Gaming commission set to vote on Revere-only casino proposal

REVERE, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- Casino supporters rallied in Revere Sunday to show their support for the Revere-only casino plan that will go before the Massachusetts Gaming Commission on Tuesday.

The Gaming Commission is slated to vote on whether the Host Community Agreement Revere had with Boston when Caesar's was the gaming partner is still valid.

Revere and Suffolk Downs believe it is. They point to the November 5th vote where 60% of  voters said yes to the new proposal in Revere even though East Boston voted the proposal down.

No Casino spokesperson John Ribeiro said that the new proposal is technically OK but falls outside the legal definition of what's lawful and there must be a 6-month "cooling off" period before it can be considered.

That doesn't seem to faze the pro-casino folks. Both Revere's Mayor Dan Rizzo and Suffolk Downs COO Chip Tuttle said they feel confident their "host agreement" will stand bolstered by the fact the people voted for it.

However we have now learned that Boston was unaware of this second deal which Revere claims was always on the back burner in case East Boston said rejected the proposal. This came to light in a letter sent by Mayor Rizzo to the Gaming Commission expressing that Revere always wanted gaming and even had a back up plan in place.

Dottie Joyce confirmed that they were unaware of that and that the city of Boston would now be considered a "surrounding community" and have no say in what is built and a lesser share in any money share from revenues. It seems the only people who did know that were Revere officials and Suffolk Downs acknowledged it to us as well.

The Gaming Commission vote is slated for 1 p.m. on Tuesday.

Cox Media Group