The DiMasi indictment

Three quick points on the indictment of former House speaker Sal DiMasi and three associates:

• The Boston Globe deserves an enormous amount of credit for its dogged reporting on DiMasi, precisely the sort of public-interest journalism that's endangered by the meltdown of the newspaper business. Given current trends, life will be easier for future DiMasis, and that's a shame.
  
• The prosecution's case against DiMasi will never look stronger than it does today, and we should wait to see what develops. But the story that prosecutors tell is a sordid one. My personal favorite is the $25,000 DiMasi allegedly demanded and got following a bookkeeping error on the part of the co-defendants.
• Never forget that DiMasi's leadership saved the state, at least temporarily, from the evils of casino gambling. With the House now led by Rep. Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop, who reportedly wants slot machines at dog tracks (although his support may be waning), and the Senate led by Sen. Therese "Ka-ching!" Murray, D-Plymouth, there are darker days ahead.

Gambling mecca drowning in red ink

Think casino gambling is going to save Massachusetts? Here's how Lynn Doan begins her story in today's Hartford Courant, the leading newspaper in Connecticut, home of two resort casinos:

With the state's three-year budget deficit forecast hovering between $6 billion and $9 billion, Democrats are pushing a tax plan that economists warn will wipe out thousands of jobs both in old-line and emerging Connecticut industries.

The tax package unveiled by the state legislature's Democratic majority earlier this month includes three main hits to business: a 30 percent surcharge on the corporate earnings tax; an end to sales tax exemptions on some key purchases such as computer services; and stricter limits on tax credits, including the lucrative research and development credits that keep many startup businesses afloat.

As both the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald report, expanded gambling is looking increasingly likely as Massachusetts officials scramble to make up for plunging tax revenues. Senate President Therese Murray is pushing for resort casinos, while House Speaker Robert DeLeo wants slot machines at race tracks.

The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe's plan to build a casino in Middleborough quickly deteriorated into a tragicomedy of corruption and recriminations. But state officials, starting with Gov. Deval Patrick, think they know what's best. So it's likely that we're going to end up with some form of expanded gambling.

Still, the facts are clear, for anyone who's interested.

Yet another reason casinos are a bad idea

Take note, Gov. Patrick: The state of Rhode Island may have to bail out its ailing casino.

Behind the pro-casino propaganda

The Boston Globe and the Boston Herald today are atwitter with excitement over surveys showing that support for casino gambling is on the rise. With the new Massachusetts House speaker, Robert DeLeo, in favor of expanded gambling, it looks like Gov. Deval Patrick is going to renew his ill-considered push to impose this blight on the state.

So leave it to Jon Keller of WBZ-TV (Channel 4) to dig a bit deeper into one of those surveys, put out by UMass Boston, which supposedly shows that casinos create better jobs for non-college-educated workers than other businesses.

Keller finds that the study was funded by construction-industry contractors and executives, who would stand to profit mightily from building casinos. The study also fails to mention the inconvenient fact that the huge "resort casinos" favored by Patrick are now cratering and shedding jobs. Keller writes:

Let's face it, folks, casinos have been sleazy but lucrative money pits in the past and they may be again, but they are not anything close to a valid answer to the prayers of the working class.

The only kind of survey that matters is the one that asks people if they want a casino built in their community. Last I checked, two-thirds of Massachusetts residents are opposed. That's not likely to change.

You'd never know it from reading the Globe, but even Middleborough residents voted overwhelmingly against a casino on the one occasion they were given a chance to express their views.

This is a loser, and Patrick's obsession with staking his governorship on it is appalling.

Middleborough meltdown

This is all too weird. But if you oppose casino gambling, you can't help but love it.

Adam Bond, chairman of the Middleborough Board of Selectmen and the guy who did more than anyone to try to bring the world's largest casino to his adopted hometown, has quit the board. It seems that Bond wanted his fellow selectmen to try to grab more money from the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, which would own the casino, and which is now beset by legal problems, starting with the crimes of its former leader, Glenn Marshall.

(As an aside, it's a shame that Sal DiMasi's replacement as Massachusetts House speaker, Robert DeLeo, is a fan of casinos. Casino gambling is bad news, and we shouldn't want it anywhere. More than anything, though, we need to keep it out of Middleborough.)

Cape Cod Times reporters George Brennan and Stephanie Vosk have a thorough account of the Bond shenanigans, and Alice Elwell of the Brockton Enterprise offers a good overview as well. In the Boston Globe, Christine Legere reports that Bond plans to keep his weekly radio show, which is broadcast here on Thursdays at 11 a.m. I shouldn't, but it's hard not to look when you happen upon a car crash.

As Elwell reported in a previous story, Bond had already alienated the board with his blog, which, I have to confess, is too tedious for me to wade through — though I do enjoy his claim that one of the selectmen, Mimi Duphily, "wanted to 'rip my face off.'"

So I'll give the great Gladys Kravitz the last word:

[A]s the person who has been putting Bond under a microscope since 2007 — believe it, this is a good day. This is a great day. It's a pick up your American flag, go outside and stand on your porch or the hood of your car and let out a big WhooHoo type of day.

The king of all drama queens had a meltdown and provided you with an extra seat on the Middleboro Board of Selectmen. Now pick up a broom and sweep away the damage. Then pull back the curtain on the light of a better day.

One down, four to go.

More: The Enterprise editorializes on Bond's "unconventional and inappropriate" behavior.

A wistful farewell to Sal DiMasi

Many of you will miss Sal DiMasi before too long. Not me. I miss him already.

Mr. Speaker, as Boston Globe columnist Yvonne Abraham notes while kicking him to the side of the curb, saved us from casino gambling, pushed the idea of a higher gas tax as an alternative to toll hikes, was a stalwart on preserving same-sex marriage and much more.

We are almost certainly going to get less good government with DiMasi's successor, whoever that may be. Do you really think we're going to get cleaner government? Please.

Look — the Globe did terrific work on exposing DiMasi's less-than-wonderful side, and prosecutors can hardly ignore the possibility of criminal wrongdoing. I understand that. But we are going to miss him.

More: The casino forces are celebrating already, as you can see from this post at Casino Gambling Web. It begins with a falsehood — "Governor Duval [sic] Patrick ran for office in Massachusetts on a platform of expanded casino gambling" — and ends with this:

Lobbyists who have already been working hard to have casino legislation are relieved that a major roadblock is now out of their way. When DiMasi won re-election, casino proponents felt deflated, but now that door has swung wide open.

Look out below.

Still more: Jon Keller has similar thoughts.

The casino plot thickens

The Cape Cod Times, the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald all report that Glenn Marshall has agreed to plead guilty to the federal corruption charges he faces. And the investigation continues.

More: Cape Cod Today checks in.

Corruption charges cloud Middleborough casino

Glenn Marshall, the former chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribal council, faces federal corruption charges in connection with his efforts to win governmental recognition for the tribe. Marshall was the driving force behind plans to build a $1 billion casino in Middleborough.

According Jay Fitzgerald of the Boston Herald, the charges include making illegal campaign contributions to members of Congress, guided by imprisoned former superlobbyist Jack Abramoff, whose name has come up before in connection with the tribe.

Marshall stepped down in August 2007 after it was learned that he was a convicted rapist who'd lied about his military service. No word on whether his new legal woes are tied to Shawn Hendricks, his handpicked successor.

All this at a moment when the casino industry is falling apart — making it unlikely, Matt Viser reports in the Boston Globe, that Gov. Deval Patrick will revive his three-casino proposal any time soon.

Given the charges against Marshall, it looks like everything is up in the air — not just the proposed Middleborough casino, but whether the Mashpee are even a legal tribe with the right to build such a monstrosity.

It truly is a great day for Middleborough.

Update: Gladys Kravitz says all that needs to be said.

Casino jobs without an actual casino

The $1 billion casino that will never be built in Middleborough is already producing jobs, according to reporters George Brennan and Stephanie Vosk of the Cape Cod Times:

Consultants providing legal, lobbying and public relations services were paid $2.2 million by investors, according to internal financial records for fiscal 2008. In total, the casino investors provided $4 million for the [Mashpee Wampanoag] tribe's budget including nearly $1 million for pay and benefits of tribal council officers and staff members.

Nice to see that the South African moguls who are the real forces behind this miserable idea are providing some much-needed economic stimulus.

An intriguing loose thread

According to the FBI, state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson once celebrated receiving a $1,000 bribe by hightailing it to Foxwoods. A pretty amusing detail — and one that jogged my memory.

Last year, not long after Glenn Marshall stepped down in disgrace as head of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribal council, there was a meeting involving Wilkerson, D-Roxbury, that has never been explained. But it clearly had something to do with the tribe's fading hopes of building a mega-casino in Middleborough.

In a story broken by Peter Kenney at Cape Cod Today in September 2007, we learned that Amelia Bingham and her son, Steven Bingham, tribal members whom Marshall had ordered "shunned" for asking too many questions, met with Wilkerson in her office. Also present was Michael Morris, a top aide to Gov. Deval Patrick, and several advisers to the Binghams.

Boston Globe columnist Joan Vennochi later reported that Morris had not expected the Binghams to be present. That differed from Kenney's account, which claimed that Morris merely hadn't expected the Binghams to bring advisers with them.

Although the Binghams were fierce opponents of Marshall, they do not oppose the idea of building a tribal casino. Rather, they have criticized Marshall and his successor, Shawn Hendricks, for not cutting a lucrative enough deal for tribal members.

What is or was Wilkerson's involvement in all this? Who knows? Kenney believed it might have something to do with the Binghams' lawsuit against the town of Mashpee over property rights. That could lead to a casino's being built in Mashpee rather than Middleborough. The suit is still very much alive, and K.C. Myers of the Cape Cod Times has an update today.

And check this out: Less than a week ago, the Globe's Sean Murphy wrote an intriguing profile of an obscure Boston political figure named William McDermott, whose dealings with the tribe, and with Marshall, have been so extensive that Murphy called him "a founding father of the modern Mashpee Wampanoag tribe." One of McDermott's "old friends," as it turns out, is Daniel Pokaski, chairman of the Boston Licensing Board, now at the center of the Wilkerson scandal.

Let's not forget, too, that the FBI is still investigating Marshall.

It is time to find out what was discussed in Wilkerson's office that day.

More good news for casino opponents

The premise of this Kyle Alspach article in the Brockton Enterprise is odd: the economic crisis makes the Middleborough casino proposed by the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe less likely, and the construction of commercial, non-Indian casinos more likely.

Alspach bases his reporting mainly on pro-casino sources — the Rev. Richard McGowan of Boston College and Clyde Barrow of UMass Dartmouth — and that makes this hard to parse as well.

Nevertheless, the story stands as further evidence that a casino will never be built in Middleborough. As if you had any doubts.

McCain and Middleborough

I'll leave it to others — Gladys Kravitz, perhaps? — to ponder the deeper meaning of this. But it looks like those of us who are trying to stop a gambling casino from being built in Middleborough have one more thing to worry about if John McCain is elected president.

Tribal lobbyist faces federal charges

Kevin Ring, a former lobbyist for the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and fraud, according to Stephanie Vosk of the Cape Cod Times.

Ring, who used to work for convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, helped the tribe with its application for federal recognition, a key to its bid to build a giant gambling casino in Middleborough.

None other than former tribal council president Glenn Marshall, who stepped down after it was revealed he was a convicted rapist who had lied about his military record, once testified to Ring's good name.

The charges against Ring do not may involve his dealings with the Mashpee. [Update: The charges refer to a "Massachusetts tribal client" that may well have been the Mashpee tribe.]

Cape Cod Today has more.

The education of Adam Bond

Middleborough Board of Selectmen chairman Adam Bond, a prime mover behind plans to build a casino mega-complex in his adopted town, is complaining that Mashpee Wampanoag tribal leaders failed to call their old pal before asking state officials to negotiate with them.

Matthew Burke reports in the Cape Cod Times today that the tribe has formally approached Gov. Deval Patrick in order to work out a compact that would allow the Mashpee to build a $1 billion casino in Middleborough.

Bond, writing on his blog, can't believe it. "The spirit and the letter of the agreement make it absolutely clear that we should be present, or our rights have been irreparably harmed," says Bond, a lawyer, who criticizes the tribe for approaching the state "with no mention of Middleborough being at the table for the talks."

Please. Does Bond think for one moment that the big-money folks behind the casino plans care about Middleborough? As I and others have been arguing for more than a year now, Bond says he sought the casino in order to save the town; but he's going to end up destroying it. No doubt the town will get a seat at the table, as the agreement appears to require it. But that's hardly "mutual respect for the partnership," the lack of which surprises no one other than Bond.

As Burke's story notes, the tribe can't operate a full casino unless the state Legislature legalizes Class III gambling, which the House declined to do earlier this year. Speaker Sal DiMasi is presumably as opposed now as he was then, but you can be sure casino proponents — including Patrick — are going to make another run at it.

As for the latest development, perhaps yesterday will stand as a landmark moment in the education of Adam Bond. And here's a thought: The agreement forbids town officials from opposing the Mashpee's plans. But if the Mashpee abrogate the agreement, Bond and his fellow selectmen would presumably be free to do the right thing the second time around. Indeed, Bond even hints at it toward the end of his post.

Matt Viser of the Boston Globe has more.

Wednesday afternoon update: Alice Elwell of the Brockton Enterprise reports that tribal leaders are now claiming the document that Bond complained about was just a draft, and that they never meant to exclude Middleborough officials.

Glenn Marshall resurfaces

We interrupt this week's orgy of national political news to tell you that Glenn Marshall — the convicted rapist and phony war hero who helped target Middleborough as the home for the world's largest gambling casino — continues to pull strings behind the scenes.

George Brennan of the Cape Cod Times reports that Marshall is neither forgotten nor gone from the circles of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, which he served as president before his past was brought to light by Cape Cod Today and the Cape Cod Times.

And just to bring this full circle: As I recently wrote here, here and here, it's ludicrous to pretend that the Spectrum Gaming report commissioned by Gov. Deval Patrick for $189,000 is an independent assessment. But there was one interesting wrinkle. Whereas Patrick has seemed less than enthusiastic about supporting a tribal casino, Spectrum warned that such a casino is inevitable.

As the great Gladys Kravitz recently observed, one of Spectrum's clients is the financier Sol Kerzner, who's the source of much of the money behind the Middleborough proposal — and thus an important guy in making Glenn Marshall an important guy.

You absolutely cannot make this stuff up.

The opposite of independent (II)

Another highlight from the Spectrum Gaming Group's Web site:

Spectrum fields a full complement of experienced executives to help our casino development clients as projects move from conceptual planning to fully operational businesses. Our team of gaming professionals — with extensive experience in accounting, operations, regulation, law-enforcement, slot technology and media relations, among many other disciplines — has developed, planned and opened many casinos worldwide, and has provided clients with the tools to develop viable casino projects that will comfortably withstand governmental licensing scrutiny, attract defined gaming markets and be financially profitable.

Casino openings are extremely challenging technically, but tremendously rewarding once successfully accomplished. With its expertise in all aspects of casino gaming, Spectrum can guide its clients through this difficult process.

Gladys Kravitz has a minor bombshell in the comments.

How on earth can the Globe call these people "independent"?

The opposite of independent

If there's one thing I think we could all agree on, it's that the recently released Spectrum Gaming Group report on Gov. Deval Patrick's moribund casino-gambling proposal is not independent. So why does a Boston Globe editorial today refer to Spectrum as "an independent research firm"?

Spectum's close ties to the gambling industry were the subject of a post I wrote a couple of weeks ago. And there's more. For instance, check out the credentials of some of its top executives:

• Harvey Perkins, senior vice president, "has thirty years of casino gaming industry experience and has held high-level positions at major gaming properties in Atlantic City and New Orleans."
• Tina Ercole LoBiondo, vice president for analysis, "has worked in the casino resort industry since 1988, having held various analytical, operational and developmental roles in Atlantic City and Las Vegas, and was instrumental in the opening of three major gaming resorts."
• Bill LaPenta, director of financial analysis, "is a casino and hotel industry professional with more than 20 years of operations management and analysis experience, providing critical business decision support, planning, analysis, and performance management tools to casino hotel and resort operators."

Not everyone who holds a top position at Spectrum has a gambling background. And the two managing directors, Fredric Gushin and Michael Pollack, come from the worlds of law enforcement and government regulation, respectively.

But Spectrum officials clearly see themselves as part of the gambling industry. They may be nice people. They may sincerely believe there's a right way and a wrong way to do it, and they may be dedicated to the right way.

In reality, though, the right way is not to do it at all, and that simply isn't part of the Spectrum mindset. The fact is that Patrick hired the casino-gambling industry to report on whether casino gambling would be a good thing. The opposite of independent, in other words.

Casino study fails laugh test

When you hire a consulting firm that makes its living from casino gambling, then you can be pretty sure it will tell you casinos are a good thing. That's the message of the Spectrum Gaming Group's report to Gov. Deval Patrick, which has been touted as giving a boost (Boston Herald) to Patrick's casino dreams, even if the three he has proposed wouldn't bring in quite as much money (Boston Globe) as the governor had claimed.

The real eye-opener, though, is a Cape Cod Times story by David Kibbe, who reports that Spectrum says the state should act in large measure because the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe has the right, under federal law, to open a gambling casino in Southeastern Massachusetts. The Mashpee, as we know, propose building the world's largest casino in Middleborough.

The inevitability theme has been used repeatedly, and, indeed, was a big reason that the Middleborough town meeting last year voted to approve a deal the selectmen had negotiated with the tribe, then voted against an advisory question asking whether folks wanted a casino in the first place.

In fact, though, there is a whole host of reasons why a Middleborough casino is not inevitable. Here is the great Gladys Kravitz's list of the top 10 reasons why a casino will not be built. To my mind, the most compelling reasons are that the Middleborough casino would be farther from the Mashpee's tribal lands than the feds generally allow, and that there are enough questions about the process used to ram the deal through at town meeting that opponents could keep this tied up in the courts for years.

Finally, consider that the governor's office paid $189,000 to Spectrum knowing ahead of time that the outcome would be pro-casino. Take a look at Spectrum's Web site and see how it makes its money. "Services for Casino Operators, Developers and Owners." "Services for Suppliers to the Gaming Industry." "Professional Services for Indian Nations." (Would that include telling Gov. Patrick that a tribal casino is inevitable?)

This doesn't pass the laugh test.

Reason #11 revisited

A Media Nation reader thinks I should note that a restraining order taken out against Shawn Hendricks, head of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribal council, has been dropped. Fair enough.

But I think I should also note that, according to this Cape Cod Times story, Hendricks has admitted to using steroids; to engaging in some sort of "a tug-of-war battle" over his son; and to "smashing his arm through a glass door during a fight with his wife."

Glad I could clear that up.

Another casino obstacle

The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs has just made it more difficult for the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe to build the world's largest casino in Middleborough. Jason Schwartz explains at the Boston Daily Blog.