for well over a year.

Maybe they can get together with the Middleboro BoS and read it together.

Gladys Kravitz said...

He he he... Good one, Carverchick.

Anonymous said...

Pardon, Ladies!

But if we're doing a "group read" maybe the BOS and the Tribe could start with the IGA and IGRA.

Ya think?

Gladys Kravitz said...

Do the esteemed members of the Board read? You know, other than the Enquirer, TV Guide, Highlights, Cat Fancy...

Pitiful.

Anonymous said...

Read? Read?

You're kidding of course. Right?

When the BOS discussed public records, Spatero said that the town should stick to its policy. Huh?

Spatero is so dumb he hasn't read 'town policy' to know public records aren't included. Please tell Spatero it's state law.

And 4 of them have violated ethics stuff, so they haven't read that and it's available online.

And personal conversations to conduct town business seems to violate the open meeting law that they received a copy and signed for when they took office. That means they haven't read open meeting either. Marsha has violated it in the past and she knows better.

Doesn't anyone have a problem with conducting town business behind closed doors? We're back to secret meetings, private conversations and conducting town business with phone calls to someone who is about to be indicted.

This isn't about the casino. This is about violating the law and ignoring town business. That's what got us in the hole.

Voters need to wake up and consider their votes in April. This needs to change. But write a few letters too.

Anonymous said...

Does the impending bankruptcy of Trump casinos give pause to state reps?

Anonymous said...

While I was looking up information on the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law, something struck me as very interesting.

On more than one web site, the only example they give of a violation of the law is the court case, "Plymouth County District Attourney vs. Middleboro Board of Selectman" from 1983.

So when it is mentioned to Marsha Brunelle that the BOS is violating the Open Meeting Law, she can say,....yes I believe we did that back in 1983.

The law states that the Disctrict Attourney in the county where the violation took place would be the one to investigate and prosecute. In 1983 the complaint was brought by a newspaper reporter and the Plymouth County D.A. Investigated and filed charges.
If folks still have a letter left in them, maybe they can pour their heart out to the Plymouth County District Attourney.

Sorry, but I don't have that address on hand to post for everybody while writing this.

Gladys Kravitz said...

Good work, Smoking Owl!

I should have included the address. Might help. Couldn't hurt. Just send a copy of the letter you sent the AG...

Timothy Cruz
Plymouth County District Attorney's Office
32 Belmont Street
PO Box 1665,
Brockton, MA 02301


Interestingly enough, the web site contains this quote:

"Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights."

Thomas Jefferson to Richard Price, January 8, 1789

Anonymous said...

As a point of interest, if the County DA refuses to prosecute an Open Meeting Law violation, as he has in the past, the state's AG can.

Gladys Kravitz said...

All the more reason to cc, forward, copy and mail those letters!

Anonymous said...

The following 3 members of the BOS were also members of Middleboro Friends: Marsha Brunelle, Adam Bond, Mimi Duphily.
3 members of the BOS constitutes a quorum, a very precarious situation.
At the meeting of Middleboro Friends at which they were discussing the "Halloween Party," they were discussing the use of the Town Hall Auditorium.
When the subject came up at the BOS meeting, Marsha Brunelle very quickly interjected that she had arrived late because she is fully aware of the violation of the Open Meeting Law.
Since it was a private meeting, we'll never know if Marsha legitimately arrived late and we'll never know fully what was discussed.


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