Election roundup: Casino as the circular firing squad of the mayoral race

Up until now, the candidates have mostly contented themselves with playing up their own platforms on issues. Casinos, however, change everything.

Mike Ross blasted Dan Conley for calling for a citywide referendum on the Suffolk Downs proposal and threatening to sue to stop an Everett casino if Suffolk Downs goes down in flames:

Whether a casino is built in Everett or East Boston, it's going to have similar effects on our entire city. But a casino in East Boston, rather than one in Everett, will without question impact the families and businesses of East Boston more than the rest the city. That's why I think they should get the final say in whether a casino will be located in their neighborhood.

I appreciate Bill Walczak's passion on this issue, and Dan's creativity in suggesting we can sue to stop a casino in Everett. But I'm not willing to bet Boston's future on a lawsuit with a very uncertain outcome.

Conley ignored Ross but instead blasted his near homonymous Westie neighbor, John Connolly, who wondered if the casino were proposed for Hyde Park if it would make sense for East Boston to vote on that:

We are not a confederacy of neighborhoods. We are one united city. To equate the casino with other development projects misses the larger point that this project is, in fact, different. Other areas of the city don't decide on local development projects by referendum, so the fact that there is a proposed referendum in East Boston is proof that this is not your usual project, and that this will affect the entire city in ways that any other discrete building project will not.

Speaking of Walczak, he didn't blast anybody, but plans a press conference Wednesday to call for turning Suffolk Downs into the city's second innovation district, focusing on green jobs.

Oh, the Herald would just love it if Menino's comments about Charlotte Golar Richie were something more than musing. And, hey, he gave Rob Consalvo $100.

David Bernstein talks with incumbent Councilor Sal LaMattina (East Boston, Charlestown, North End, Beacon Hill and Downtown).