Foxwoods Deceit

Withholding information is lying by omission.

The Foxwoods cabal knew they did not have a partner to provide 55% of the funding and they withheld that information from the voters of Milford.

Even when they realized that the Mass. Gaming Commission planned to hold their suitability hearings prior to the Milford vote, Nunes and company failed to be forthright with Milford and tell the voters they did not have the majority funding.

Nunes and Butera knew in August that time was running out for the Gaming Commission to conduct the months-long background investigation into whomever they found to be their major source of funding. From them until the hearing, Nunes and company lied by withholding that information from the voters of Milford.

THEY WERE NOT GOING TO TELL YOU BEFORE THE VOTE THAT THEY DID NOT HAVE THE MONEY.

How must Nunes and Butera have felt walking into that suitability hearing knowing that their naked deceit was about to be exposed to voters? Time and again we have seen one company after another face a crisis and those who advise folks on how to manage a crisis tell them to get out in front of it. Crisis management people routinely advise the CEO to put on the sweater, go on TV and break the bad news themselves before it is exposed by someone else.

But not Nunes and Butera. Oh no, not them. Standup guys, they are not. They claimed to be local. They claimed to understand New England. They claimed they would always keep Milford in the front of the minds when considering this project. But when it came down to it, they hid the facts.

They boldly walked into their suitability hearing last week with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission knowing they did not have an equity partner to cover 55% of the needed funds. And they knew the Commission knew. The only folks in the dark were the voters of Milford.

This is not like David Nunes saying the only entrance to his proposed casino would be direct from 495. That was just some guy not having done his homework and he looked foolish when the Federal Highway Administration said he could not build an exit from an interstate to private property.

This is not like David Nunes telling us that his proposed casino would be built near the top of the property, close to 495. He got the power company to agree to relocate the power lines. The Army Corps of Engineers then told him that he was not going to be allowed to cut down virgin forest to move the power lines.

This is not like David Nunes having an adolescent tantrum whining “I have lost faith in this project” and then re-joining the effort when it suited him and his partners.

This is not even like David Nunes telling The Boston Globe in an interview the day of the suitability hearing that the Host Community Agreement with Milford had only been signed five weeks prior. It had, indeed, been signed more than 9 weeks before the hearing. Nunes tried to blame the lack of an equity partner to provide 55% of the funding on Milford’s vetting process.

There was a deliberate decision not to tell the voters of Milford that Crossroads, LLC — David Nunes and Scott Butera — did not have the money to do this project. They lacked 55% of the money. They lacked the money to meet the financial agreements in the Host Community Agreement.

THEY WERE NOT GOING TO TELL YOU BEFORE THE VOTE THAT THEY DID NOT HAVE THE MONEY.

If the Mass. Gaming Commission had not scheduled the suitability hearing until after the Milford vote, you would not have known about this deceit in advance. The consideration for The Mass. Gaming Commission may be that Nunes and company have their funding in place and their sources be suitable to the Commission. The consideration for the voters of Milford is much deeper — much more personal.

Nunes & company lied to you by omission. They withheld the fact that they represented only a minority of the funding and that someone else — some unknown, unmet, unfamiliar group — would have the controlling interest of this proposed casino.

THEY WERE NOT GOING TO TELL YOU BEFORE THE VOTE THAT THEY DID NOT HAVE THE MONEY.

Do you continue to do business with those who withhold information and deceive you? What would you think if Milford signed an agreement to have the Town Hall roof shingled but officials didn't know the name of the company who was going to do the work? You teach your children to tell the truth.

Nunes and company failed to be forthright with Milford and tell the voters they did not have the majority funding. They did not keep Milford in the front of the minds.

Then they slathered on a million bucks for ‘scholarships’ to distract you from their deceit.

Their behavior begs the question, what else have they not told you?