Fall River taxpayer group sues mayor, city over casino land deal

FALL RIVER – A group of taxpayers fighting a proposed casino has sued the mayor and city.
The group previously filed a lawsuit against the Fall River Redevelopment Agency, which last year agreed to sell land to the to the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, which wants to build a casino. The authority has argued the taxpayers have no right to sue over the sale.
While the group of taxpayers remain “confident that it has standing” the group sought Tuesday to add Mayor William A. Flanagan and the city to the existing lawsuit.
The move, which needs approval of a judge, “bolsters the case,” said Lesley Rich, a lawyer for the taxpayers. Rich said if a judge rejects the motion to amend the case he planned to file a separate lawsuit specifically against the mayor and city.
The legal fight comes against a backdrop of mixed messages from the city. The state and city once envisioned the land as the site of a biotechnology park. The city moved away from that plan with the pursuit of a casino, but a court blocked the land sale because of the taxpayer lawsuit.
A few weeks ago, Flanagan said the city would drop appeals of the decision and return to discussing the site as a location for a University of Massachusetts biopark.
“That’s the contradictory issue. They can’t really do both,” Rich told Providence Business News Wednesday. “They should stop wasting the taxpayers’ money with legal fees and just move on with the biopark.”
Any casino would also need the approval of the state legislature, which has yet to approve legislation allowing casino gambling in the Massachusetts.