Over the Limit

Mayor Will Flanagan finally filed his campaign finance report and it looks like he may have to return thousands of dollars. Massachusetts law limits the amount of money an individual can donate to a campaign. That limit is $500 per calendar year.

Despite the $500 maximum, the following campaign contributions were reported by Flanagan in the 2010 calendar year:

James P. Antonio $600
Todd Benevides $725
Brian Bishop $650
Anthony Cordeiro $550
Laurenio Couto $1000
Emilio Estacio $850
Carl Garcia $650
Fernando Garcia $650
Loretta George $1425
Alan S. Johnson $1000
James Karam $650
Robert Karam $700
Deborah Kenney $950
Mark Levin $850
Gilbert Lopes, Jr. $800
Mario Lucciola $600
Wayne Rego $1000
Kenneth R. Rezendes $1100
Daniel Silvia $600
Dennis D. Silvia $600
Robert Smith $550

Is this a case of careless accounting by the Flanagan campaign, ignorance of the law, or perhaps just intentional disregard?

Full Report can be Seen HERE

The Stupidest Bet Ever

So City Councilors Pat Casey and Ray Mitchell triumphantly turn in over 1,000 signatures to the Mayor because a local activist Stefani Koorey dared her to.

Obviously the thought of Casey, who bears a striking resemblance to Sophia Petrillo from the Golden Girls, shuffling around town trying to collect 1,000 signatures in one day, was too humorous for Koorey to pass up. This stupid bet had the virtue of being amusing until a couple of councilors took it a bit too seriously and made the goal 1,000 signatures at all cost! It wasn’t Pat alone anymore; nope Ray manned his post at Stop and Shop collecting signatures from patrons who were probably relieved all he wanted was a signature and not some money or a ride somewhere. The two of them collected 900 signatures, so Team Pat also had a handful of other volunteers collecting signatures so they could reach the goal! So it was no longer just Pat and it doesn’t even seem like was just one day. She told the Herald she did it all on Monday but apparently was going around getting signatures the day before!

What did this prove?

Um.. that at least 1,000 people in a city of 90,000 want a casino. Big shock! Did anybody doubt that you could get 1,000 signatures? THE CHALLENGE was to do it herself in ONE day.
Um... that Pat didn’t understand the terms of her own bet because she is the one who boasted that SHE (alone) could get 1,000 signatures in one day. What other things does Pat say that really doesn’t understand?

That Ray Mitchell is the smarter of the two. While Pat went around for hours going door to door Ray went to where a bunch of people were. Maybe if Pat had simply gone to Wal Mart on Black Friday she could have gotten these signatures all by her lonesome?
That if you’re a City Councilor and you’re going to stand in front of a store for a few hours maybe you should get a red kettle and collect some money and really do something that will benefit all these people you say need help. I now DARE both these councilors to do just that. I’m sure the Salvation Army would be grateful for their time and assistance.

That you can totally waste the time of TWO elected officials simply by DARING THEM to do something! THIS is fantastic and I am going to make it a point to DARE Will Flanagan to lick a flagpole on a freezing cold day. I might even see if I can get Joe Camara to lick his own elbow or Brian Bigelow to run around downtown in his undershorts. Oh, skip that last one.

Casino is not on the Governor's agenda

I wish Will Flanagan had played some Sim City before, without having any relevant experience to his name, he opted to run for mayor of Fall River. Sim City would have allowed him to act out his city building fantasies without actually harming real people.

Flanagan's current fantasy plans for a casino in Fall River were knocked down, yet another peg*, today when Governor Deval Patrick, in an interview with the Boston Globe, stated that he has no intention to put casinos on his agenda this term.


*Hurdles to casino-topia
1) Casino Gaming in MA is illegal
2) Taxpayer 10 lawsuit
3) Open bidding law violations
4) Referendum vote of Fall River residents
5) Legislature needs to select Fall River as the region's location for a casino,
over Taunton, New Bedford, etc.
6) Funding for a casino needs to come through despite the horrible gaming economy
7) Governor has no plans to work on legalizing casino gambling this term

Moonlighting

In February of this year, Attorney Steven A. Torres, sat before the Fall River City Council and defended his recently signed contract, for his position as the city's corporate counsel. The city councilors questioned the fact that Torres was making more money than any previous corporate counsel for Fall River. Torres and Mayor Flanagan justified the $115,000 salary by asserting that the pay reflected the fact Torres would be eliminating his private practice to focus on Fall River full time. (note: At that time, I couldn't find any information supporting the claim that Atty Torres even had a private practice and the MA board of bar overseers website indicated Torres did not carry any attorney malpractice insurance because he was a government employee.)

Consider the fact that Torres justified his increased salary with the notion that he was losing money by giving up his private practice. Then imagine my surprise when I read an article out of Wareham recently which evidenced the fact that, 10 months into his contract with Fall River, Torres was still working side jobs:

"A report on the forensic audit of town computers, which has been in progress for nearly a year and a half, is once again delayed. Town Administrator Mark Andrews and the Board of Selectmen had been told that special counsel, the Law Offices of Steven A. Torres, would be prepared to present the results of the audit on Sept. 28 or October 5."

Pretty sneaky of Torres and Flanagan considering the fact that the City Council approved Torres' increased salary based on the premise that Torres was eliminating his private practice to, presumably, focus all of his efforts on the matters of Fall River. This is clearly not the case.

I think Torres is already overextended in his capacities as co-mayor of Fall River. I kid, I kid........... However, there have been many occasions where I have read in the Herald News, or heard at city council meetings that Corporation Counsel hadn't completed some task requested of them. Also, Torres went before the city council to get approval for another $45,000 budgeted so he could hire another attorney for the office - I certainly hope the addition of a new attorney wasn't to free up time for Torres to moonlight

B.S.

It is pure bullshit that when Will Flanagan pulled the YMCA funding for 42 low income units, Flanagan gave a chunk of that money to E.A. Fish/Winn's Wampanoag Mills low income development in the city.

The Y currently has 13 units with up to 4 people each for a max of 52 residents (48 are currently in there). The Y proposal is for 42, 1 person units. This means the Y is decreasing the number of low income residents there.

The Wampanoag Mill project has 97 NEW low income, multi person units. The Y project is decreasing low income units by 10....how can the administration say that they are against MORE low income housing downtown...this is less, and basic math.

Will Flanagan opted to support a large low income project by a company that has made millions on low income housing developments in this city. Will Flanagan pulled the funding from the non-profit organization where I learned to swim, that offers housing to the homeless, that has been an amazing community partner.

Facts about the Y project:
The neighborhood association supports it
They don't allow overnight guests
No alcohol is allowed
Cori checks are done
Money was also going to be used to install sprinklers in the building
Money was also allocated for handicap accessibility improvements

The Headlines Say it All

The casino industry is in a major slump. Casino layoffs and bankruptcy are becoming par for the course in the casino industry. Yet, many casino supporters and their leader Will Flanagan insist that the casino will end Fall River's problems. Will it? A recently opened casino in the similarly situated town of Bethlehem, PA laid off nearly 100 people within their first year. Can Fall River handle that? Because it is a distinct possibility. Casino revenues are down, casinos are going bankrupt, casino workers are losing their jobs.

No need to read the following articles, these recent headlines pretty much say it all:

Connecticut slots revenue down at Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun 7/15/2010

Twin Rivers files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy 6/23/09

Casino layoffs destined to affect Norwich 10/30/2008

Atlantic City Casino Revenue Declines For 22nd Consecutive Month In June 7/12/2010

Analysts: Weakness in Gaming Industry Continues 7/28/2010

Layoffs at casino in Bethlehem: Less than a year after a grand opening that rivaled the glitz and glamour of a Las Vegas revue, Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem is laying off 80 employees. 5/1/2010

200 plus layoffs for President Casino gambling boat 4/22/2010

Slipping into Bankruptcy? Foxwoods Struggles With Debt as Gaming Revenue Slumps 9/3/09

Lie down with dogs, get up with fleas - Fall River is about to get itchy

What?! Government officials are getting bribed? .... Fall River wants in on that action.

A few months ago I read an article in the Providence Journal titled something like "City Councilors Arrested by FBI on Bribery Charges." I clicked on the article hoping it wasn't Fall River but with a suspicion that it was. It was not Fall River, it was North Providence so that was a bit of a relief.

The ProJo article told the tale of 3 North Providence city council members and a developer by the name of Richard Baccari. The councilors agreed to change zoning laws for Baccari's development in exchange for $25,000.

Having recently been implicated in a $25,000 bribery scheme, any sensible government officials would probably hesitate to deal with Baccari. But not our dear FROED/Ken Fiola/RDA/Mayor Flanagan. They have proposed to build the UMass biopark on land Baccari owns in Freetown.

Last year, it was brought to my attention that the offramps being built to the biopark originally had a different plan. For some reason unknown to me, the plans for the offramp were changed so that they would run directly through Baccari's land in Freetown. And, that Baccari could potentially make alot of money as a result of the new plan for the offramps. I thought nothing of it at the time because the biopark was coming along as planned. In retrospect, the offramp plan changes certainly seem suspicious.

How convenient for this private developer Baccari, recently implicated in a government bribery scheme, that he could potentially make a ton of money with FROED's (and Will Flanagan too) help.

"Flanagan acknowledged business talks with the company’s Richard Baccari, the company’s president and CEO." Fall River Herald News July 23, 2010

"Baccari's relationships have always drawn the attention of law enforcement" Channel 10 I-team investigates

Lawyers and stuff

After a vote to give the part time Fall River School Committee attorney, Bruce Assad, a $32,000 raise, Assad now makes ($77,500) approximately double the median income of Fall River (for a PART TIME CITY JOB). I am not begrudging him for trying to get the most money he possibly can, I would probably try to do the same thing; BUT damn you School Committee for allowing this!! I hope when teachers are paying for classroom supplies out of their pockets, they think of you.

I think this quote from Tim McCoy, in support of Assad's raise, sums up the egregiousness of the raise pretty well, "...he is a guy that has spent several hours in negotiations during the past couple of months."

I am additionally frustrated because, on the city side of things, co-mayors Torres and Flanagan are about to add ANOTHER attorney to the legal department. I distinctly remember Flanagan selling the city a bill of goods that included cutting the costs of the "overpriced" legal department under the Correia administration. The city clearly survived all these years on one full time attorney and 2 part time attorneys....why do we now need 3 full times and a part time? On this subject, the law department proposes to pay the new Assistant Corporation Counsel $47,000 for a full time job. How does that reconcile with the $77,500 for the part time Assad?

These people are in the "public service" sector.....I always thought that meant they served the public, but it seems like it is the other way around.

And there goes the casino.......

In response to the Senate legislation that does not reserve a casino license for an Indian tribe, Mashpee Wampanoag chairman, Cedric Cromwell, threw a temper tantrum today. An article in tomorrow's Boston Herald quotes Cromwell:

“If the state gives a commercial license to another casino operator, we won’t pay the state a cent when we build a casino in Southeastern Massachusetts once expanded gaming is approved,” said Cedric Cromwell. “We will destroy the competition because we won’t pay licensing fees or taxes and we will provide a great player experience with more wins.”

Extorting the state with a threat he can never follow through on seems like such a bad idea. I am pretty sure with these remarks, Cedric Cromwell just bumped the Fall River Casino plans to the bottom of the list.



Mayor Flanagan and Counselor Torres, please rethink this.

Oh Snap!

So many hurdles to overcome before we can ever possibly get a casino in Fall River.  I recently heard Mayor Flanagan state that people "just don't understand how close to getting a casino we really are."  Today, another hurdle was put in our path to casino-topia.  Previously it was "hoped" by our powers-that-be that Fall River would have the advantage in getting one of the three casino permits, because Fall River's casino plan was for indian gaming and one of the permits would "hopefully" be dedicated to an indian plan. 

This afternoon, the Senate introduced a casino bill and it gives no preference to indian casino plans.  This means Fall River will not have any advantage in the race to get a permit.  This means we are now in direct competition with numerous other cities and towns vying for the 1 coveted permit for the region (the region is norfolk, bristol, plymouth, nantucket, dukes and barnstable counties).   New Bedford is one of these cities.  And lets be honest, they have their $hit together over there much more than Fall River does; governmentally, economically, planning wise, and in the area of economic development. 

The recent decisions by Mayor Flanagan and Atty Torres to forego the BioPark and gamble on the slight chance of getting a casino are capricious and will likely have a detrimental impact on our city long after they are voted out of office.

From Bio Park to Green Park to Water Park in less than a year

This week last year a bio park was under construction on a 300-acre site in the city's north end. The acres were properly zoned to accommodate biotech manufacturing, medical device manufacturing, life sciences, and similarly related businesses. Several companies/organization were preparing to move into the Bio Park, plans were made, off ramps were built, and loans were awarded in anticipation of the developing Bio Park.

Fall River was told that the Bio Park was going to save them (prior to the Green Park and Casino saving them).

This week last year, an inexperienced Mayoral candidate named Will Flanagan began campaigning on a promise to bring a Green Park to Fall River instead of a Bio Park. You can read all about Flanagan's promises for a Green Park on his website here.....well you could if his promises hadn't mysteriously turned into 3 pages of blank document...which is pretty much as substantive as anything else he said during his campaign.

Luckily, the Herald News isn't into erasing campaign promises and still has this article on Flanagan's Green Park. Here is my favorite part:

“I am very concerned that the Correia administration is taking a risky gamble on biotechnology, as mayor of this city I would not gamble with our city’s economy. Green jobs are secure for today’s economy and as well as tomorrow’s economy. I will work with our various governmental agencies, our business community, and our unions to ensure that this Green Industrial Park will become reality,” Flanagan said.

(Gambling on the mind much??) Flanagan sounded so committed to a Green Park but, not surprisingly, I haven't heard a thing about it since he used it to get into office. This is probably because he broke his promise for a Green Park and is expeditiously pursuing bringing a casino (with a water park) to Fall River.


I am not necessarily opposed to the idea of any of the aforementioned projects, however, I am opposed to rushed, poorly thought out projects (casino) and false promises made to get into office. The fact that, a mere several months ago, Flanagan was absolutely confident that the Green Park was going to be the answer to Fall River's economic problems, indicates to me that the Casino plan is rushed and not well thought out, like many of his campaign promises.