A casino mitigation deal that appeared close to being inked between Boston and Mohegan Sun is now up in the air after Mayor Martin J. Walsh's surprise call for the state Gaming Commission to delay its decision on the Boston-area license until after November's casino repeal referendum.
Walsh said yesterday the Supreme Judicial Court's Tuesday decision to allow a repeal question on the ballot "changed everything."
"We're spending money, the taxpayers' dollars, on lawyers and legal fees to work on these agreements," Walsh said. "At the end of the day, if the voters vote it down, we wasted taxpayers' dollars on having a negotiation that should have been put off until after November."
Walsh — who faces commission-imposed arbitration deadlines this week and has been negotiating for months with Mohegan and competitor Wynn Resorts — has already requested several delays. His latest was delivered via email shortly after 3 p.m. yesterday, while the commission was in formal session.
The commission, which wants to issue a Boston-area license decision by September, said it will review the request and noted it retains "the ability to deal with the contingences of the licensing process in a manner that serves the best interest of the public."
Walsh's announcement blindsided many, including Suffolk Downs, where Mohegan is planning its casino on property in Revere. In a statement, Suffolk Downs chairman Bill Mulrow directly criticized Walsh.
"On behalf of the family of workers at Suffolk Downs, we are dismayed by the approach the mayor has chosen here in dealing with our tenant, Mohegan Sun Massachusetts, and its proposal to create jobs — many of which would undoubtedly go to Boston residents," Mulrow said.
Revere Mayor Dan Rizzo told the Herald he'd heard Boston and Mohegan "were pretty much in-sync and, but for a few details, primarily legalese, that they had conceptually been on the same page." Rizzo noted other licenses have been awarded contingent on the outcome of November's referendum.
Rumors swirled for weeks that Walsh was close to a deal with Mohegan. He declined yesterday to comment on the status of the negotiations.
Asked Wednesday if he was leaning toward Mohegan over Wynn, Walsh responded, "I'll probably let you know in 12 hours." Asked about traffic mitigation, he said, "One proponent is willing to invest some serious money in mitigation, and the other proponent's willing to not invest that much. You'll know pretty soon who those are."
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