The Boston Globe made headlines with a full-page endorsement of the Wynn casino project in its Sunday, Sept. 9 edition, arriving just weeks after the Boston Herald had thrown its support behind the Mohegan Sun proposal.
According to the Globe’s editorial board, “fblikebutton_button” “…a rival plan in Everett looks much more in keeping with the law’s intent,” The newspaper argued that commissioners ought to pursue the Everett location if they felt compelled to advance a casino development this week, prior to the scheduled referendum. The reasoning provided emphasized that such a development would deliver both economic and environmental benefits to one of Greater Boston’s most economically challenged areas, while simultaneously commanding stronger backing from the community than its competitor—the Mohegan Sun casino proposal at Suffolk Downs.
Voters in Eastie had rejected a comparable proposal in last November’s referendum, the editorial noted. This prior rejection should have definitively ended the matter. The Globe contended that “fblikebutton_button” “The defeat of the initial casino plan at the site last year should have been the end of the proposal, and the hastily revised plan and Suffolk Downs’s new partnership with Mohegan Sun does not cancel out the clear verdict of voters in East Boston last year on a materially similar proposal.”
Monday brought a lengthy written response from Revere Mayor Dan Rizzo, who took issue with what he characterized as misstatements in the Globe piece. He contended the editorial lacked candor, saying “fblikebutton_button” “The Globe editorial board would be more honest with its readers by stating that it does not want to see a resort-style casino built in eastern Massachusetts, rather than encourage a license for an applicant with a track record of dramatically over promising and then disappearing.” Rizzo added his own assessment: “fblikebutton_button” “The more people know the truth, the more they like Mohegan Sun’s plan.”
When reached regarding either the Globe’s endorsement or the Herald’s backing of the competing project, Wynn declined to offer any statement.