By Josh Resnek
The resignation last week of Gaming Commission Chairman Steven Crosby continues to reverberate here, especially, and around the state.
His resignation signals the uncertainty facing Everett, Wynn Resorts and everyone involved in building the monster along the Mystic which is now heading toward completion – although hundreds of millions remain to be spent to reach that point on June 19, the proposed opening day.
Crosby’s sudden and unexpected resignation is more than it seems, and is certainly that for him – but he’s not telling us why he quit.
Why did he quit?
How does his departure change anything about to happen?
Where is Crosby heading?
One never quits a job like his because people were saying that his mind is already made up or that he was being unfair.
He never should have been on the Commission anyway – not with his business involvement with one of the original owners of the land the casino is being built on.
Why has he quit?
Where is he heading?
What difference does all this make to Everett?
Everett is intimately involved with everything that happens to Wynn Resorts and to the MGC. Everything about this city’s financial stability and its future rests on the casino/hotel sailing smoothly along and opening without a hitch on June 19, 2018.
Crosby’s resignation throws everything about the project into turmoil.
Will he show up at a casino or employed by a gaming company? Doubtful. There are rules against that.
Obviously, Crosby has something up his sleeve – or he wouldn’t have quit so close to the deciding moment everyone is waiting for.
Either that, or as we suggested last week, the law is after him and everyone involved in the charade he’s been presiding over since he got placed on the Commission.
The lawsuits against Wynn Resorts are more than nuisance to the gambling giant. The lawsuits now winding their way through the court system, both Federal and state, all impact him, his leadership, his decision making and in many ways, his future.
Did he leave because the law is after him?
It’s entirely possible, according to several attorneys the Leader Herald spoke with.
More likely, is that the x is in and he left early to avoid being blamed for it.
The likelihood is that the four remaining MGC commissioners will carry Crosby’s bidding without missing a step.
They will fine Wynn Resorts and decide Wynn Resorts is now a proper company because its founder Steve Wynn has no further ties with the company he founded.
Could Crosby or the commissioners been paid to make the right move for Wynn Resorts the same way Steve Wynn paid to keep a woman’s mouth shut by handing her $7.5 million?
Impossible you say?
But this is Massachusetts where anything is possible when government gets its hands dug into it.
The Wall Street Journal investigative piece that sank Steve Wynn and revealed Wynn Resorts as a serial sexual harasser of women coverup company is all about truth.
The truth is a terrible weapon of aggression.
The last thing anyone wants to hear about themselves is the truth.
The MGC is duty bound to pay close attention to the lying that went on before them during the licensing period.
Nearly every Wynn Resorts company official appearing before the MGC – from Steve Wynn, to Matt Maddox to Kim Sinatra – all lied.
The compulsive lying of these high-powered business types should dictate the license being pulled from Wynn Resorts.
Why?
Because you can’t be suitable to run a casino in Massachusetts if you are a compulsive liar and if you perjured yourself during the license confirmation process.
Does a slap on the wrist work in this instance?
We don’t believe so.
The GMC cannot commit a crime against itself by allowing crimes against it and the people of Massachusetts to stand.
If the MGC does this, then it is as unsuitable as the folks at Wynn Resorts who claim they’ve been rehabilitated and that everything is OK.
Crosby’s resignation shows that everything is not OK.
His resignation signals a perilous moment for the city of Everett and for everyone else with a big stake in the casino/hotel.
Don’t be surprised if Crosby is arrested and other members of the GMC are questioned by the FBI about any side deals they’ve made to make sure Wynn Resorts keeps the license.
Wynn Resorts should not be able to keep their license under the GMC rules and regulations – but it will.