Revere leaders go all in

This is the first in a series of articles by The Daily Item staff examining the events of 2013 and how they might affect the news in 2014.REVERE – They?ve seen it all before in Revere – local jobs, generous property tax payments, and long traffic lines generated by Suffolk Downs and its former sister track – and city leaders hope they can recreate the heydays of a half-century ago by bringing casino gambling to Suffolk Downs.?This is going to be extremely positive,” Mayor Daniel Rizzo said on Dec. 9 as he rallied casino supporters in a renewed push to win a favorable vote for a Suffolk casino from the state Gaming Commission.The five-member panel will decide in April if it wants to issue up to three casino licenses across the state and a slot machine parlor license. One of the license could go to Suffolk executives and their partner, Connecticut casino operation Mohegan Sun, or it could go to Everett casino proponent Steven Wynn.For Rizzo, a former City Councilor and Revere insurance business owner, Suffolk and Mohegan Sun?s $1 billion casino plan means almost $32 million a year in taxes for Revere. But Rizzo also sees Suffolk as a spark that could ignite a long-sought burst of development along Revere Beach, especially around the Wonderland Blue Line station where local and out-of-town developers are already promising to build a market-rate residential building.The mayor and anyone in Revere over the age of 30 remembers when Suffolk Downs and the now-closed Wonderland Greyhound Park employed a father or uncle, a neighbor, or provided part-time or second-shift work for residents who also held full-time jobs.Traffic in and out of both tracks crawled along American Legion Highway and Route 1A and filled acres of parking.Today Wonderland is decaying and crumbling – a victim of animal rights referendum campaigners who successfully pushed to end dog racing. The ponies still race at Suffolk, where the track straddles the Revere and Boston city lines.Suffolk executive Chip Tuttle on Dec. 9 said Suffolk is committed to racing at the track even if the Gaming Commission does not approve a Revere casino, but track representatives admit racing?s future at Suffolk could be, simply put, a gamble if a casino with a hotel and other amenities does not win approval.Rizzo is not worried about local residents going to the polls this winter and voting for a second time in favor of a Suffolk casino. They voted “yes” for gambling at Suffolk by a 2 to 1 margin in November and the commission, on Dec. 10, voted to allow track executives to proceed with their planning provided a second Revere vote is held in January or February.In addition to tax revenue, jobs – 4,000 in construction and 2,500 once the casino is built, according to Suffolk – are the casino?s main attraction from Rizzo?s standpoint. The state?s 2011 law outlining how casinos will operate in Massachusetts also requires communities receive money from casino gambling profits.Some of that money will be spent on traffic improvements in Revere, according to the terms of a host agreement Rizzo and Suffolk executives signed in August. The mayor knows Revere?s four rotaries connected by spaghetti strands of state roads linking local roads are already traffic nightmares on bad weather days or when accidents tie up commuters headed to Boston or north through Lynn.Through local state Rep. Kathi-Anne Reinstein, Rizzo has the ear of Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo when it comes to finding money to ensure public transit eases some of the traffic burden. But smooth traffic flow from a Suffolk casino is not a sure bet.A casino?s impact on local businesses and employment is also a gamble for Revere?s top elected official. Rizzo has assurances from track bosses but no guarantees that a casino will benefit Revere small business owners.In unveiling its participation Dec. 9 in the Suffolk plan, Mohegan executive Gary Luderitz said Mohegan?s practice of awarding gamblers reward points that can be conv