{"id":25433,"date":"2014-10-18T10:00:06","date_gmt":"2014-10-18T17:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=25433"},"modified":"2014-10-17T21:16:16","modified_gmt":"2014-10-18T04:16:16","slug":"revere-sue-massachusetts-gaming-commission-everett-license","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/revere-sue-massachusetts-gaming-commission-everett-license\/","title":{"rendered":"Revere to Sue Massachusetts Gaming Commission Over Everett License"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Suffolk
Suffolk Downs Racetrack will be forced to close following the unsuccessful Revere casino bid. (Image: Matt Stone\/bostonherald.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The City of Revere\u00a0near Boston will\u00a0sue the Massachusetts Gaming Commission over its decision to award the East Massachusetts casino gaming license to Wynn Resorts over Mohegan Sun. Mohegan Sun, which wanted to build a $526 million\u00a0casino on land owned by the Suffolk Downs Racetrack in Revere, lost the license battle last month following a protracted bidding process which cost both sides millions of dollars, and at times descended into tit for tat recriminations.<\/p>\n

While Wynn now focuses on its vision of building a resort in Everett, just a few miles to the east, Revere is left to pick up the pieces and mourn the resulting closure of the historic Suffolk Downs thoroughbred racetrack.<\/p>\n

The horseracing industry had been hit by a 40 percent reduction in recent years and it was believed that the proposed Mohegan Sun resort would be sufficient to save Suffolk Downs, whose owners had pledged to continue operating for at least another 15 years should Revere win the license.<\/p>\n

In fact, the need to safeguard Suffolk Downs was one of the primary motivations for the establishment of the 2011 Gambling Act, which expanded casino gaming in the state and created the east Massachusetts casino license. The decision to go with Wynn Resorts has hammered the final nail into the thoroughbred horseracing industry in the area and that could affect the jobs and livelihoods of up to 800 people. Many people in Revere feel betrayed by the politicians.<\/p>\n

Suit Wants Decision Vacated<\/h2>\n

The lawsuit, which isbeing brought jointly by the city and the union that represents 145 workers at Suffolk Downs, claims that the Commission \u201cacted arbitrarily and capriciously, abused its discretion, violated provisions of the gambling law, gave Wynn unequal (and better) treatment than other gaming applicants, and treated other applicants unfairly and inequitably.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy its acts and decisions, the commission has completely violated the letter of the Gaming Act, the purposes behind the Gaming Act, the Commission\u2019s own regulations and procedures, and provisions of the Massachusetts Constitution,\u201d it states.<\/p>\n

The suit asks the court to nullify the decision and order the Gambling Commission to reassess the license in accordance with the gambling law.<\/p>\n

Criminal Land Sale Issues Addressed<\/h2>\n

\u201cWe have seen \u2026 intense disappointment express itself in a number of ways, including legal action and even false accusations of bias against the Commission,\u201d said Interim director of the Gaming Commission Hank Shafran in response to the lawsuit. \u201cThis latest effort is yet another manifestation of disappointment from invested parties after a lengthy evaluation and public deliberation process that was based solely on the merits of competing proposals. We are confident that this complex licensing process has been executed in a manner that is comprehensive, thoughtful and fair, albeit unsatisfactory and disappointing to those who had hoped for a different outcome.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

However, according to Revere Mayor Dan Rizzo<\/a>, the Commission still has pressing questions to answer in relation to the selection process. \u201cThere are a number of troubling and alarming failures by the Gaming Commission that raise serious questions about the entire process of awarding the Region A license,\u201d said Revere Mayor Dan Rizzo. \u201cFrom inequity in the process, to a failure to require adequate community mitigation, to ignoring potential criminal activity associated with the Everett land, the Commission has in almost every regard failed to live up to its obligations under the Gaming Act.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rizzo is referring to the fact that FBT Everett Realty, the company that sold the Everett plot of land to Wynn Resorts, attempted to conceal that one of its directors, Charles A. Lightbody<\/a>, had Mob connections and criminal convictions. It is against Massachusetts gaming law for a convicted felon to profit from a casino\u2019s operations. Three members of the company, along with Lightbody, were arrested on state fraud charges just two weeks after the Gaming Commissions decision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The City of Revere\u00a0near Boston will\u00a0sue the Massachusetts Gaming Commission over its decision to award the East Massachusetts casino gaming license to Wynn Resorts over Mohegan Sun. Mohegan Sun, which wanted to build a $526 million\u00a0casino on land owned by the Suffolk Downs Racetrack in Revere, lost the license battle last month following a protracted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":25441,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,13,18],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRevere to Sue Massachusetts Gaming Commission Over Everett License<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The city of Revere will sue the Massachusetts Gaming Commission over the Everett casino license that went to Wynn Resorts.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Revere to Sue Massachusetts Gaming Commission Over Everett License\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The city of Revere will sue the Massachusetts Gaming Commission over the Everett casino license that went to Wynn Resorts.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/revere-sue-massachusetts-gaming-commission-everett-license\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-10-18T17:00:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-10-18T04:16:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Suffolk-Downs-lost-casino-bid.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"540\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/revere-sue-massachusetts-gaming-commission-everett-license\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/revere-sue-massachusetts-gaming-commission-everett-license\/\",\"name\":\"Revere to Sue Massachusetts Gaming Commission Over Everett License\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/revere-sue-massachusetts-gaming-commission-everett-license\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/revere-sue-massachusetts-gaming-commission-everett-license\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Suffolk-Downs-lost-casino-bid.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-18T17:00:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-10-18T04:16:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"The city of Revere will sue the Massachusetts Gaming Commission over the Everett casino license that went to Wynn Resorts.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/revere-sue-massachusetts-gaming-commission-everett-license\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/revere-sue-massachusetts-gaming-commission-everett-license\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/revere-sue-massachusetts-gaming-commission-everett-license\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Suffolk-Downs-lost-casino-bid.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Suffolk-Downs-lost-casino-bid.jpg\",\"width\":960,\"height\":540,\"caption\":\"Suffolk Downs Racetrack will be forced to close following the unsuccessful Revere casino bid. 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