All Politics is Local

Let me start off by saying I have been opposed to the concept of town government such as practiced in New England for a long time.  For instance, I do not think each town needs to have a school committee that decides a curriculum.  Most people should be learning about the same things in math, science, English, social studies, etc.  The money saved from employing a superintendent and subsequent administration for each town is significant and redundant.  You could probably roll up this function to the county level and get very similar results at added cost savings and reduced bureaucracy.  But I think last night's Board of Selectmen meeting showed me not how the majority rules, but how a minority (Foxboro) is protected from the whims of the majority (MA) by this structure of government.

Disclaimer: I have been to my fair share of casinos, both in Las Vegas, the US, and in many parts of the world.  I have been to Wynn Las Vegas and Wynn Macau and like both properties quite a bit for what they offer in terms of service, style, food, and gaming.  However, I have severe reservations about opening a casino in Foxboro.  

1. Property values will probably decrease.  I have not heard of any case where the opening of a casino in an established area increased property values and I expect that to be the case here.  In addition, the 30% foreclosure rate of Las Vegas does not look appealing.  Yes, that happened in CA, FL, and AZ also, but the casino industry is especially cyclical, so there would be more volatility.
2. Increased traffic.  While most of Foxboro would not be directly affected, traffic on Rt. 1, 95, and 495 would increase.  It would be different from Patriots games or summer concerts, which have 67,000 people coming and going at once and a schedule that is known in advance.  Nevertheless, you would expect a steady increase in cars, buses, and possible public transportation with a casino/resort.  Holidays would see a bump in traffic such as New Year’s Eve along with any concerts/conventions hosted at the resort.  In addition, any ancillary revenue expected by local business is probably not realistic.  When you get off the highway to drive to Foxwoods, you do not see many people stopping at local businesses much.  If anything, many businesses (Custy’s, Tim Horton’s, ‘Round the Clock Diner)  have closed along the corridor leading to Foxwoods over the years since people just go to the end destination and spend all of their money there.
3. For the overall state, it seems to make more sense to locate such a facility near Boston, maybe near the developing waterfront area around the convention center.  If the goal is to attract more business to MA, you want to be near where business visitors need to be, i.e. Boston for meetings.  It would also be near the airport.  With the Renaissance, Westin, and Seaport Hotels, you have 1600 rooms.  With another casino and another large hotel, you could have a centralized location that could accommodate many different conventions.
4. Added crime.  While I do not expect Foxboro to turn into Atlantic City overnight, I do expect there to be an increase in some of the crimes associated (rightly or wrongly) with casinos just due to sheer numbers.  The one crime I do definitely expect to increase is drinking and driving since the majority of patrons would be arriving by car.  A city location might not have as high a percentage of patrons that drive since you could access the facility thru better public transportation options.  
5. Since Foxboro can control the terms of the agreement with a by-law that prohibits gambling, we are now in a strong position to negotiate the most favorable terms for the town.  In such a negotiation, it might even be worth entertaining a ridiculous offer such as 30% of total gross gaming revenue.  That number probably is not realistic, but could be a good anchor point to continue negotiations to get the best deal for Foxboro.  Changing the by-law would be opening Pandora’s Box; you only have one chance to do it, so make it count.
6. Allowing a casino would be a radical change to how the town is composed.  It would instantly become the biggest industry with the most influence.  Whereas the addition of a casino to Boston, while still significant, would join healthcare, finance, and education as a leading industry and would not change the makeup of the city so dramatically nor be such a drastic drain on resources.

Some observations and notes from a Board of Selectmen Meeting that went more than 4 hours.  Italics are my thoughts.

Foxboro Board of Selectmen Meeting to discuss casino. Dec. 27, 2011: Citizen’s Forum

1. All non-residents are allowed in all public meetings.  I understand that the point of a public meeting is to be open to everyone, but I was a little disconcerted when I saw a Rhode Island license plate on a car in the parking lot.
2. Pledge of Allegiance at beginning of each meeting.  I haven't said the Pledge I think since high school.  I did find it kind of weird though.  I don't think anyone in the audience was a Nazi in disguise looking to subvert the US via the Foxboro Board of Selectmen, but better safe than sorry.  
3. 10,000 jobs? Where is the number from?
4. $10 million in revenue for the town? Another number I heard that I have no idea came about.
5. What percentage of Foxboro residents work at Patriots Place and Gillette?  How many construction workers were involved in building Patriot Place?  Fair questions to raise.  
6. Satellite fire/police station for resort/casino? If there are really 10,000 jobs to be had, you are looking at a lot more resources necessary considering the town has about 17,000 people currently.
7. Cannibalizing Patriot Place restaurants/hotels?  With Foxwoods at 2000+ rooms and Wynn Macau (1000 rooms between Wynn and Encore), I would hazard a guess of say ~700 rooms for a project in Foxboro compared to the 154 rooms currently at Renaissance Patriot Place.  Essentially Renaissance would become what the Two Trees Inn is to Foxwoods.  As for restaurants, unless Carraba’s or Romano’s Macaroni Grill is planned for Wynn, the Olive Garden should be safe.  Same goes for the Gap and the other stores. 
8. Cost of looking into issue worth the potential upside?  Cost worth it if proposal fails?  Who pays for the cost of considering a proposal is important.  Any lawyers or consultants the town has to pay to even consider a proposal would be a significant cost.  
9. Wynn will pay for cost of exploratory committees on affects on the community.

Foxboro Town Counsel, Town Clerk, Town Manager presentations:

1. 15 year exclusive licenses that can be transferred.  So Steve Wynn could sell his license to Penn/Boyd/MGM after the agreement and could be just a proxy.
2. Gaming License issued by state, but an agreement has to made with each town.
3. All local by-laws have to be complied by casino.  The one ace in the hole that Foxboro has currently is the by-law that explicitly prohibits any type of gambling.  That by-law is a huge piece of leverage to get as many concessions as possible out of Kraft/Wynn.  Say 30% of gross gaming revenues along with other costs such as added public safety, education, transportation, and maintenance costs.
4. Host agreement has to be made with community and casino.  Board of Selectmen issue the host agreement.  Representative government would do the negotiating of any agreement.
5. No election until there is a host agreement, a binding vote only possible after agreement is made.  Agreement is only valid after a majority binding referendum.  My sense is that even if an agreement is made, most people in town are against the idea.
6. If the election is voted negatively, no new request to be made within 180 days of previous election.  This process could essentially go on forever until another casino is opened in the Boston region.
7. Foxboro will not incur any cost for the consideration of a casino.  Not clear if preliminary costs to prepare to negotiate and consider an agreement would be borne by the town or the applicant.
8. Most likely earliest timeline for a MA Gaming Commission is about a year from now.  Only one of five members has been appointed and staff has to be hired and procedures to be put in place before any casino application could be submitted.
9. Slot machine facility has to be approved in MA before any casino application can be accepted.  No slots yet, but could be coming soon.
10. Minimum investment to be made is $500M, with at least one hotel.   Not really an incredibly tough hurdle if you put in a casino, hotel, convention space and shops/dining.  Patriot Place cost about $350M.
11. Lease is at least 75 years (15 years for gaming license and 60 years minimum after the gaming license).  This part of the statute is what concerned me the most.  75 years is a long time and would irreversibly change the area.  Then again, with global climate change, Foxboro might be beachfront property by then.
12. Surrounding communities costs for impact studies are covered.  Yes, but they would only get what the surrounding towns could negotiate.  If no agreement is made with surrounding communities, then the MA Gaming Commission would essentially become an arbitrator in this case and dictate what ever it wanted.
13. Negotiations for known impacts would be made.  The key word is known.  Many of the externalities for a large casino/resort are unknown and local taxpayers might have to foot many of those costs.  There is a fair amount of plausible deniability around how much increase in say alcoholism, domestic abuse, etc. could be directly attributed to a casino.  It is a complex issue.
14. MA Gaming Commission would issue the alcohol license, not Foxboro.  This provision would be ceding what has always been a local authority.
15. MA Gaming Commission can intervene if surrounding communities don't come to an agreement with a developer. 
16. 3-4000 expected attendees for a Town Meeting to discuss a full proposal.  Foxboro town population is about 10,000.   That is some serious turnout of 30-40% of the population.  Then, again, it is probably the most important issue the town has ever faced.
17. The following were some questions the Board of Selectmen sent to Kraft/Wynn and the responses.  When would a proposal be expected from Kraft/Wynn?  Early Feb, but could be subject to change.  Would Kraft would be willing to host the presentation? Yes, they probably would.  Would they pay costs of a proposal?  Maybe, but not entirely clear.  The Town Manager estimated $250k-$500k would be realistic for what it would cost Foxboro to investigate this proposal.  What would constitute an action in/against favor for proposal by developer to go forward/drop proposal?  Any non-binding votes would not be considered, i.e. only a binding vote to not change the necessary by-laws, or a binding referendum from the entire town (May 7 at the earliest) would dissuade the casino proposal.