The hearing of an appeal of an environmental permit given to the Wynn Boston Harbor by the Department of Environmental Protection began last week with a review of allegations by Somerville Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone that the billion casino will impose environmental costs on surrounding cities, such as his city.
Shortly before the hearing began, the mayor sounded confident and combative. He told the Boston Herald: “We’re ready to go, we’re ready to put our case forward, and whatever will happen will happen. We’ll go in there to make an argument, we believe in our argument.”
A Wynn attorney subjected an expert maritime witness provided by Curtatone who claimed that the casino would greatly increase traffic on the Mystic River to a long cross-examination last week.
During the three-hour cross-examination attorneys for both Wynn and the state DEP attacked Thomas Hill, a marine surveyor for his testimony that 10 percent of the region’s boaters will visit the casino, which is being built along the waterfront of the river.
Attorney Tony Starr, representing Wynn, asked “You didn’t perform any analysis to determine that 10 percent of the New England market intended to go to the Wynn casino, did you? You have no data in your report to support that 10 percent figure, do you?”
Hill replied that the number was a reference, not an estimate. “It is a significant change in the environment of the river. Whether it is 1 percent or 10 percent, it is a significant number of trips.”
Somerville’s appeal of the Chapter 91 environmental permit has slowed up the casino by at least six months. Curtatone insists that the license does not adequately address the increased water traffic, which will, he claims, force the city to add a marine nit to the police department. Other claims in the appeal, related to traffic, have already been thrown out of the appeal.
A former DEP commissioner, who is an expert witness for Somerville, told the appeals court, “This project has … benefits, but it has detriments. I think the department did not weigh those properly.”
The hearing officer, Jane Rothchild has instructed both side to file final briefs by June 21, and says she expects to rule on the appeal 30 days later. Her decision must be approved by Martin Suuberg, commissioner of the department.
If the mayor doesn’t get the result he likes, he could still appeal to the state Superior Court, but the building would go forward in the meantime.
Curtatone has hinted that he would be open to negotiating a settlement, although Wynn has said that he is thorough paying settlements to anyone.
Curtatone told the Herald, “Nobody’s called me … My door’s been open; I’ve made that pretty clear to them and we’ve said it before, this is not about stopping the casino. This is about mitigating the negative impacts on our community.”
He added, “We’re abutting a major environmental justice zone; this area is surrounded by this transportation infrastructure, much of it is not sufficient to meet the needs of a growing urban region today, and although Steve Wynn’s project is not the cause of the negative traffic conditions that we see in the region today, it will certainly compound them. They should have gone through a thorough environmental review prior to a permit being issued and they should have to truly and accurately mitigate the negative impacts of that project.”
Because the permit in question is for the waterfront, almost building can proceed until the appeal is exhausted.
During the delays imposed by the appeal Wynn has engaged in some public relations gamesmanship, cancelling the April groundbreaking ceremony, bringing out construction workers who are currently out of work for a photo op, and encouraging Everett Mayor Carlo to hold a press conference in the empty lot to attack his fellow mayor, whom he accused of engaging in “politics at its worst.”
So far this year the city of Somerville has spent almost $400,000 in legal fees fighting the Wynn casino. That compares to $1.9 million that Boston’s Mayor Martin J. Walsh spent fighting the casino, a fight that ended in January when Walsh and Wynn announced a settlement.
New Lobbying Force
If the experience of other states is any guide, the two commercial casino resorts, one slots parlor and single Indian casino are likely to become major lobbying players in the Bay State, according to political observers.
That means they will be in a position to protect their turf, lobby for changes to regulations, and try for a competitive advantage over casinos in other states.
By 2018 all three casino resorts are expected to be up and running.
According to Denis P. Rudd, who teaches marketing at Robert Morris University, interviewed by the Boston Globe, “Casinos are a force to be reckoned with in Pennsylvania and they will be in Massachusetts, too. Casinos always want something and they let you know about it.”
Probably first on their list of priorities will be to try to get their 25 percent commercial rates cut to make them more competitive against the 17 percent that the Mashpees’ Taunton casino will pay.
Steve Wynn, who is building the largest of the commercial casinos, the $1.7 billion Wynn Boston Harbor has in the past been very critical of the higher rate that commercial casinos must pay, calling it “folly.” So he is likely to agitate for a lower rate. He also argues that Bay State casinos will be competing with a handicap against Connecticut, where two Indian casinos operate.
Clyde Barrow, a University of Texas professor who is an expert on New England gaming told the Globe “A 1 percent change in the tax rate can mean tens of millions of dollars to a casino.”
It won’t be surprising to see erstwhile competitors join forces to try to drive tax rates down, says Paul DeBole, a professor of political science at Lasell College who specializes in gaming law. He told the Globe, “When they get closer to opening, I think you will see them band together for some preferential tax treatment,” he said. “Once you have a payroll of 10,000 people, your voice gets heard pretty quickly on Beacon Hill.”
In fact, it is standard operating procedure for a gaming company that is even thinking of entering a state market to hire the top lawyers and lobbyists in that state first.
In anticipation of that, Wynn has retained former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld, and a former aide, while the Mashpees have retained former U.S. Rep. Bill Delahunt. But lobbying expenditures have been steady for the last three years: with $3 million spent on gaming lobbying.
Tax rates and tourism aren’t the only interests for gaming companies. They are also likely to try to be allowed to expand into sports betting and online gaming.
Already state politicians are battening down the hatches in preparation for a storm of lobbying by gaming interests. Rep. Peter V. Kocot commented last week, “Casinos are big international businesses and like other big businesses they are always looking to get an edge. You always have companies that want changes in the law.” He isn’t sympathetic to Wynn’s blandishments, and says that the casino mogul knew what the rates were when he applied for a license.
Casinos also keep a close watch on tourism and transportation, any issue that effects how many people come into the state. As one gaming consultant observed, “It’s an industry that has a huge stake in the economic well-being of the state.”
And vice versa. As Robert DeSalvio, president of Wynn Boston Harbor, told the Globe, “As the budget debate continues on Beacon Hill, people from the State House to Main Street are taking note and realizing just how much the jobs, tax revenue, and local spending that Wynn Boston Harbor generates will mean.”
Although the legislature is subject to intense lobbying, the five-member commission that regulates the industry was created to be corruption free. At the same time state law forbids gaming companies from make campaign contributions.
Play My Way
An innovative and groundbreaking program to fight gambling addiction has been implemented at Plainridge Park slots parlor in Plainville.
Called “Play My Way,” the voluntary program is embedded in the casino’s slot machines. It reminds players who sign up for it that they are approaching self-imposed limits. It is designed more to prevent players from becoming addicts rather than to fight existing addictions, according to Marlene Warner, executive director of the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling, which partnered with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to implement the program.
If it is successful at Plainridge, it could be required at the state’s other casinos as they come on line.
“It’s truly a prevention tool,” Warner told the Associated Press. “We want people to keep gambling in a way that’s healthy and safe for them, so that it doesn’t rise to that problematic level.”
Plainridge Park is a so-called racino, combining a harness-racing facility with a slots parlor. The new program will be implanted in all 1,250 machines.
The First Light Casino & Resort being built by the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe in Taunton is not subject to the commission, however it is reviewing the program to see if it might use it when the casino opens next year.
The state’s casino operators and the American Gaming Association were initially skeptical about the program, arguing that such programs have not proved successful in nations such as Canada and Sweden. However their reservations were allayed after conversations with the commission.
Association spokesman Christopher Moyer commented last week, “Any responsible gaming tool should be targeted to assist the small minority of players that may confront irresponsible play without harming the entertainment experience for nearly all players who enjoy our entertainment experience responsibly.” He added, “We’re optimistic this tool will help to achieve this goal.”
The program does not force a player to quit a machine, but does remind the player as their self-chosen limits approach and are reached.
