The Board of Selectmen intends to meet with the Tribe on April 13, 2009, but refuse to allow any public participation in the meeting. I guess the rest of the cheap seats have no right to address the "saviours" of the Town. God help us...we will have to rely on the Board to ask the intelligent questions, because they won’t let the public ask.
So, I guess that leaves it to us to frame the questions…just in case the Board does not figure out the right topics of conversation.
But to be fair, Mimi was cited in the Enterprise as wanting to know what effect the Carcieri decision will have on the resort project. Good question…just too many months too late, and, if she really wants to know the answer, maybe reading the SCOTUS decision and some of the “Anti” blogs might give her a clue. For that matter, maybe reading the IGA, which spells out what happens if the Secretary of the Interior can’t grant Land into Trust application, would let her know that the Tribe can terminate the IGA now. But then again, the BOS keeps claiming that the Town is "partners" with the Tribe when the IGA expressly states that we are NOT partners or joint venturers--go figure!
In any event, here are some of the questions I would like to see asked:
1. Does the Tribe intend to rescind the IGA based on the SCOTUS ruling, and will they commit to creating new language that will bar their right to rescind, prior to any negotiation of any other aspect of the IGA?
2. If the feasibility study shows that the infrastructure improvements the Tribe agreed to make will be too expensive to allow building the Resort on the scale they expected, does the Tribe intend to ask Middleborough to agree to less infrastructure improvements?
3. Does the Tribe accept the fact that any negotiations that lessen the benefits of the IGA, as originally voted on by the Town, must be voted on at another Town Meeting?
4. Has the Tribe or any of its agents ever met with the Governor, either formally or informally, to discuss a compact? If so, do they intend to meet with him again without Middleborough being present?
5. Mr. Tobey said that he would be investigating those other Tribe members that were involved with Marshall and the matters to which he pled. Has he found who they were, and have they been removed from the project?
6. Will the Tribe assure the Town that if this Resort project does not come to pass, that under no set of circumstances will the Tribe or the investors attempt to recoup any of the Planning monies that they have paid the Town to date?
7. Will the Town get its 2% from the Tribe or not?
8. According to the BOS, they wrote you a letter in January asking for a meeting, and they claim that you never responded. Is that true? Is that how one "partner" treats another--not responding?
9. If you believe in the accountability and transparency of this project, as Aaron Tobey has claimed, do you mind answering questions from the public tonite? If so, how does that square with your stated desires?
Any other questions? Feel free to send them. I will post them here (even if anonymous)—but be polite.
5 comments:
Prediction for Q.2
2. If the feasibility study shows that the infrastructure improvements the Tribe agreed to make will be too expensive to allow building the Resort on the scale they expected, does the Tribe intend to ask Middleborough to agree to less infrastructure improvements?
There are 3 classes of infrastructure:
1. Gotta have: power, water, gas, sewer
2. Nice to have: growth capacity for items in 1.
3. Optional: Rt 44 and rotary improvements
How much you want to bet that the tribe takes care of the stuff they absolutely need and skips the Rt. 44 and rotary work? Most of the infrastructure work spelled out in the IGA is needed by the tribe not the town. The exception would be Rt. 44. This work is crucial for Middleboro's ability to attract other business. The BOS has shown time and again that they will not do anything to jeopardize this project. They will roll over and give the Tribe a pass on Rt. 44/Rotary.
The IGA as written provides money that will barely cover costs. It provides for a bunch of utilities infrastructure that will mostly benefit the tribe. And it includes a lot of valuable work to Rt. 44.
Guaranteed that this BOS throws away our Rt. 44 improvements. It would be consistent with their track record of screwing this up at every decision point.
Part of the result of giving up the Rte 44 aspect of the deal will be that the BOS gives away the restriction on the use of local roads. If they get asked to give up either of these items, they need to get paid very, very well.
A percentage comes to mind, as well as retroactivity on the CPI increase, as well as an increase in the mitigation fund, as well as an insurance and arbitration clause to mitigate the sovereign nation issue. But the BOS don't read blogs, so we have to bet on their innate intelligence and impressive work ethic. Boy...are we in trouble.
Ask them why they are still coming when the Town voted that it did not want a casino in Article III? Marshall lied, and now they keep the lie going.
How about asking if the tribe as friends and neighbors, would abide by another vote taken by townspeople about whether they want a casino in town.
This time no power point show,no rush, no "they will come anyway", and no threats and accusations of racism. Just give us the respect that they want, and let us decide the future of our town.
If that happens and then the vote goes in favor of a casino I can accept it.
I agree, ask them about the vote on Article III, where the town voted that we did not want a casino.
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