Tag Archives: Foxboro

Waiting For The Next Step

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For thirty-five years, I lived about ten miles from Kraft Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. New England sports fans are dedicated–even when their team is losing. I learned to appreciate the New England Patriots (actually I am a Jets fan, but I learned to appreciate the talent of the Patriots). I wasn’t really surprised to hear today that Tom Brady will be leaving the New England team. It has been an amazing 20 years for Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air posted an article today about Tom Brady’s announcement that he is leaving the New England Patriots.

The article includes an Instagram post by Tom Brady:

The article concludes:

That era has finally closed out, and what an era it was. It was the kind of dominance that free-agency and the draft were designed to prevent by providing parity to the NFL. It seems unlikely that we’ll ever see it again, but that’s part of the fun of playing the games. At the very least, Brady earned that Greatest of All Time title, and we had fun watching him do it — even if many of us were wailing and gnashing our teeth while he did. No matter where he lands, it’s a long shot that Brady can generate that kind of dominance in the time he has left, but he might have enough to take a more complete team to the Super Bowl. Never count him out.

I will miss watching Tom Brady play. He made the game look easy.

 

 

The Voters Have Spoken–Is Anyone Listening ?

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Yesterday there was an election in Foxboro, Massachusetts. If you are a football fan, you know where Foxboro is, but you may not know that the town has been involved in a heated discussion as to whether or not Steve Wynn should be allowed to build a casino near the football stadium. Regardless of your view on casinos, there are some very practical reasons local residents oppose the casino–traffic in the area where the casino would be built is already a problem during stadium events–the area is simply not equipped for the increased traffic the casino would bring. Anyway, yesterday the people of Foxboro spoke out.

Today’s Attleboro Sun Chronicle reports:

A pair of anti-casino candidates, incumbent Lorraine Brue and former state Rep. Ginny Coppola, easily won election over incumbent Larry Harrington and school committee member Martha Slattery, who both supported negotiating a deal on the casino and letting residents make the final decision in a binding referendum

Fifty-eight percent of Foxboro’s registered voters voted in the election yesterday. Last year seventeen percent voted in the town election.

The article further reports:

Under the state’s new expanded gambling law, selectmen would have to vote to enter into negotiations with Wynn for the project to move forward.

With Monday’s results, four of the five board members have come out against the project, meaning the proposal now faces tough odds.

When asked if Monday’s vote would effectively kill the project, Coppola said she hopes the developers look at the message sent by residents.

“Mr. Wynn and Mr. Kraft should look at the results of this election,” she said.

 Brue agreed.“(The voters) sent the message that they don’t want a casino,” she said.

 
It will be interesting to see what happens next.
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This Doesn’t Sound Very Open To Me

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My local newspaper, the Attleboro Sun Chronicle, posted an article today about an Open Meeting Law complaint filed by a resident of Foxboro. Foxboro is going through some political challenges right now as the town decides whether or not to allow a casino to be built near the stadium, and things have gotten a bit tense.

The article reports:

The state Attorney General’s Office says the chairman of the board of selectmen alone decides who may speak during a meeting – and when they must zip their lip.

The chairman can even refuse to allow a word of comment from the audience.

And a board or committee has no obligation to put any particular matter on its agenda.

Those are among the points raised by the Attorney General’s Office in its rejection of Open Meeting Law complaints filed last year by a Foxboro resident.

I am more than a little surprised by the ruling. Isn’t the Board of Selectmen accountable to the people of the town? Isn’t the meeting of the selectmen the place where residents can air their complaints and concerns? This absolutely makes no sense to me. Hopefully, the people of Foxboro will reflect their concerns about open meetings during the next town election.

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