What happens in New Bedford won't stay in New Bedford

YOUR VIEW: What happens in New Bedford won't stay in New Bedford

Richard Connor ("Will casino hurt city's arts sector?" Jan 6) raised salient points about the presence of a casino(s) in New Bedford stifling the current "hard-earned renaissance."

There are signs of emerging growth in the city ahead of the economic turnaround and the creation of a unique and special place based on New Bedford's rich history.

Local small businesses are the economic engine that drive job creation, and our leaders seem to have forgotten that economic principle. Each dollar spent in a local business multiplies because local employees go to the local mechanic, the local barber, the local restaurant.

A patron at Foxwoods summed up predatory gambling with this comment, quoted in a New York Times article Jan. 10: "You know and I know that every inch of this place is a shell game to get people's money. I'd rather that we invest in something that provides real jobs and productivity, not more casinos. You just get the feeling that somewhere along the way, we took a wrong turn in this country."

The more I learned about the false glitter of casino gambling, the more I realized casino capitalism didn't work before and plunged us into a global disaster. It won't work now regardless of the packaging or promises.

Gov. Bob Riley of Alabama recently said, "Any scheme that will legalize slot machines under the pretext of generating new revenue is the biggest hustle in Alabama's history." Will Beacon Hill and our local leaders fall for this scheme?

What is particularly worrisome is that, regardless of the catchy refrain, what happens in New Bedford won't stay in New Bedford. Studies have indicated that gambling addiction, loss of local businesses, crime and increased costs affect communities within a 50-mile radius.

If you don't live within 50 miles of a slot parlor, you will bear the increased costs of crime, investigation, prosecution, court costs, incarceration, and increased social services costs for abandoned families, neglected children, and very sadly, suicides. (Of all addictions, gambling addiction has the highest rate of suicides.)

As a taxpayer, you will bear the cost of another bloated bureaucracy charged with regulating this monster.

Gov. Deval Patrick, the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, the League of Women Voters and others have joined with United to Stop Slots in Massachusetts in calling for an independent cost/benefit analysis based on current economic conditions.

Please join with us insisting that our local elected officials and Beacon Hill base their decision regarding this issue on data-driven information and budgets.