Transcript 3.25.14
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1 THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS MASSACHUSETTS GAMING COMMISSION PUBLIC MEETING #114 CHAIRMAN Stephen P. Crosby COMMISSIONERS Gayle Cameron James F. McHugh Bruce W. Stebbins Enrique Zuniga -------------------------------------------- RE: PUBLIC INPUT – MOHEGAN SUN MASSACHUSETTS AND SUFFOLK DOWNS March 25, 2014 4:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. BOSTON CONVENTION AND EXHIBITION CENTER 415 Summer Street, Room 102 Boston, Massachusetts 2 1 P R O C E E D I N G S: 2 3 CHAIRMAN CROSBY: I am pleased call 4 to order the 114th meeting of the Massachusetts 5 Gaming Commission to be held here in the Boston 6 Convention and Entertainment Center on April 7 24, 2014 starting at four o'clock. 8 We only have one item of business on 9 our agenda today and that is to gather input 10 from interested parties on the application of 11 Mohegan Sun Massachusetts, LLC for a Category 1 12 gaming license to be located in Revere. 13 Let me just give you a couple of 14 ground rules about how we're going to try to 15 handle this. First of all, this is one of two 16 formal meetings that we have to accumulate 17 feedback before the Commission finishes its 18 evaluation and makes its decision. The 19 Legislature mandated that there be a meeting 20 held in the host community before the decision 21 is made. And that meeting will come after 22 this. So, there will be another opportunity 23 for people, particularly people from the host 24 community to speak. 3 1 But we felt that there was so many 2 interested parties, particularly in the 3 surrounding communities that it was important 4 for us to have a second hearing where people 5 had an opportunity to express their opinion 6 from surrounding communities. 7 We have not streamed these meetings 8 live on the web although because they're 9 regional in interest. They're not statewide in 10 interest. We stream all of the rest of our 11 meetings. And we will stream our public 12 meeting -- I mean our host community meetings, 13 but this one is not streamed. 14 We will however keep a transcript. 15 So, everybody's words will be recorded for 16 history. And when you come forward to speak, 17 please do speak loudly because Laurie is taking 18 down every word you say and we need to know who 19 you are and where you're from. 20 We already have about 130 people 21 signed up to speak. We will give everybody us 22 chance. We are prepared to stay late if we 23 need to to get that done. We will set a five- 24 minute limit. And you will see a clock here in 4 1 front that will be running for five minutes. 2 That's actually a lot of time. We found that 3 most people can speak in less time than that. 4 And we very much appreciate brevity. You get 5 points for brevity in this scenario. 6 We ask that you do the best you 7 possibly can not to simply repeat things that 8 we've heard many, many times before. If the 9 arguments have been made and you just want to 10 be pro or con, if you can do that in a sentence 11 or two that's really helpful. We want to hear 12 from everybody. It's not fair to keep 13 everybody too terribly late. So, moving this 14 along is very desirable. 15 We will hear from everybody in the 16 order that they signed up with us. Anybody 17 that signed up on the web prior to noon today, 18 we have in a list. And people who have signed 19 up today and are signing up now, as they come 20 in, they will be added to the list. 21 Are there any other notes that 22 anybody wants to make, comments? 23 COMMISSIONER STEBBINS: Encourage 24 people to line up. 5 1 CHAIRMAN CROSBY: I will read some 2 names out in advance so that you can line up to 3 speak, so, rather than waiting in between each 4 speaker. I'll read out several names. If you 5 are here, please come up. 6 I guess the last thing I would say 7 is this is a really important part of our 8 process. The Legislature made clear that 9 community support or community opposition was a 10 very important part of the criteria that we are 11 using. We have asked time after time after 12 time for input from interested parties and from 13 individuals. We have received what now must be 14 thousands of letters and emails. Each 15 Commissioner reads every single email and 16 letter that we get. 17 We really value what you have to 18 say. It's a very critical important part of 19 this decision-making process. We talk about 20 having this process be participatory, 21 transparent and fair. And this is a big part 22 of the participatory and transparent part of 23 this. So, we really appreciate. We know a lot 24 you had to take time off from work to get here. 6 1 We appreciate that. As I said, this is a 2 really important part of the process for us. 3 So, I will start with public 4 officials. Hopefully, I won't miss anybody. 5 And then we will go to the speakers as they 6 signed up. And our first speaker by virtue of 7 being the mayor of the host community is Mayor 8 Rizzo from Revere. 9 THE HON. DANIEL RIZZO: Thank you 10 very much, Mr. Chairman, members of the 11 Commission. Thank you once again for the 12 opportunity to discuss Mohegan Sun's plans to 13 develop a world-class destination casino at 14 Suffolk Downs and why Mohegan Sun is the right 15 choice for Revere, the region and the 16 Commonwealth. 17 I'd also like to take this 18 opportunity to thank our own Revere residents 19 and business leaders as well as our friends and 20 local leaders from neighboring communities for 21 taking time out to be with us here today also. 22 This is clearly a very important part of the 23 process. 24 For over two years now, residents of 7 1 Revere have believed that we would be a 2 terrific choice as one of the recipients of the 3 three resort style casinos licenses potentially 4 being designated by the Commission. 5 As a city that has played host to 6 not one but two racetracks for decades, 7 Wonderland Dog Track and Suffolk Downs, we 8 understand the impacts and the opportunities 9 that come with facilities such as these, and 10 having long embraced the concept of gaming in 11 our community. 12 We validated this belief first on 13 November 5 when over 6500 voters came out to 14 say yes to a resort style casino at Suffolk 15 Downs. Through a myriad of circumstances not 16 necessarily of our own accord, the planned 17 project was pivoted onto the Revere side of the 18 property. And in doing so, the Commission 19 wanted reassurance that Revere voters 20 understood these changes to the original plan 21 and asked us to once again come out and let 22 their voices to be heard. 23 Mr. Chairman, members of the 24 Commission on a cold, 18-degree day in 8 1 February, February 25 in fact, over 7100 2 residents came out again to show their support 3 for a destination resort style casino as 4 presented by Mohegan Sun at Suffolk Downs. 5 It bears noting that on both 6 occasions both on November 5 and on February 7 25, more voters came out in Revere to say yes 8 than all voters combined in the city of 9 Everett's referendum that was held on a warm 10 sunny day in June. 11 Mr. Chairman, I know that many 12 people came here today to let their voices be 13 heard, so I certainly don't want to get in the 14 way. However, I want to reemphasize why 15 Mohegan Sun is the right choice for the 16 Commonwealth and for the city of Revere. 17 As you may recall, this bill came 18 out of the Legislature not necessarily as a 19 gaming bill but as an emergency jobs bill. If 20 Mohegan Sun is selected for the Eastern region, 21 an estimated 4000 permanent jobs will be 22 created at the completion of the project. And 23 while Suffolk Downs would not be the direct 24 beneficiary of the gaming license, as you know, 9 1 they have committed to another 15 years of 2 racing saving somewhere between 850 and 1000 3 existing jobs, over 200 for Revere residents 4 alone. 5 And while we are talking about jobs, 6 our host community agreement obviously takes 7 care of jobs for Revere residents but we've 8 taken it a step further. We've required 9 Mohegan Sun to hire 75 percent of their 10 workforce from cities and towns within a 15- 11 mile radius of Revere. This is in keeping with 12 our belief that this is not a Revere project, 13 it is a regional project. 14 In terms of supporting our 15 businesses and local economies, we have 16 required Mohegan Sun to spend $10 million 17 annually on goods and services with local 18 Revere businesses.