Broadside: Casino Ballot Fight Starts

Mass. SJC unanimously decided to allow the ballot question; John Ribeiro and Joe Fernandes debate

Tuesday's decision was unanimous and the mobilization was immediate when Massachusetts' Supreme Judicial Court overturned Attorney Martha Coakley's finding that the Repeal the Casino Deal question should be barred from the ballot.

The justices, in a unanimous decision, ruled that the ballot question was a "foreseeable risk" that casino developers and their investors took when they applied for licenses.

John Riberio of Repeal the Casino Deal says the group is well on their way to collecting the necessary number of signatures to get the question of whether or not casinos should be repealed on the ballot.

"There's not a single casino in the country that's saved a city or town, and that's what these cities or towns are hanging onto," he said.

Joe Fernandes, a Plainville town administrator, says he's positive meetings will be taking place among proponents of casinos, especially in communities were licenses have already been granted.

"Plainville is full steam ahead. They're erecting steel this week. They hope to have a building to be occupied sometime in April and then bring in machines," Fernandes said. Plainville was granted the state's only slots parlor license.

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