Decision Time

If the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) is to be believed, the commission will vote this week whether to award the casino gaming license for the Greater Boston area either to Wynn Resorts in Everett or to Suffolk Downs in Revere. The process undertaken by the MGC has been thorough and has taken quite a long time to get to this point. We might add that it is still not over, inasmuch as a ballot question on casino gambling will go before all the voters of Massachusetts in November.

Both the Wynn Resort and Suffolk Downs casino plans are two good choices. But in the final analysis, we agree with the 86% of the voters who turned out last year in the special election in Everett to support the Wynn Resort’s proposal.

We look at the benefits not only for the City of Everett that are tremendous, but also for the region.  One of the biggest regional advantages is that an environmentally-contaminated site will be cleaned up, which means that the waterways in several surrounding communities that get the runoff from this site will also be cleaner.

More specifically, we would note that we have stayed at the Wynn Resorts in Las Vegas and can attest to its five-star quality of a sort that is truly-needed in the Boston market. We have seen the influence of Steve Wynn to do the job right, whether it be in a detail in the building or the way that the employees are treated as a family. Steve Wynn has created a culture that puts doing a job right above the monetary cost and treating all employees as more than just employees.

In short, to stay at his Wynn Resort in Las Vegas is a unique experience. We feel this is one of the issues that the MGC should look at when considering the two proposals. Wynn is number one in the gaming business and Steve Wynn has the necessary financing to undertake a venture of this kind.

Lastly, Steve Wynn has staked his decades-long reputation as the industry leader on making his casino in Massachusetts a thriving entity. In the parlance of the World Series of Poker, it is clear that Steve Wynn is “going all in” in Massachusetts  and that is something that the MGC needs to consider very carefully in making its final decision.

Stephen Quigley is a frequent contributor to the Everett Independent.

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