It is difficult to fathom Boston Mayor Marty Walsh’s recent maneuvering over Greater Boston’s only casino license. Walsh — a pro-jobs, pro-union, pro-casino guy — is digging in for a prolonged fight with the state Gaming Commission over his claim that Boston qualifies as a “host community” for both of the dueling casino proposals. The ones that are in, yes, Everett and Revere.
If he is successful, and East Boston and Charlestown win the right to vote on the casino proposals, it means neither is likely ever to get out of the ground.
If he is unsuccessful, it could mean a protracted legal battle and delayed construction.
Can either of those results really be what Walsh has in mind?
True, Walsh is dealing with fired-up constituents in Eastie (which rejected an earlier casino proposal on the Suffolk Downs site, before it was shifted to Revere land) and Charlestown (which is freaking out about traffic from the Everett proposal).
And he may just be using brass-knuckle tactics to secure the best mitigation agreement from the deep-pocketed casino developers than he would if Boston were a mere “surrounding” community, without the leverage of a local referendum.
But if that’s the case Walsh has a rather unusual style of negotiating. He has sicced a lawyer on the state Gaming Commission, arguing that the panel empowered by lawmakers (including Walsh, when he was a state rep) to make nearly every decision about the state’s new casino industry lacks the power to decide who qualifies as a host community.
Lawmakers did not foresee (nor, perhaps, should they have) that there could be a debate over the community where a casino is “located.” So they did not provide explicit guidance in the enabling legislation on how such a determination might be made.
But the Commission is on solid legal ground when it claims clear authority to make this decision. Boston’s dilatory antics aside — and yes, this foot-dragging preceded the Walsh administration — commissioners should move as swiftly as possible to resolve this issue. Thousands of jobs are at stake, which is something we’d assume Walsh would have at the top of his mind.