By Josh Resnek
The debate rages on about what is going to happen as the decision presumably comes closer everyday as to whether or not the Encore Casino owned by Wynn Resorts will receive a license from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.
The MGC has given no indication when or how it is going to rule.
Here in Everett, this coming MGC decision is the vote of a lifetime for the city.
Everett awaits the outcome with baited breath as everything about the city’s immediate financial future hangs on the vote made by the MGC.
The mayor is believed to have cancelled his annual state of the city address until the vote is decided. After all, the state of the city depends almost entirely on Wynn Resorts getting a gaming license.
The mayor is said to be extremely jittery and nervous about the outcome of the MGC’s deliberations.
“He could not get himself to address the city without knowing about the outcome of the vote first,” said a source close to the mayor.
“Can you imagine him speaking about the state of the city without knowing what the MGC is going decide?” added the source.
The Boston Globe recently offered an editorial asking the MGC to award the license to Wynn Resorts but with stipulations – one of which was asking for Wynn’s president Matthew Maddox to be forced to step aside, and perhaps the same fate for Elaine Wynn – the company’s largest shareholder and Steve Wynn’s ex wife.
Wynn Resorts officials have said among themselves, it has been reported in gaming circles, that asking Maddox to leave as a requirement for the granting of a license is not an option.
The Globe’s reasoning rests entirely on the belief that the project is too large to be allowed to fail.
If cheating and lying was done by Wynn Resorts during the selection process, that does not matter as much as what Wynn has done to clean itself up, according to the reasoning in the Globe editorial.
The Boston Herald has written that Wynn Resorts should not receive a license from the MGC.
“No one should get a license after lying the way Wynn Resorts executives did during the selection process, the Herald has said in as many words.
In the Boston Business Journal last week a lead editorial said that the recent three days of hearings before the MGC was a reminder of the downside of gaming now that it has been allowed in Massachusetts. The BBJ said that Bay State residents will have to accept the good with the bad, the economic boost with the costs to the state and “to our moral fiber.”
Here at the Leader Herald, we remain adamant that the MGC must understand that time is of the essence. They must rule sooner rather than later or compromise the success of the opening.
We do not believe it matters who owns the casino. What matters is that it opens.
We believe that Wynn Resorts lied and cheated so Steve Wynn could buy his way into the gaming business in Massachusetts.
This is exactly what he did and we believe the company should not be rewarded for its bad behavior during the application process ,especially since the lying and fakery led to Ann uneven playing field.Chanel 5 Television has come out in favor of Wynn being awarded the license.
In the meantime, anyone claiming to know in particular what the MGC is deliberating about right now is either a liar or a fraud or both. No one is supposed to know – yet many claim to know what the outcome is going to be.