The fine print in Mayor Martin J. Walsh's deal with Mohegan Sun contains a so-called reopener clause that allows the casino company to lower its promised payouts of tens of millions of dollars if a future agreement with Wynn Resorts pays the city less.
The clause, tucked in the final pages of the agreement announced last week, says Mohegan will pay "comparable provisions" if a Wynn deal provides less than the pledged $30 million upfront and minimum $18 million annually for a gaming resort on the Revere side of Suffolk Downs.
Celeste Myers of the group No Eastie Casino called the clause "insanity."
"They should be making arrangements based solely on the merit of their development plan and strategy," Myers said of Mohegan. "They're putting themselves out there as the most equitable, the most desirable partner, but they're only going to be as desirable as they have to be."
Mohegan would adjust the deal only if Boston "voluntarily executes a Surrounding Community Agreement with another applicant." But Walsh has opted not to enter arbitration with Wynn and asked the state Gaming Commission to decide what the Las Vegas mogul would have to pay Boston for a casino on the Everett side of the Charlestown border.
The commission, which declined to comment, will discuss how to proceed at its meeting today.
State Rep. Carlo Basile of East Boston, which voted down a casino at Mohegan's Suffolk Downs site, said he's concerned the commission's decision on a Wynn package for Boston could legally be considered a voluntary agreement on Boston's part.
"I thought what the deal was, the deal was, and I don't want them to be able to give us less than what the deal is," Basile said of Mohegan.
Mohegan said in a statement it is "prepared to abide by every clause that the agreement dictates." Wynn spokesman Michael Weaver said the clause "appears to be an effort to stifle competition and inhibit a fair and honest negotiation process."
By law, Boston must have agreements in place with Mohegan and Wynn before the panel decides who gets the sole Boston-area license.
Walsh spokeswoman Kate Norton said "reopener language along these lines is not uncommon or unique," and was included because Boston did not want to make "any party less likely to negotiate with us in good faith."
"Without the reopener language, any party could use a good-faith agreement as a template to create a 'better' agreement and undermine the competing party's work," Norton said in a statement. "From a practical standpoint, the reopener language no longer applies because the city of Boston is no longer engaged in arbitration."
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