Seven Villages, Janet Joakim

Continued report of this past weekend’s conference……

Throughout the Massachusetts Municipal Association Conference anyone who was directly associated with the Governor shared the message that he first gave during his address at the opening comments.

He is having difficulties getting any of his own initiates approved by the legislature.

One issue he is pushing with passion and fervour is that of casinos and how they will “save” the economy.

The MMA works closely with the Mass Taxpayers Association which does a good job of analyzing issues like the casino proposals from a non-bias perspective.

The proposals allow for limited mitigation for the host communities, and property tax credits for residents who qualify.

But the issue left many of us with questions and real concerns.

The loudest message came from communities that are not slated to host casinos but are close to the targeted locations and will, as understood by lecture rooms full of municipal officials, will most definitely be effected.

Burdens to these neighboring towns, not slated for mitigation monies, that have been analyzed and identified include the impacts on roads, and first responders…… sound familiar?

We heard from many people during question  and answer sessions in workshops and discussions about how these communities are feeling ignored. There is no plan for any mitigation for these communities, no recognitions of the costs that will be associated with the anticipated burdens and no financial relief for these burdens.

The discussion is taking place all around them, and no one will address their legitimate municipal concerns.

Sound familiar? Windfarms that will impact our municipal operations ….?

Just like us, when these communities try to make their concerns known – when they ask to have their questions answered, they are painted into the same corner as those who are simply opposed to casinos. They are put into a box and ignored.

During a luncheon for WEMO  (Women Elected Municipal Officials) Governor Patrick’s Secretary of Labor spoke about the initiatives she and her department were working on, and focused on the “promises” of casinos. She talked about soup kitchens and shelters and these casinos giving jobs to those who aren’t working now.

But the questions we all ask are, if are there really no jobs for the people who are homeless or those in need of soup kitchens then why do we see so many immigrants working these types of jobs now? The casino plans do not involve affordable housing designed for those who are homeless and not working. 

The idea that the administration would use soup kitchen’s and homeless shelters to illustrate the kinds of needs these casinos would fill, should make us all pause and question the viability of the whole idea.

COME ON! The reason we are losing the working middle and lower class in this state is not as much the lack of jobs as the cost of living and, according the the Bluestone report, the fact that our local cities and towns are not offering the kinds of services people want, because our state has cut and cut  and cut our local funding, dramatically, for cities and towns!

Municipalities primary source of funding, property taxes, are constrained by prop 2 1/2 here in Massachusetts.  Lottery sales, another source of school and municipal funding that is supposed to be directed to cities and towns, are down significantly and not expected to reverse any time soon. 

According to the Governor’s reports, casinos would provide an average of $200 in property tax rebates to homeowners, but not increase the local municipalities budgets. 

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Association provides what they say is non-biased reporting of actual tax impacts of issues  - According to the Mass Taxpayers report regarding Casinos:

The loudest and most consistent complaint we have heard from our fellow municipal leaders was that unless you are supportive, unless you are with the governor, concerns about issues like casinos and windfarms and their impacts on our municipal operations are not recognized.

We are throwing chips into the wind.

I have to believe that this state is about to make some huge mistakes in order to find quick fixes to problems that have been growing and festering for years.

We need to take a few steps back and take a deep breath. Slow down.

Once be bring casinos into the state, we will change the character of this state forever. Will Cape Cod lose precious tourism dollars? Will the economic impacts to the surrounding communities be recognized and considered?

Once we construct 130 400+ foot wind towners off the coast of cape cod and the islands we will never be able to retrieve the precious resources we have lost. Are there alternatives that will do less damage? Should we consider non-profit alternatives? Would such alternatives recognize the serious municipal concerns that Cape Wind’s developer wants to ignore?

The promise of “jobs” will mean more people coming in to this state to work for these industries. Windmills will not provide work for Cape Codders. When there are public meetings asking for input to these preliminary reports, buses from out of town show up with representatives from labor unions who want the work building these windmills. Some are from off Cape, the rest are from out of state. My husband belongs to a local labor union whose members would not be hired to do this work, because the local he works for is based in West Roxbury, the local that covers Cape Cod?
It is based in Rhode Island!

Our state is on the verge of changing forever.

Who benefits?

Who loses?

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