Judge Rebukes Mayor Walsh In Fight Over Everett Casino

Wynn Resorts proposal to construct a $1.7 billion mega-casino in Everett has met with a lot of resistance, most notably from the city of Boston and Mayor Martin Walsh.

The Walsh administration has filed a lawsuit again Wynn Resorts and the state gaming commission stating that numerous procedures were overlooked and some violated in order grant Wynn Resorts a license to construct a casino in Everett.

The lawsuit states that Wynn Resorts used city officials to cover up and overlook certain facts that allowed them to purchase a portion of the land for the construction of the casino. This portion of land was owned by a convicted felon Charles A. Lightbody and as per Massachusetts law the deal cannot be legally recognized.

The case has received a lot of media attention during the past few weeks as Wynn Resorts has denied the charges and accused Mayor Walsh of making false accusations to stop the Everett casino project. The case was being tried in the Suffolk Superior Court and a judge recently released a two page order stating that Mayor Walsh’s administration has violated court rules when it filed its paperwork on the 10th of July as it had used terms such as “improper behavior’ and acts of “bad faith” in reference to the Everett licensing process.

Superior Court Judge Janet L. Sanders stated that the Walsh administration should have allowed the parties involved in the litigation process to go over the documents. The judge also rebuked the Walsh administration for taking advantage of the litigation process to gain PR mileage.

In a statement, Judge Sanders said

These pleadings were wholly unrelated to the matter scheduled for the hearing. The pleadings were entirely improper. Although the materials have already been released to the media before the hearing (indeed, that seemed to be the real motive for these filings), they do not belong in the public file of this case. This Court orders that these pleadings together with their attached exhibits be impounded.

The judge also stated that the Walsh administration had bent the rules so badly that she would no longer allow the anti-Wynn paperwork to be considered and will have it removed from the public file of the lawsuit. The state gaming commission was happy with the judge’s verdict and immediately filed a petition for the dismissal of the case. Mayor Walsh did not offer any comment on the judge’s verdict but stated that he

continues to believe that Boston is a host community to the planned casino and his top priority is to protect the rights of Boston’s public.