What can one expect from a lawyer and now ex-Middleboro BOS selectman who spent the past year and half as the number one cheerleader for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s push to build a mega casino in Middleboro. If you support an irresponsible project without doing any research and push for an inadequate intergovernmental agreement, get your votes to accept said agreement using scare tactics and the myth of inevitability, then expect that you are going to be criticized when you turn around after the fact and say it isn’t good enough….and then quit under the guise of doing what’s best for your tribe. To hell with everything else your town faces, the rest of the board doesn’t agree with you, so get up and walk out in a blaze of glory. That’s about as close as any of us will get to justice in Middleboro where town politics has become a soap opera.
I am not criticizing Mr. Bond for quitting his post as chairman of the board of selectmen, I am just questioning his reasons behind it. Can anyone say....draaaammaaaa.... The really sad thing about all of this is that when I read the comments sections on blogs from residents who have been wronged by him over this casino trainwreck, I read about how gallant he is….he shows true leadership….he has support for renegotiating the contract...he has done the right thing, we need to renegotiate in case it comes - when the reality of the situation is, there is no point in renegotiations and no point in Mr. Bond quitting his post in the manner that he did. Attempting to re-negotiate the IGA is a waste of time, effort, energy and money….it is an exercise in futility.
Here is the thing folks….the IGA that was voted in at the TMFH is the one that was submitted with the Land in Trust Application which means it is the only one that legally counts. The BIA is very clear on one issue. Once a LIT application is submitted it cannot be changed. There can be no additions or deletions made to the application package by the Tribe. Period.
I have been through the BIA’s checklist for gaming. Under the section entitled Request for Approval of Acquisitions. Here is what is says:
The information required under 25 CFR PART 151 should be organized to provide a complete picture of the tribe's request. Tribes should be encouraged to submit their requests in a manner which will facilitate the analysis of the request request. At the onset of a request, a tribe should be instructed on the nature of the requires submissions which support the request. Documents received from the tribe should be kept intact. NO ADDITIONS OR DELETIONS SHOULD BE MADE TO THE TRIBE'S APPLICATION PACKAGE. ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OBTAINED BY THE BIA OFFICES TO SUPPLEMENT OR CLARIFY THE TRIBE'S APPLICATION SHOULD BE MAINTAINED SEPARATELY AND IDENTIFIED IN A MANNER THAT WILL ENABLE THE READER TO READILY MAKE A DETERMINATION AS TO WHICH OFFICE OBTAINED OR PREPARED THE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
The point I am trying to make here is that the tribe is not allowed to send anything in after the application has been submitted. They cannot rescind the old IGA and replace it with a new one. The only way information or documentation is added to an application is when they are asked for more documentation from a reviewing department who needs clarification on specific parts of an application. This is called Technical Assistance.
So, in a nutshell, the tribe has to be asked for more documentation. They cannot send anything in after the fact or update their LIT application. Mr. Bond is a day late and a few million dollars short here. Middleboro negotiated a contract with the Tribe. The Tribe submitted that contract as part of it’s LIT application. The Town has made it’s bed…now that is what I call a done deal.
This is a federal process people. There is nothing in the law or federal code that will allow a re-negotiated contract to be submitted at this point. I would have thought that Mr. Bond, being an attorney and all, or at least Mr. Whittlesey would have known that.
“I believe they've shown joyful willingness to support the tribe's interests over the town's," Bond said of his board. "From their actions, they've shown the town is desperate for a casino, and by doing that, they've rung a bell that can't be un-rung. In my mind, they have irreparably harmed the people of Middleborough." – Adam Bond quoted in the Boston Globe
Hey, I can relate to this statement….it’s just that in this chick’s eyes, Mr. Bond himself along with the Middleboro BOS have already irreparably harmed the people of Middleboro…as well as the people from the surrounding communities in the summer of 2007. So thanks for the concern, but the damage has been done and a done bun can’t be undone.
For those who feel that Mr. Bond did the right thing and honestly think that there is a chance to get more money from the Tribe…well by all means, please go on thinking that, but you may want to shift your focus away from wasting money renegotiating with the Tribe itself and hope like hell the State will make up that $18 million plus deficit you are now worried about. Good luck with that.
The only thing talks of re-negotiation will accomplish is to help the Tribe show efforts at mitigation from financial concerns raise during the EIS scoping session. It would only serve to provide the Tribe with more “proof” that the community at large supports this project, when in reality it doesn’t – as shown in Article 3 from the TMFH. I think Gladys Kravitz made this point quite well in
her blog. The fact of the matter is, the only IGA that counts is the one in the application and the application can’t be changed or modified by the Tribe.
Huh….I wonder why Mr. Whittlesey hasn’t pointed that out to anyone but instead supports Bond in his futile efforts at saving the town….
Dennis Whittlesey, the Washington attorney who helped negotiate the agreement on behalf of the town, had agreed with Bond. He urged selectmen to call for a meeting to "discuss the specific agreements made and the foundations upon which they were made." - Boston Globe article
So, if the bigwig DC Indian gaming lawyer
Dennis Whittlesey couldn’t negotiate a fair agreement back in 2007, then what hope is there for the residents of Middleboro now – especially since the enlightened ex-selectman is still all for the casino project, the current BOS hasn't even bothered to read the indictments against the man they negotiatied with while some board members allegedly have
private pow-wows of their own with key tribal officals and casino investors. I fear that the the only way Middleboro is going to get out of this with any money left is if this application is flat out denied by the SOI…or if the Supreme court rules in favor of Carcieri.
Live by the semantic sword, die by it also.
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it without a sense of ironic futility - Errol Morris
- be the change you want to see in the world -
