The economic viability of Main Street, Hyannis is inversely proportionate to casino development in Middleborough...

For our mentally challenged town councilors inversely proportionate means the greater the number of people going to the casino, the fewer the number of summer tourists on Main Street.

Has it occurred to Cynthia Cole, Monica Parker, or any other business/developer advisors on Main Street that when the casino opens a 30 minute drive from here, it will be back to the future for Main Street?

Discretionary money is finite; Main Street tourism will have to compete with slot machines, blackjack tables, a theme park, and a steady stream of top-flight headline acts.

To compete the new casino will have to be bigger and better than, Foxwoods, and Mohegan Sun, if such a thing is possible.

Main Street, Hyannis will have to settle for the crumbs in the upcoming “casino wars.”

Casinos are built like Venus flytrap plants, once you enter, there’s no reason to leave for anything, because everything, except the ocean, is available within the footprint of the building.

If you haven’t been to Las Vegas lately, you may not know that today’s casinos are also theme parks ala Disneyland and Disneyworld. 

In California seven and eight year-olds clamor for weekend trips to the casinos in Las Vegas.  It's a "win/win" situation for the whole family, including mom who can literally shop till she drops.

The casino “hook” is;

you can have the most fabulous four days of your life,

and there’s a good chance if you win a little it won't cost a dime,

with a little more luck you could come home with a few extra bucks in your jeans.

Summer home owners will continue to come to the Cape, but these people typically don’t patronize Main Street, or spend a whole lot of dollars on the Cape.

Many seasonal homeowners even bring their own groceries for their brief sojourns.

What can business “talking heads” do to stem the tide of this major competition?

I’d start by joining forces with the citizen-element in Middleborough opposed to the casino.

I’d try to get the Wampanoags to build the thing as far away from the Cape as possible,

and certainly not in the middle of the road of the gateway to the Cape.

If you doubt that of which I’m writing, take a drive to Foxwoods via the Route 2 exit just beyond the Rhode Island line.

It’ll be a 20-minute drive to Foxwoods from that point.

Notice the blight and lack of prosperity on the way.

Everyone else will will be wearing blinkers as they drive 65 MPH headed for the promised land, ignoring everyone and everything along the way.

Hyannis will suffer the same fate. 

Don't get me wrong, Hyannis will have its tourists, but will the people come in sufficient numbers to sustain the viability of most of the businesses.

I predict the new casino will have the same impact on Hyannis's economy as year after year of rainy summers.

Sorrenti’s Shell Station, in the old Sagamore Rotary, was a booming business before the “flyover."

How much do you think his business has dropped off in the last year? 

I don't have the testosterone to ask.

Hyannis developers like Stu Bornstein would be better served buying property in Middleborough.

The town is going to need a lot of housing, and most of it doesn't need to be affordable, because casino workers do quite well both over and under the table, if you know what I mean.

It won't be long when the Town Council will be spending most of its time trying to figure out what to do with all those empty buildings in Hyannis.

Blight begets blight.

Have you been to Atlantic City lately?

Remember the Radisson Hotel before it was the Radisson?  If you do multiply that times thirty.

A Middleborough casino will do in one year what the Cape Cod Commission couldn't do in seventeen,

put a lid on Cape development.

it'll be all downhill from here.

Comments

[J J]

Gary, you do bring out some very good points. First, the POOR PLANNING that has gone in the downtown area ia obvious. I had a chat yesterday with a local business owner there who agrees. She said, "THERE IS NO PARKING"! Gee, there's a thought!

As for other issues, right about NOW, if I were one involved in this town admin or council, I WOULD BEGIN TO LOOK FOR WAYS TO HELP EVERYONE HERE! But DO THESE TOWN OFFICIALS ever even consider this? Not hardly.

At present, there are 929 single family homes and condominiums FOR SALE in BARNSTABLE ALONE! For anyone who does not know it, Barnstable also has one of the HIGHEST FORECLOSURE RATES of ANY town or city in the Commonwealth, if not the highest. Yes, there is a reason for this and yes, it DID invlove the STUPIDITY of many who went out and SPENT every dime of taxpayer land bank money and BOUGHT up over 1,000 ACRES of land.

So a bunch of nobodies thought of a grand idea: GO BORROW all the land bank money thru the year 2020 and BUY up ALL the potentially developable land and what do we have NOW? it's called a CRISIS! Manager Klimm, are you listening? How about the council President and the OTHER councilors? Do they ALL think that was such a bright idea?

And what about the MILLIONS of DOLLARS of UNSOLD condo's in the downtown area? Good PLANNING there too? Many, including myself, think NOT!

As I said a couple weeks back, I was at my home in FLA back the 1st week of May. KNOW WHAT THE STATE LEGISLATURE AND LOCAL TOWN GOV'T's there are working ON? For THEIR RESIDENTS?

The FLA state legislature and local gov't's are working to HELP their RESIDENTS with PROPERTY TAX RELEIF and INSURANCE RELIEF! And how about OUR TOWN? What have OUR TOWN OFFICIALS DONE TO HELP ANYONE HERE?

if anyone out here might have seen something I may have missed, please let me know...

The bottom line is that right now things are NOT good and many people NEED HELP! I believe an ELECTED MAYOR would at least HELP bring some accountability and CHECKS & BALANCES back to our town! THAT, along with FIVE councilors AT LARGE.

No offense to anyone but the present circus 13 councilor Thursday Night Show just ain't working now, is it?

PLEASE.... if ANYONE out here knows GOOD HONEST ETHICAL citizens who want the SAME HELP AND CHANGE many others do, have them run for the town CHARTER COMMISSION. Let's get RID of this MORONIC form of town gov't which has allowed this town to be controlled by the GOOD OLE BOY NETWORK and has allowed the WASTE of MILLIONS of our TAX DOLLARS. And many of these ELECTED and "APPOINTED" folks here STILL do not get it, and never will!

Good day to all, and gary, Thank you as always for this forum. People will NEVER read ANY of this in the local papers which are nothing but another branch of propaganda of this town gov't.

Good day to all...

Great letter in the Times today!!! I see that the policeman in Bourne was fired because he said racial remarks while off duty...but the guy who was convicted of attempted murder is still running the airport!!!!!

If anyone does not think that the former land bank 'committee' dod wrong in taking over ONE THOUSAND acres OFF the tax rolls had NO impact on SOME of this town's troubles today, think again...

Those former land bank committees, in my opinion, NEVER considered for ONE MINUTE, the negative IMPACT of the ramifications. Freshmen in high school KNOW the simple laws of basic ECONOMICS! To some of those former folks who were involved in such stupidity, go back to school! Go back and learn the word BALANCE!

All these people had to do was be like the other 14 Cape towns. Spend a little at a time. NOT THESE clowns. They SPENT (AND BORROWED) it ALL, and by taking it ALL OFF the tax rolls at one time was STUPID. Not only did it RAISE the TAXES of ALL homeowners here, equally important is that it artificially PUSHED home prices here UP which contributed to the MESS we are in right now! Would things still be bad? Yes, perhaps, but NOT as bad, believe me!

And those land bank purchases, in my opinion, should be investigated. Perhaps that might not be out of the question....

i saw the letter today by mr lopez. exellent letter! i know the men who worked on the fair committee last year and the council threw their work in the trash.

half the problem is the town asessing dept. fix that and have the buziness people pay their fair share and the fellow from chelmsford wouldnt need to write his letter it is the problem with the town asessment dept which is controlled by who?

When the disaster comes, the guys who get hurt will be the ones who deserve it most. Bring on the casino. I can’t come soon enough for me.

[PHD]

How come Janet Joakim didn’t write a letter to the editor to defend the town against the attack by the guy from Chelmsford?

She's got a pretty big mouth.

[Gary Lopez]

Janet Joakim is too busy attacking Barnstable taxpayers who dare to criticize her.

The message is take some online courses on blackjack, roulette, baccarat, and crap table work. You might have to commute to Middleborough for work. There will be thousands of job openings.

There will be more than enough people to support the new terminal at the airport...and the transportation station...The revitalized downtown Hyannis...The answer to exit 6 1/2 Rte 132...Willow street recostruction...The purchase of all the open land in Barnstable..Keep building and keep buying keep F_____g things up...Don't worry There will be no compitition with the casino. Soon the traffic problems will be off cape. Gary..good job

Amen to 11:35 a. m.

News flash: Andres cleared by Chief MacDonald and the TSA.

Peter Doiron is back in this week's Register. Great letter re All America City.

Great letter from Gary in the CCT re school funding.

[J J]

Someone told me that Peter Doiron wrote a GREAT article in the Register. I could not stay at tonite's council meeting as I had to get back in to do more work...

However, I DID say a few things to the clowns who call themselves our 'councilors'. I took the time to THANK some of the MANY people who HELPED our efforts in getting the necessary signatures for the charter petition! And NEXT week I will THANK Greg Milne personally for HIS great help amd EFFORTS as well!

As for this "ALL AMERICAN " garbage, what a JOKE! I have to say I got to hear about TEN SECONDS of what Councilor Harold Tobey had to say and that was all I could handle. Harold apparently did NOT HEAR ONE word I said!! Harold, WAKE UP! you have no clue Harold. Get out NOW Harold because you are NOT helping ANYONE in our town!

Last, I spoke briefly to Town Finance Director mark milne and told him I WILL BE STOPPING BY HIS OFFICE tomorrow about 8 A. M to issue a FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST FOR ALL THE BARNSTABLE TAXPAYERS!

ANYONE OUT HERE KNOW WHAT I AM GOING TO REQUEST, OR SHOULD I SAY DEMAND? HOW ABOUT THE ACCOUNTING OF EVERY PENNY THAT THESE CLOWNS WASTED OF BARNSTABLE TAXPAYER MONEY ON THEIR BIG PARTY TO ANAHEIM, CA AT ALL OUR EXPENSE!

In fairness to Mark Milne, Finance Director, he was courteous and professional to me. Probably one of the FEW, along with Mark Ells, the DPW Director... Those guys are okay in my book...

Now for the good news... WHEN I get the INFO from Finance Difrector, here's a PROMISE:

It will get to GARY and we will post the TENS of Thousands of dollars of WASTE right here...

And someone just called me and said that wonderwoman President Joakim had some half ass answer about my comments about the FLA local gov't's and their State legislature... Janet, NO OFFENSE but Janet, you have NO clue about FLA or how their gov't and legislature works.

APPARENTLY JANET AND HAROLD missed what I said altogether! Gee, isn't that any WONDER! Hello!!

My only LAST question is:

Were ANY of the councilors there LISTENING to ONE word?! These clowns are CLUELESS!

Gary, I will get you the ACCOUNTING of the taxpayer WASTE as soon as I can and WILL also write a letter to my favorite Cape Cod Times about this WASTE!

Does ANYONE out here want to bet me a grand they won't PRINT it?!

Good nite to all, and God Bless... We ALL deserve BETTER than this bunch of clueless so called 'councilors', excepting again of course GREG MILNE! And thanx again Greg for his help on the charter petition!

[Truth]

So we’re an All-America City; that’s good

By David Still II
dstill@barnstablepatriot.com

It’s very easy to say that the All-America City award for the Town of Barnstable isn’t going to change lives, and to question the expenditure of any town funds in pursuit of the recognition.

Realistically, the All-America City competition is a recognition that may not amount to a hill of beans to the average resident of Barnstable. Concerns that existed last week before the award are still there, and a new sign entering town isn’t going to change it.

But maybe there’s a touch more hope that the problem is something that can and will be addressed. The first thing is trusting that something will happen if brought to the right people’s attention. When Barnstable County was named one of the 100 Best Places for Children, some of the same questions came up. The answers had less to do with local recognition, although most felt pretty good about it, and more to do with how the outside world viewed the Cape. In the world of grant-writing and in making pitches for other kinds of funding over the bridge, such recognitions have influence.

It’s increasingly said in town hall that Barnstable officials have to travel off-Cape, preferably out of state, to gain recognition and kudos for the work that’s done here every day. There’s a good amount of truth in that.

We try to mix the good with the bad news, but it’s a predilection among newspapers and media outlets to focus more on what goes wrong than what goes right. If something’s working, there’s an attitude that says, “Well, it should.”

Can things be improved here? Absolutely, and that’s the case everywhere. At the same time, the sky is far from falling.

Just as everything isn’t the best, everything also isn’t the worst.

If the expected call from the White House comes, as it often does to the winner of the National Civic League’s competiion, it will say the award is recognized as more than a civic beauty contest in some circles.

[Wake Up People]

Mr. Lopez is absolutely correct in his assertion that Hyannis Main Street will suffer as a result of a casino in Middleborough. Not only Hyannis but all of Cape Cod. Middleborough will be a destination. Cape Cod a day trip for people who don’t gamble, maybe, that’s after they spent all their money in the Casino’s shops. Actually when their finally broke they may come to the Cape to lay on the beach and ponder what just happened to them in Middleborough!

Cape Cod needs to have the Casino Built on land at the Mass. Military Reservation. Mr. Lopez is correct people just drive to the Casino and never leave it. BUT, hundreds of jobs will be available to Cape Cod residents. Not only jobs in the casino but many jobs in the community that support Casinos. Food companies, laundries, trades, real estate, distributors of hundreds of different products.

The casino will also provide Cape Cod with a year round economy. Year round jobs! Well guess what? People who have these jobs would go home and spend their money in their local community.

Who cares if people go to casino’s and never come out! It’s the jobs the locals would have and the money they would earn that would be dumped into our local economy.

I would also support another large bridge over the canal right into The MMR Casino!
I would support trains from Boston right into the MMR Casino.

This is a very simple plan I have laid out. Would be huge for the local economy! Just think, year round Cape Cod.

To Wake Up People: We don't need a casino anywhere here. Move the airport to Otis for more jobs, jobs, jobs and let the gamblers go to Middleboro from Otis Airport. All the revenue from the airport would benefit all of Cape Cod. Hyannis will never be a destination no matter what spin the Gross Mismanagement and towm manager put on the prospects. Where's the vision from all the bright young things we keep graduating? America's jobs have gone overseas and what's left is teaching, policing, building, landscaping, healthcare and casinos. How long will we survive as a culture? Debt keeps growing and income keeps shrinking.

All American City my Ass.

Foreclosures are up, income is down, people are moving out, hundreds of homes and condos for sale. No year round economy and new families can not afford to be here!

Well maybe that's what all American means today???

Beach Stickers fees, Transfer station Sticker fees, Bus Fees, Sports fees, band fee, etc.

Although my tax rate due to the exemption is lower, I still pay more in taxes and fees per year than a part time resident who pays the full tax rate.

All American Rip Off!

Hidden taxes in Barnstable take every penny you save right back out of your pocket in this town.

All Amrican Scam! That's what's going on here!

Do not vote for any incumbent

[J J]

I only have a very quick minute! Whoever wrote these couple comments this a. m. you guys are completely ACCURATE. And to the commenter who wrote that "DEBT KEEPS GROWING AND INCOME KEEPS SHRINKING." This person who WROTE this is SO RIGHT and ACCURATE it's incredible!

This is EXACTLY the problem here! The MANY innocent people who live here and are TRYING and struggling to MAKE it are in the thousands! ALL clawing to make it! And does anyone here think MOST on this town council care? Think NOT! So far, the ONLY one who has even remotely shown anyone that HE cares is GREG MILNE! greg was out there with US in the rain and the HEAT and everything else!

And does anyone think Town Manager Klimm could care LESS about anyone here? Think NOT... mr. Klimm is too busy SPENDING us all into what may become irreversible DEBT sooner than one thinks. And his CRAp about this being an "All American Town" is nothing but a bunch of moronic propaganda!

So ladies and gentlemen, at about 7:45 this a. m. I did what I said above. I placed a freedom of information request to Mr. Klimm AND the Town Finance Director for a complete ACCOUNTING of EVERY DIME of TAXPAYER money WASTED and every DIME of private money and most important, WHO that private money came from and WHAT it was all spent on!

he tru bottom line is the following:

We have a town council that is completely BLIND! No one there EXCEPT Councilor Greg Milne sees anything wrong. Our Town Manager also sees nothing wrong.

These clueless 'town officials' are like the alcoholic who sees 'no problem'. Last night I spoke to the council and and town administration. I did my best to get a message to them but I don't think anyone got anything, except MAYBE Councilor Chirigotis, who was at least looking at me and seeming like he was listening.

Folks, I hate to be the bearer of bad news BUT... there are BIG troubles in this town, the MOST important of which is the most clueless town gov't anywhere in the Commonwealth! As of yesterday there were 929 HOMES and CONDOMINIUMS in BARNSTABLE ALONE! So to Mr. Klimm and all his BLIND FOLLOWERS:

IF this town is such the "All American City/town" you think we are, then how come people are moving out of here in MASSES? How come people are being RIPPED off by the town Assessor's Dep't with ridiculous assessments? And WHY are MANY in our town NOT getting their residential EXEMPTIONS? How come Gary lopez has already helped MANY who have been shafted and NOT received their exemption? And IMAGINE how MUCH MORE the town taxes WOULD BE if these classless idiots get rid of the exemption so their good ole boy network of business pals can continue to not pay their 'fair share'?

I know Mr. Klimm and some of his clueless pals read all this. Well ladies and gentlemen, YOU ARE NOT FOOLING ANYONE EXCEPT YOURSELVES! John Klimm is a great politician but for the 100th time, right now we DO NOT NEED A POLITICIAN running us all into the ground. it is TOO bad only ONE of the 13 town councilors can see any of this!

And last, this "All American town" has one of the HIGHEST FORECLOSURE rates in this entire STATE, and maybe THE highest. So maybe ALL these clueless clowns should go back to the Basic School of Gov't 101!!

They really have no clue.

So PLEASE all, stay tuned here because I WILL personally get from Mr. KLIMM and the finance Director the complet accounting of EVERY DIME spent and WHO the 47 pals were who went to 'party' on all our expense, while thousands HERE are strugling just to make ends meet. TYPICAL Gov't garbage!

Mr. Klimm, good bye. GO, please leave. Move dpown South and get a new life. You and your spendaholic administration have caused us all enough trouble.

And to them ALL, I will see you ALL next Thursday night. And to the council President, your comments that you could only allow 2 minutes last night was a JOKE! Janet, when you log in here, ONLY myself and TWO others spoke. Sorry we cut so much into the council's BUSY agenda!

Next week perhaps they might have the COURTESY and DECENCY to ALLOW the CITIZENS here THREE MINUTES but somehow I doubt it. Janet, that is just fine with Peter Doiron and I. We could care less. OUR MESSAGES are getting out loud and clear to the public, and Janet, in the future, after next week, I will only be coming to council meetings and SPEAKING to the TAXPAYERS about what we ALL need to do to CHANGE this IDIOTIC form of town Gov't AND those who run it!

YES people, there is MUCH wrong here in HAPPYVILLE but these clowns don't see any of it.....