Taking a gamble on gambling.

Well, it appears the hopes and dreams for an end to grinding unemployment might be coming true for many in Fall River in the next couple of years.

Friday, the Mayor of Fall River, Will Flanagan, received a solid commitment from Arkana Ltd an affiliate of Malaysian-based Kien Huat Realty and prime investor of Foxwoods Resort Casino. This firm sent a letter of commitment stating they were "married" to the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian tribe and that Arkana Ltd would financially back a destination resort casino in the city.

Imagine a luxury hotel, casino, shops , restaurants, entertainment complex and a golf course in one location in the woods off the new Rt. 24 exit 8 1/2. This would surely be a first for Fall River. Taking a gamble on gambling. How utterly ironic and I sincerely hope, not fatally so. This City needs the types of jobs such a facility would bring, jobs designed for unskilled labor and semi-skilled labor.



 Sure, there will be a fair share of functions requiring degrees from 2 and 4 year colleges and universities, and I am sure there are more than enough local candidates to fill those positions. But the overwhelming majority of the types of jobs immediately present (maintenance, housekeeping, wait staff, laundry, bartenders, transportation, grounds crew, food preparation, casino workers) will most likely fit the job and education skills profile of the current population of Fall River, where over 50% of the adult population lack a high school diploma or GED. One hopes these individuals would strive to work for job skill training and additional education to improve their marketability, however to afford that often takes funds which these 40 hour a week jobs could provide. And we should all remember that it's far easier to obtain a better paying job once you have one. The estimated number of jobs such a destination resort casino would  bring is approximately 3,000 jobs and could go as high as 5,000.

Of course, building the facilities of this resort will be a boon to the construction trades in the area, again making it possible to hire skilled and unskilled labor to good paying jobs for a solid period of time, exactly what a City with the highest unemployment rate in this state needs. I'm sure the construction trades unions must be ready and rarin' to go, and who could blame them. These specific well paying trade union jobs historically lead to economic growth and expansion of local  and regional economies through housing formation and increased purchases of long term durable goods to fill homes with furniture, appliances, electronic goods and automobiles and trucks. These jobs will help create wealth and expand the tax base, critical for the survival of Fall River and the region.

This is the good part of the equation. But there are always associated drawbacks. Maybe we'll call this Henry's Rule #1, a sort of physics of common sense - every time something brings positive things, there are also possible negative things delivered as well. At least that's been my experience. So it might behoove us to look at what  possible negative consequences  could be if the recent good news pans out.

     *Social costs of gambling-
It is inevitable that with the advent of casino gambling will come a rise in gambling addictions within the local populace. It will make current gambling addicts worse and will create new addicts as the simple proximity of the casino will draw those looking to make a killing in winnings come flying to the resort like moths to the flame.  There must be social services available to deal with the problem even before the first pair of dice are thrown or the first time someone holds with a 17 at the black jack table.

     *Rise in vice related crimes-
Fall River already has it's fair share of prostitution and hard drug use among what appears to be a long-term solid group of hard core drug addicts. Heroin, Oxycontin and cocaine abuse runs rampant throughout all ages and stations of life in the City. The arrival of the casino will bring along with it an increase in all sorts of vice-related crime. This has been the case wherever Casino gambling has opened and Fall River will not break this trend, especially in consideration of the opiate epidemic already here. As a community we must start lobbying for additional funding for drug addiction services and programs within the schools to prevent our children from becoming addicts in the first place.
 School drug prevention programs are proven to work. Treatment programs are proven to work. As soon as the first shovel breaks ground, efforts to deliver additional funds for social service programs aimed at addiction treatment and education must take place. Additional programs aimed at prostitution and the young women suffering from both sex industry work and drug addiction, since to two problems go hand in hand, must also be put into place.
Fall River already has the social service infrastructure in place for these programs at programs like SSTAR and STEPPINGSTONE, INC to act as a base of operations for these expanded activities.

     *Displacement of other opportunities-
In economics terms, this would technically be called an "opportunity cost" of building a resort destination casino. There are several costs that could be both short and long term. First, the use of the land this resort will rest upon is lost to other development. Specifically, it displaces the long-planned Bio-Park , a "Bio-Tech" business incubator (designing and creating viable scientific businesses utilizing newly developed bio technologies) in conjunction with U/Mass. The idea is to bring new products and technologies to market, taking ideas off the drawing board , many dealing with genetic engineering and cell-tissue culture technologies, into practical application.



The total amount of land required by the Bio-Park my be as little as 3-4 acres at the outset. Certainly within Fall River there are numerous locations where such acreage is readily available for development of the Bio-Park. In fact, one has to wonder in retrospect why such a high acreage was originally set aside for a purpose that can be served by one - tenth that amount? Was it to set aside additional land for future industrial use, or for other use as seen fit by the Redevelopment Authority (RA), almost like having an ace in the hole placed in your back pocket? And if so, doesn't that itself become an opportunity cost? Just questions to consider. It could constitute good land use planning, but should it not be a more open process and it's land use purpose made clear and certain for all to see. In a way it provides those particularly close to the members of the RA an unfair advantage in planning for potential uses of the land and surrounding areas in question. Again, a question to consider. In purely economic terms that would be called an information "market imperfection" increasing potential opportunity and transaction costs.

It is also possible , but not likely, that as a result of the change of the original dedicated use of the 300 acre parcel UMass could decide to develop the Bio-Tech park in another municipality.  If so that would be an opportunity cost with the resulting loss of anywhere from a likely few thousand highly skilled and well paying jobs to a possible, but unlikely, high total of an estimated 8,000 such jobs. ( The lower estimate being my own guess, the higher total from statements made by spokes people for the RA - they must have been breathing rarefied air that day)

So there are many unanswered questions at this point, and the entire proposed award is fiction until concrete agreements are reached and the Legislature and Governor agree there will be casino gambling in Massachusetts. However, if it becomes reality and Fall River is eventually awarded one of the expected casino licences it will bring much needed employment to Fall River that could revive the City, including positive spin offs like a vibrant waterfront and vastly increased restaurant trade and tourism. But of course, only time will tell.

Into the Breach

" We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day. "
From Shakespeare's play HENRY V


KING HENRY V:
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a galled rock
O'erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean.
Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide,
Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit
To his full height. On, on, you noblest English.
Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof!
Fathers that, like so many Alexanders,
Have in these parts from morn till even fought
And sheathed their swords for lack of argument:
Dishonour not your mothers; now attest
That those whom you call'd fathers did beget you.
Be copy now to men of grosser blood,
And teach them how to war. And you, good yeoman,
Whose limbs were made in England, show us here
The mettle of your pasture; let us swear
That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not;
For there is none of you so mean and base,
That hath not noble lustre in your eyes.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'




In the spirit of the Bard's royal protagonist I start this blog with the hope that my comments about Fall River will engender true reflection, active discussion and meaningful communication about all things Fall River.

Fall River is many things; a home to 90,000 men, women and children, a city in transition into the 21st century, a community in turmoil as crime runs rampant despite increased police efforts, a municipality whose government seemingly has stood frozen in time, aloof and out of reach from those it nominally serves, an education system broken and in extremis,  and the state's highest unemployment rate.

But it is also a community made up of hearty people of many nationalities and cultures, which I believe strengthens Fall River, not diminishes it in any way. It is a City encased in a rich and colorful history which cannot be discounted and which must be fully understood in order to comprehend where we find it today. Fall River is a haven for those who love a culinary experience few can find in such abundance and simple enjoyment.

Most importantly, while Fall River has numerous serious problems facing it today, it also has untapped potential which, if awoken, could return Fall River to a new prominence in the region and, hopefully, in the state. It is up to us to review and examine what has to be done to make that renewal possible.

That will take honesty and a critical eye. It will be the product of objective and careful examination and acceptance of the facts. It will require constructive and well thought solutions, not merely the assignment of blame, although, we cannot allow sentimentality over people, places and things to replace valid sentiment and rational, sometime hard judgement to weaken our efforts. And we must work together, all of us, to make this City the place it can be, a place where once again we can all raise families without fear of economic uncertainty or ruin, without fear of crime, or disingenuous, wasteful and unresponsive governance and of future development and improvement that makes sense for ALL the people of this City both in the short and long term.

Will this discussion seek to construct a Fall River utopia that is not real or impossible to achieve? NO, on the contrary, we will discuss the ways and means of total community building that works in other places and has established track records.

For this blog to be successful, we will need your regular input. My email address is easily available on this site, so feel free to email me with suggested topics you'd like me to cover to start a discussion. Nothing is off the table for discussion. However, this will remain a place of civility and respect at all times. Social decorum will be followed at all times. Violators comment's will simply disappear. There is always a way to discuss subjects, however passionate you may be, without resorting to ad hominem attacks.That is really the only rule.

The objective here is to combine a free forum for ideas, without fear of reprisal or ridicule, with humble efforts to improve the City of Fall River. To that end we will be faithfully committed.

Once again, I hope you are able to participate. Everything this blog does will depend on you!

Thank you for reading,
As always,

Your royal highness,

Hank 5
Into the breach my friends, into the breach we shall go together