AN INSIDE LOOK
By Bill Gouveia
In
most places, having a commuter rail station in or around your community is
considered a good thing.
Many
people buy homes to be near train service.
Being located nearby tends to increase property values. It is what helped open up the suburbs for
those working in Boston and Providence decades ago. It saves people time and money, and allows
them flexibility in this auto-oriented age.
Folks
in New Bedford and Fall River have been fighting for commuter rail access for
more than 30 years now. Every candidate
who has ever campaigned there for any state-related office has promised to help
make it happen. Yet it is no closer to
political reality today than it was a quarter-century ago.
Now
it seems Foxboro could possibly become the home of a new commuter rail station
located at Gillette Stadium/Patriot Place.
Initial reports indicate there would be no cost to the town for this, no
increased MBTA assessment, and limited disruption of neighborhoods since it
would run on existing freight rail tracks.
Sounds like good news, right?
But
it has become a lightning rod for controversy for several reasons – chief among
them the involvement of the Kraft Group and the possibility they might make a
buck or two in the process.
In
all fairness, there is a long way to go before anyone can really determine if a
commuter station at this location will be a good thing for Foxboro. The route of the trains, improvements to the
rail, protection for residential neighbors, the cost to the state to convert
the tracks – all these things have to be carefully considered first. And it is early in the process.
Not
helping things is the fact the state and the KG having been negotiating on this
for nearly a year without letting Foxboro officials in on the plans. Selectmen were understandably perturbed when
they discovered those two parties had signed a letter of intent involving the
creation of a Gillette Stadium station back in January.
That’s
just wrong. When you are a major
taxpayer and economic force in town it is important to work with town
officials, seek their help and guidance, and establish a spirit of cooperation
that helps you both achieve your goals and objectives. You can’t blame Foxboro selectmen for feeling
left out and ignored.
Of
course, given the track record between the selectmen and the local NFL
franchise, it’s also hard to blame the KG for keeping their cards close to
their vest. They got burned on their
last major project, and it can be argued the disrespect shown to them was far
greater than what has been done so far in this situation.
For
those who have forgotten, Robert Kraft and Steve Wynn got together to propose a
resort casino for Foxboro. They went to
selectmen first and asked for the chance to present their plans in detail to
the entire town. They followed the
proper procedures and did everything as required.
But
after initially agreeing to at least hear them out, selectmen did an about face
and slammed the door on the casino plan before it was ever formulated. Selectmen refused to let Kraft even talk to
them about it.
The board
would not give the town’s largest single private source of revenue the respect
of allowing a presentation. That
devolved into the most contentious town election in recent memory, complete
with the then-town manager publicly insulting the KG every chance he got.
Do
you think maybe Robert Kraft and his people remembered that? Could it be perhaps they were afraid town
officials would once again sink them before they even got started? Was it really in their best interests to be
completely upfront? Probably not.
This
is a prime example of why it is important – for both sides – to maintain a
civil relationship. There should not be
surprises like this. And there probably
would not be, except neither side trusts or respects the other very much.
Foxboro
officials should stop counting Robert Kraft’s money and try and reestablish a
cooperative and mutually beneficial relationship. Kraft should put aside his distrust and
disdain and recognize he needs these local politicians.
Maybe
if they do that, they could all take a ride on the choo-choo together.
Bill Gouveia is a local columnist and
can be emailed at aninsidelook@aol.com and followed on Twitter at
@Billinsidelook.
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