Jul 28, 2007 11:59 am US/Eastern
Thousands Gather For Middleboro Casino Vote
MIDDLEBORO (WBZ) ―
Voters in Middleboro flocked by the thousands Saturday to vote on a proposed resort casino in their town. The turnout is expected to the largest ever for a town meeting in that community - a turnout so large that the meeting is being held at the high school football stadium.
About five thousand residents turned out for the meeting, which began at 11 a.m. and is expected to last for hours. They brought their lawn chairs and snacks, anticipating a long day.
The meeting started with comments from people on both sides of the issue, followed by the paper ballot vote. The ballots will all be counted immediately, with results expected by Saturday afternoon.
"Whether you are opposed or for what's been happening… It's been pretty impressive -- the discussions that everybody has had," Selectman Marsha Brunelle told WBZ.
The Mashpee Wampanoags have purchased 125 acres of town land, have an option to buy another 200 contiguous acres and have approached another land owner about a 200-acre abutting tract. The proposed casino site would be bounded by Route 44 on the south, Precinct Street on the north, Plymouth Street on the east and Thompson Street on the west.
(View Map Of Project Site)An agreement reached with the town calls for the tribe to pay Middleboro $11 million annually -- although only $7 million is guaranteed -- along with $250 million in infrastructure improvements.
(Read Wampanoag-Middleboro Agreement)State Treasurer Tim Cahill said the town is getting a raw deal - getting too little money out of its deal with the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe.
"The tribe, as well as its financial backers, are going to make hundreds of millions of dollars," Cahill said. "It's a billion-dollar enterprise. It doesn't seem on the face of it that $7 million in exchange for $1 billion in development and revenues and profits is a fair trade for the town."
Middleboro is literally a town divided. A WBZ Fast Track poll of 366 voters shows that 65 percent of voters are in favor the proposed casino. Of those 55 and older, 78 percent are in favor.
(See Complete Poll Results/Fast Track is conducted by Survey USA).
"We're looking at something that is two-thirds the height of the Hancock," said Jim Reynolds, a casino opponent. The casino would literally be in his backyard.
Reynolds is a fifth-generation resident, and says his opposition is beyond seeing a casino on the other side of his back fence. "We just don't see that… We don't see that financially, we certainly don't see it as quality of life. We've got every statistical study we've looked at -- saw spikes in crime."
But supporters say the casino deal is too good to pass up. Brian Giavanoni headed up the town's study group. "The infrastructure improvements the town needs… They're going to be paid for -- regardless of where the money comes from."
(View Highway Design Proposal)Ironically, the opinion of the people of Middleboro is secondary to that of the governor and the legislature. Right now, the type of gambling planned in Middleboro is not legal in Massachusetts. Gov. Deval Patrick has commissioned a panel to study gaming in the state. That report should be done by the end of the summer.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Read Wampanoag-Middleboro Agreement
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