NEW BEDFORD -- The storm over a Fall River high-stakes bingo hall dumped an immeasurable amount of ill will across the SouthCoast yesterday.
In the latest gust, a city official accused the chairwoman of the Chamber of Commerce of conflict of interest for the business group's support of the project.
The week-old controversy, erupted when Mayor Rosemary S. Tierney urged Gov. A. Paul Cellucci to block the Fall River proposal saying it does not guarantee any regional benefits.
Corporation Counsel Arthur J. Caron, on a WSAR talk show, charged yesterday that the chamber is objecting to the mayor's stand because the Chamber's chairwoman, Liz Isherwood, has a business relationship with the tribe.
Ms. Isherwood's public relations firm Moore & Isherwood has worked for the tribe for three years, but she said the Chamber's support of the tribe pre-dates that contract.
"The Chamber has always been behind this project. As chairman, I have one vote like everyone else," she said.
The board recently voted unanimously to support the high-stakes bingo proposal. It has long been on record as supporting the tribe's plans both in New Bedford and Fall River.
Chamber of Commerce President James Mathes, who also went on the air yesterday to deflect Mr. Caron's assertions, said the Chamber has worked tirelessly to see the casino proposal through and now that Fall River is the site, the Chamber maintains its support.
"I think that Arthur, who is in the employ of the mayor, is miffed by the fact that we disagree with the letter the mayor sent to Gov. Cellucci," he said, adding that local business leaders were upset by that letter. "To take steps to oppose it? It makes us shutter to think if another community did it to us."
Meanwhile, Beverly Wright, the chairwoman of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head, issued a statement that the tribe would abide by a revenue sharing agreement negotiated earlier should its proposed high-stakes bingo hall ever become a casino.
The crux of the controversy is the lack of contractual language that would provide area communities with revenues and jobs should the casino become a reality. Ms. Wright, however, issued the following statement:
"If, in the future, the tribe is able to negotiate a successful Class III agreement with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as originally contemplated in the compact signed by Gov. Weld, the tribe reaffirms its willingness to abide by a revenue sharing agreement negotiated with the state."
In that agreement, which called for a casino in New Bedford, a formula determined how big a slice of the casino pie neighboring communities received. Fall River stood to get about $2 million if the New Bedford casino was approved.
"I want to know now what are those regional benefits," said Mr. Caron. "We're interested, if this materializes into a larger project, that we're guaranteed a portion of the revenues."
Mayor Tierney's public information officer, Bernadette Coelho, said the tribe's position has changed so often that the mayor wants some assurances,
"The mayor's feeling is she'd like to have something in writing now," she said. "The tribe has said many things that have changed."
Mr. Caron said if the tribe succeeds in placing the Fall River airport land in trust without any legal agreements in place, there's no assurance that New Bedford or any other area community will benefit from a casino.
But Mr. Mathes disagrees. A casino will mean thousands of jobs to area residents with or without an agreement, he said, charging that the mayor is putting potential city revenues ahead of putting area residents to work.
So far, Gov. Cellucci has remained silent on the matter, as have casino proponents State Sens. Mark C.W. Montigny, D-New Bedford, and Thomas Norton, D-Fall River.
But the issue has filled local talk shows and renewed an age-old battle between the SouthCoast's two largest cities. WSAR talk show host Rick Edwards even took his show on the road yesterday, broadcasting from the Boston Spine Clinic which is directly across the street from Mayor's Tierney's office.
Since the letter to Gov. Cellucci, the mayor's challengers, Fall River Mayor Edward M. Lambert, Jr., and the Chamber of Commerce have criticized the move, calling it "short-sighted."
The Wampanoags who had planned to build a casino on the New Bedford Municipal Golf Course, now has its sights on Fall River's closed airport in that city's far North End. They're planning a $23.5 million high-stakes bingo hall that will employ an estimated 500 people and create an additional 500 jobs.
On Tuesday, the Fall River Planning Board approved the bingo hall plan and the project now awaits City Council approval before it goes to state officials and then federal Indian officials for approval.
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