Anti-Casino Candidates Prevail In Foxboro Election
FOXBORO (CBS) - Anti-casino candidates Lorraine Brue and Ginny Coppola were victorious in the annual town election in Foxboro on Monday.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Lana Jones reports.
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Many viewed Monday's election as a referendum on the proposal from Robert Kraft and Steve Wynn to build a $1 billion casino in Foxboro.
With wins for Brue and Coppola, the Board of Selectmen now holds a 4-1 edge against that proposed casino in Foxboro.
Brue is a current board member who made the motion to send the letter in January to the Governor and the casino team that Foxboro isn't interested in hearing a proposal for a casino.
"I think it will negatively affect the quality of life of the citizens here, and it's not in line with the character and quality of the town," Brue said earlier Monday.
Coppola is also against a proposed casino.
"It does not help the communities as all, it draws away from the downtown areas, it lowers values of housing, the traffic... 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, you have traffic going in and out of your small communities. It's not a good fit," Coppola said earlier Monday.
Current Board Chair Larry Harrington and Martha Slattery supported hearing more about casinos. Both of them lost the election.
Harrington says he supported the casino plan because it's a $1 billion investment in the town.
"I'm open-minded to finding out what (Wynn and Kraft) have to offer," Harrington said earlier Monday.
Meanwhile, Martha Slattery said earlier Monday she supported the idea because she said the resort would offer jobs and opportunities.
"I think the people in this town have a right to hear a proposal if they want to and to make up their own minds," Slattery said earlier in the day.
Around 58% of the registered 10,000 voters in Foxboro turned out for the vote. Last year, there was just a 17% turnout for the town election.
WBZ-TV's Karen Anderson and Jim Armstrong contributed to this report.
