Brockton: ‘unfair’ to table casino bid

[unhappycamper]

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2015/08/brockton_unfair_to_table_casino_bid



ROLLING THE DICE: Gaming Commission chairman Stephen Crosby, above, has expressed concern over a proposed casino in Brockton.

Brockton: ‘unfair’ to table casino bid
Thursday, August 6, 2015
Jack Encarnacao

The mayor of Brockton is claiming it would be “grossly unfair” and “punitive” if the state Gaming Commission tables the city’s $650 million resort casino application because financing collapsed for what would have been a competing New Bedford proposal.

Brockton Mayor Bill Carpenter and Mass Gaming and Entertainment LLC will make their case to the commission today. Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby and Attorney General Maura Healey have questioned if the New Bedford collapse shows the region isn’t an economically viable location for a casino.

Carpenter said his development partners — helmed by Rush Street Gaming chairman Neil Bluhm, who has developed casinos in Pennsylvania and Illinois — are “highly qualified” and “ready, willing and able” to build a resort on the Brockton Fairgrounds.

“And to punish them because the other applicants fell short of the mark is just grossly unfair, and it’s punitive to not just Brockton, but the metro south region,” Carpenter said. “If I’m them, and there’s any type of delay in the process, I’m suing, and I’m going to get a lot of money.”