Foxborough’s choice: Nice casino, not-so-nice politics

An open letter to the residents of Foxborough, Mass.:

I understand Steve Wynn, CEO of Wynn Resorts, is courting you, hoping to build a resort casino in your fair village. I've followed Wynn for years here in Las Vegas, and I thought I might be able to offer some perspective.

First off, Wynn is a brilliant casino magnate. He transformed the downtown Golden Nugget into a Strip-worthy enterprise. He transformed Las Vegas when he opened The Mirage (and ushered in the mega-resort era) in 1989.

And he did it again when he opened Bellagio in 1998, and later Wynn Las Vegas (in 2005) and Encore (in 2008).

Those latter two casinos are incredibly nice. (You can check them out for yourself on the Wynn Las Vegas website, where the man himself will give you a virtual tour of his place.) Granted, Wynn Las Vegas doesn't live up to the over-the-top billing Wynn gave it before the Gaming Commission in 2005 -- "the most expensive, the most complex, the most ambitious structure ever built in the world, including the pyramids of Egypt. We're not talking (just) about Las Vegas, we're talking about everywhere." But casino owners have a certain level of carnival barker in them, and Wynn is no different.

Bottom line: If you approve Wynn's project, he'll build you the nicest, most amenity-filled, resort and casino your state has ever seen.

But there's a catch: Wynn is used to getting his way once he sets up shop in a community.

In the 1990s when Wynn was in charge of Mirage Resorts, he famously set up a political operation that did everything from polling to company newsletters aimed at employees that put a little star beside the names of endorsed politicians. His political contributions and his natural force of personality have won him everything from gifts of public land to the re-routing of roads.

Among the most outrageous favors: Despite a drought and a ban on man-made lakes, Wynn got the Clark County Commission and water authorities to pass an ordinance that allowed the big lake outside Bellagio.

But that ordinance was narrowly tailored for Wynn. "It was referred to as the Mirage ordinance," Wynn laughingly told The New York Times in 1998. "For obvious reasons, it can't be duplicated."

Wynn did a great thing for our community when the Bellagio opened by including a fine art gallery, open to the public, that included some of the pieces in his own collection. But in exchange, he wrestled a sales-and-property tax break from the state Legislature, saving himself millions.

Wynn's been a friend to organized labor, but in 2006 he instituted a controversial proposal to take tips from card dealers and pool the money for distribution to dealers and their supervisors. A court ruled late last year that the policy violated Nevada law, and the case is on appeal.

And then there are the tantrums. Wynn is a regular feature of business TV shows, bashing President Obama for allegedly scaring business because of regulations, health care and socialism. But -- like his sometimes-rival Sheldon Adelson, who runs The Venetian and Palazzo across the street from Wynn's properties -- Wynn has offered words of praise for the leaders of China. That's in part because they let him make billions with a casino in Macau.

In 2008, he even famously declared his to be a Chinese company doing business in America, and allowed he may move his headquarters to Macau.

So, that's the story, Foxborough. If Wynn comes in, he'll very likely change the political dynamics of your town, and your state. But he'd sure build you a nice resort.

Steve Sebelius is a Review-Journal political columnist and author of the blog SlashPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter (@SteveSebelius) or reach him at 387-5276 or SSebelius@reviewjournal.com.