On Monday afternoon the Economic Development Sub Committee of the City Council held a special meeting about the Boston Globe story on the revenue projections of the Suffolk Downs Casino and its implications for the City of Revere.
After a hearing that lasted more than 90 minutes, the end result was that they all agreed that the host agreement that Mayor Dan Rizzo and his team negotiated is a great deal for the City of Revere.
Councillor after Councillor stood by their vote to approve the agreement. And every Councillor reiterated the dire fact of what would happen to Revere if this deal does not go through.
Councillor Tony Zambuto expounded the advantages of the agreement by noting that Revere city’s coffers are guaranteed to receive $125M over the next 15 years as well as $50M in infrastructure repairs and a new youth center.  All of these measures will stabilize our tax base and be a boon for city taxpayers.
Revere Director of Economic Development John Festa said that when they were looking at the casino revenue projections, city officials took the worst case revenue scenario and that Revere is guaranteed these monies regardless. And yes, there is still an upside of even more money if Suffolk Downs Casino hits its projected $1B in revenue.
Mayor Dan Rizzo pointed out that WBUR Radio noted that Revere did better in its negotiation than the City of Boston. And he said that, as he explains the agreement with residents, once they hear all the positives that have been negotiated, any doubts that they might have had are gone and they support the proposal.
As the November 5 vote by Revere residents on whether to approve the casino approaches, we urge all residents who have questions to seek out their elected officials and get the answers to their questions – honestly and unbiased.
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