Suffolk Downs casino officials are claiming in a memo to the state Gaming Commission — due to decide the project's fate today — that ballot questions were purposely crafted to let them build in Revere if East Boston voters rejected them.
Opponents say that shows the racetrack tried to deceive voters in both towns.
Sterling Suffolk Racecourse LLC and Mohegan Sun, in a Dec. 2 memo obtained by the Herald, cite the different wording of the two ballot questions. Eastie voters, who rejected the casino Nov. 5, were asked to approve a gaming establishment "to be located at Suffolk Downs in East Boston." Revere voters, who approved the casino, were asked to approve a gaming establishment on the "Suffolk Downs property off of Winthrop Avenue."
"Winthrop Avenue is in Revere," the memo reads. "A Revere-only gaming establishment fits precisely within the scope of this question. This was by design ... they wanted to ensure that if East Boston voted no, the ballot question in Revere would give Revere the opportunity still to be a host community for a property located only in Revere."
The question of voter intent is central to today's deliberations by the commission, which will decide if the Nov. 5 vote and related agreements can apply to the recently hatched plan to build only on the Revere side of Suffolk Downs.
Opponents say the idea was always that Eastie and Revere voters had to give a thumbs up for any casino to be built at the racetrack, and any argument to the contrary is disingenuous.
"It's a very, very far-fetched idea that people were aware and were fully cognizant that the intention of the developers was to build a casino no matter what," said Pedro Morales, lead organizer of anti-casino group Friends of East Boston. "First of all, if you did that and you didn't explain it to anybody, that's very deceptive. Everybody was led to believe that it was going to be one development that needed the approval of both communities."
Revere Mayor Daniel Rizzo said Suffolk Downs' posture toward Revere has long been "if this doesn't go the way we want in Boston, we'll be coming to talk to you."
"That has always been very, very clear to me," Rizzo said. "In fact, when they were getting eerily close to not being able to strike a host community agreement with Boston, they were getting very edgy and concerned that they might have to pivot back to Revere and work on a Revere-only project."
The Gaming Commission's decision on Suffolk Downs' Revere proposal comes amid a whirlwind of high-stakes activity. The commission received a thumbs up from its investigative arm yesterday on the suitability of MGM to pursue a license in Springfield, and will issue a decision soon after questioning casino executives for hours. On Friday, the commission will convene to discuss a land sale plan from Wynn Resorts, which wants to build in Everett. Monday, the commission will hold its first hearing to determine if Wynn is suitable to seek greater Boston's lone casino license.
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