Casino License in Question; Mayor Must Be Heard From
Published reports in this edition of the Leader Herald pointing to the Gaming Commission’s apparent discovery that Wynn Resorts president Matthew Maddox knew all about his boss Steve Wynn’s paternity suit and payout but failed to say anything about it when Wynn’s application was filed with the Gaming Commission spells big trouble.
It is anyone’s guess what exactly the commission is going to do except to say that Maddox is likely out of the picture as a replacement for Wynn – and this fact alone puts the license in jeopardy.
What does this mean and how should we react?
It means that Wynn Resorts and its top echelon of leaders cannot be considered as “suitable” replacements for Wynn. We should react to this with shock and alarm. The future ownership of the license appears to be in question.
Add to this Governor Charlie Baker’s comments last week that the Wynn name should not and cannot appear on the hotel and casino now being built.
Baker’s comments were tame compared with those of Attorney General Maura Healey.
She questioned whether or not Wynn Resorts should be allowed to keep its Boston-area casino license in the wake of new rape and sexual harassment allegations lodged against Wynn.
Both Baker and Healey agreed the Gaming Commission should keep the Wynn name off the Everett project.
For Everett, this is a bitter twist for a project more important than any other in the city’s history. There is no gloating or laughter about this turn of events.
Everything is now in question about the project even though construction is continuing. The Wynn myth of superiority has been shattered. The company is riddled with degenerates or so it would appear.
The mayor’s silence in the face of this potential catastrophe remains a mystery. At the very least he should have denounced Wynn for his appalling behavior. He should have demanded new ownership.
He should have demanded Wynn’s name be disallowed on the structure. Instead, not a word about that from the city’s top elected public official. Not a word from him about injecting the city’s best interests into this mix of questions about how the project ends up being owned and or completed or both.
The mayor has a spent almost $1 million on a law firm to squeeze larger tax payments out of Exelon. That $1 million probably should have been spent getting the city some edge in this casino mess.
If the Gaming Commission does not allow Wynn Resorts to own the license Everett becomes mired in an incredible short- term disaster.
If Wynn can’t own the casino then someone else will but the project won’t be the same.
All Everett residents should be caring about is that we get the $30 million in lieu of tax payment that is due in 2019 that Wynn is supposed to pay. Without that payment – this city is cooked. There is another $12.5 million payment coming in May.
All of us need to hear from the mayor about what exactly is going on.
Why the silence in the face of such despicable behavior by a man who just two months ago was considered Everett’s savior and savant?
Our Condolences to the Goss Family
Those of us who know the Goss Family of Everett have been thrown into a state of despair for our friends who suffered the loss of all losses in February.
What should have been a joyous day turned into the darkest of days for the Goss Family who lost not only their beloved daughter Angelina, but their unborn grandson who their daughter was pregnant with.
Angie, as she was known, suffered a severe asthma attack on Feb. 15 while visiting her grandfather in Salem, New Hampshire.
She was rushed to Lawrence Hospital where she died but then gave birth to a son who also died.
There are no words adequate to assuage the grief of this Everett family of hardworking, decent people.
Angie was a 2005 graduate of Everett High School.
To Bobby Goss, her father, and to her fiancé Francis Feeley, and to everyone in this family touched by this horrific double tragedy we offer our condolences.
If only man was God and we could bring them back.