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Judge tosses Boston's suit against Everett casino
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Comments
$1 Million
Attorney Thomas Frongillo has hit the jackpot and the casino isn't even open yet. Who is vetting these outside legal contracts for the City - Lucy Riccardo?
Is Walsh challenging the casino license or damages that result?
Yes, both.
Judge Janet L. Sanders ruled
I don't know if the City of Boston's arguments had any merit. I hope so, they cost us $1,000,000.
0 for 10. We paid $1,000,000 to go 0 for 10.
That's $100,000 per failed count of alleged wrongdoing.
Did we actually accuse the gambling commission of wrongdoing? Yes, 10 times.
Judge Janet Sanders "chided Boston and its lawyers for “inflammatory descriptions,” “spurious” claims and “hyperbole” that “tend only to obscure the factual allegations.”
Ouch. That does not sounds like there are adults in the room making reasonable arguments.
"The city alleges a litany of violations and costly damages to Boston, Judge Janet Sanders wrote, affecting traffic, the environment, and public safety." She could not “see how these alleged irregularities impacted Boston much less caused it to suffer any injury sufficient to give it standing.”
Uh oh. No actual damages to Boston, no standing.
"Should Walsh and Wynn come together, they would likely need to resolve the city’s concerns about the traffic the casino is expected to generate in Sullivan Square in Charlestown. Walsh’s deal with Mohegan Sun for the Revere casino would have handed the City of Boston a one-time payment of $30 million plus $18 million annually. Wynn had offered Boston a one-time payment of $6 million and $2.6 million a year, which Walsh rejected.
During the Walsh admin, we've cut $108 million from BPS' budget. We could have used the $1,000,000 we've wated on this lawsuit.
In addition, BPS transfers $121,000,000 a year to charter schools, and Walsh is looking to increase that by "expanding" charters" and "consolidating" BPS schools.
What do you think think?
Your BPS info is off
1) That $121000 transferred to charter schools pays to educate city residents, most from disadvantaged neighborhoods. 120k is a very, very small fraction of $200m so let's not claim that's the reason for the budget issues.
2) Do you realize the BPS budget went up $200m in the past 5 years to educate 1000 fewer kids? It's currently at $1.013B.
I know there are local funding challenges at the school level, but the overall BPS budget is enormous.
Data:
FY2015- http://bostonpublicschools.org/Page/4281
"The figure is approximately $37 million higher than FY14, thanks to Mayor Martin J. Walsh’s decision to increase the city appropriation to schools by nearly four percent when other city departments are facing reductions."
FY2016 - http://bostonpublicschools.org/Page/692
"The FY’16 budget is notable on several fronts: Mayor Martin J. Walsh has again demonstrated his clear commitment to public education in Boston, aiming to increase the city’s allocations to the district between 3-4%."
Actual figures here - https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/MPncVCxhxNqKE_y39kWiceQlB3kdo7jSUSqo3E...
So in summary, the budget went up $38m, not down by $100m.
I should have been more
I should have been more specific. During Walsh's two budget cycles, BPS cut $108 million from expenses net of Walsh's 3-4% increase.
And the $129 million that comes out of BPS for charter students annually is before Baker added approx 678 new seats without a hearing.
I still don't see the actual cuts.
If the budget is up 4%, then the total budget is up 4%. So BPS has more money in 2016 than 2015? What do you mean by expenses? We have to pay for everything in the school budget from payroll to facilities to transportation, so if one part is sucking up more money, that's not a budget cut. Again, there might be school level funding problems but it's not a BPS funding issue.
Does the charter school money come out of the $1.1B already allocated to the BPS? Or is it on top of it? I don't see it specifically broken out in this BPS document -
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/oI52pmh8rOTBIH_yqTtfnimWvIX_Dynu6Ii4QI...
We can’t fund the education of our kids. Support FBRC recs.
$100 million in cuts last year. $42 million more in cuts this year plus two schools closed.
bostonglobe
This year's budget closed two schools and required $42 million more in cuts, much of which was pushed down to principles to cut from their programs.
So a 4% increase
Is a 10% cut?
I'm no math expert, but inflation has been running under 4%, and Stevil would point out the decreasing attendance, so the only want this makes sense to be is if you are using those numbers used in theoretical physics.
$1 million in legal fees down the tubes
$1 million in legal fees down the tubes on a frivolous lawsuit. Thanks a lot Marty.
BTW, his office announced they negotiated a $50,000 cap with lawyers investigating Walsh's office's involvement in the teamsters extortion case.
Amazed...
This one has 1 other comment. Really, no one's going to go on a tiff about casinos or how this is going to destroy Charlestown?
How long can we afford Marty Walsh?
$1m wasted on this casino fight.
$500-$1M? and lots of employee time wasted on Boston 2024.
Lots of tax rebates to come to encourage construction
Tax rebates?
If you look at the popularity of the mayor who started that, you might want to get comfortable with Walsh. You've got another 18 years to look forward to.
As for these legal fees yes, the odds were against, but it would have been about 4% of the difference between what the Suffolk Downs bid was (or maybe will, pending their suit, which has slightly more standing) going to give and what Wynn will give Boston up front.
Too late Marty!
Walsh blew this a long time ago when
he sat on the sidelines during the
vote in East Boston Refused to take
a position then it blew up in his
face, casino moves up the street,
and Boston loses millions going
forward. Then he try's to shake
down Wynn!
The Eastie vote was when
The Eastie vote was when Menino was still in office. I absolutely remember it because he said he wanted it and then he only let the one neighborhood vote on it, which guaranteed it got shot down. So yes, Walsh was very much on the sidelines for that.
And he sure did take a position.
He cut a deal with the Suffolk Downs (now Revere only) then refused to even talk to Wynn's people. He keeps trying to sandbag the Everett project in hopes the license will go to Revere.
Look pal
Menino did many good things for the City, but not everything he did should be emulated by this current doorknob we have as a mayor.
Well played
However, my point is that Joe Voter hasn't really cared about these giveaways in the past, so they won't in the future.
Of course, the argument could be made that Menino was also following precedent going back to the Collins era. That's a lot of elections where the incumbent won.
No one said anything like
No one said anything like that. Reading is fundamental.
Should he ask for the $1,000,000 back?
Transportation experts say the Wynn casino introduces significant transportation infrastructure problems but the lawsuit failed to prove damages or collect awards sufficient to fund transportation.
Is it time for Walsh to get new lawyers?
Should he ask for the $1,000,000 back?