On to the BOS [Board of Selectmen] meeting. I don't know how to describe it. It was a presentation designed to sell the agreement and discredit the opposition.
I was very disappointed in Dennis Whittlesey. He was obtuse and evasive to specific and simple questions. [Apparently retained to represent the Town of Middleborough and its citizenry on the matter of a Mashpee Wampanoag casino in their community but clearly an advocate for a Middleborough Casino].
In an unbelievable exchange, Rich Young asked Whittlesey (and Selectman Adam Bond) if they knew what the average casino hotel comp rate was. The comp rate is the amount of rooms that are given out for free for promotions and other reasons. This of course will affect the 4% we get from room taxes since free rooms are not included. When Whittlesey didn't know the answer. Rich told them the amount of rooms that will be subject to the 4% tax could be as little as 10-32%, Whittlesey accused Rich of getting the information off of the CERA website.
CERA is a group that opposes Indian sovereignty and has nothing to do with gambling or details of gambling industry hotel data. The opposition has been trying to connect us with CERA and thereby paint us being involved with a group that is regarded as racist by Indian tribes.
It was an unbelievably transparent attack on Rich and the group.
I had 3 questions I wanted answered - I got the answer to one of them. The other two were not answered and I was finally silenced by Ms. Brunelle.
The three questions were:
1. The tribe pays 2 million for new police and EMS including salary and training. I wanted to verify that this 2 million dollar "benefit" becomes a 2 million dollar "cost" when the facility comes online. At this point, Adam attacked my credibility - telling everyone that I would be against the casino no matter how much money was offered. I think I actually saw Ruth G. wince at this point. I hearby publicly admit that there is no amount of money that would make me comfortable with exposing my fellow townspeople to the ravages of gambling addiction and accompanying social damage that goes along with a gambling casino.
2. I wanted a list of communities who were forced to have casinos even after they challenged the trust process. It was bordering on impossible to decipher to the rambling answer Whittlesey provided - but I believe that he couldn't answer the question. Despite a second attempt at asking it.
3. I asked how much money we would have gotten in last agreement - the Whittlesey agreement that was rejected on July 3, 2007. Again the question was not answered and I was silenced by Ms. Brunelle.
It's nice to see that the BOS is consistent in it's treatment of the unwashed masses who dare ask salient questions. Same old, same old.
We went up against the pro-casino's best and brightest [including attorney Dennis J. Whittlesey of the Dickinson Wright law firm] and had them stymied and flummoxed with simple straightforward questions. And we weren't even trying - just trying to get information so we can do an honest evaluation of the agreement.
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