July 03–A frustrated Mayor Martin J. Walsh yesterday didn’t rule out suing the Massachusetts Gaming Commission after it denied his request to delay awarding the coveted Greater Boston casino license until after a November vote on a possible repeal of the gaming law, and he said the city’s total casino-related expenses could run into the “millions.”
“Our attorneys are looking at what the next step will be,” Walsh told the Herald. Asked whether that step could include suing the commission, the mayor said, “Potentially.”
“I think the Gaming Commission is very shortsighted here,” he said.
“This was an opportunity for us to save the taxpayers a lot of money here and allow us the opportunity to have a real discussion around what the voters of Massachusetts want. But again, pretty much not to my surprise, they took the action they took today.”
Walsh said the city already has spent “hundreds of thousands of dollars” and when asked if he expected the tab to rise to millions he replied, “Absolutely.”
The mayor would not say whether he is less inclined now to go to arbitration with Wynn Resorts, which wants to build a casino in Everett, or Mohegan Sun, which wants to build in Revere, over how much money Boston is entitled to as a surrounding community.
Eugene O’Flaherty, the city’s corporation counsel, argued that if the commission did not postpone awarding a casino license until after voters go to the polls Nov. 4, Boston would “suffer irreparable harm” in terms of time and money spent.
“The public interest is served by people having their say,” O’Flaherty added.
Thomas Frongillo, another attorney for the city, told the commission Wynn, Mohegan Sun and their host communities “want you to issue a license to influence the November vote.”
But representatives from both companies and both communities disagreed. And so did the commission.
“How does more information do irreparable harm (to voters)?” Commissioner Enrique Zuniga asked O’Flaherty.
“It’s putting the cart before the horse,” O’Flaherty answered.
But Commissioner James McHugh argued that if a license is designated in September, as planned, “it may energize voters. I don’t see how it skews them. … I think everyone would benefit from knowing what the end game is.”