Small-town activist presses fight against industry
“If there’s a David-and-Goliath story, this is it,’’ said Kathleen Conley Norbut of Monson, an anticasino activist.
(Essdras M Suarez/Globe Staff)
By Michael Levenson
Her desk is her kitchen table. She cajoles legislators on the phone while folding laundry. At night, she works in her pajamas.
Kathleen Conley Norbut, a fast-talking 49-year-old mother, former selectwoman, and mental health counselor from Monson, has become the improbable public face of the opposition to expanded gambling, as founder of the group United to Stop Slots in Massachusetts.
From that perch, she is trying to stop a multibillion-dollar casino industry eager to break into Massachusetts, an army of well-paid lobbyists pushing the cause, and a growing number of lawmakers who believe gambling will bring much-needed jobs and economic development.
“If there’s a David-and-Goliath story, this is it, because that industry is predatory,’’ Norbut said in an interview. “They’ve got deep, deep pockets behind them. I’m small peanuts. I care about small businesses. I care about my communities.’’
Norbut is confident, though she knows what she is up against.
In the weeks ahead, as House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo readies his bill to license two casinos and slot machines at the state’s four racetracks, Norbut — who already spends 30 hours a week fighting casinos — plans to step up her campaign, with a focus on pushing for a new independent review of the costs and benefits of expanded gambling. DeLeo, Senate President Therese Murray, and Governor Deval Patrick all support casinos, though Murray and Patrick say they oppose slots.
“I’m not nervous or worried,’’ Norbut said. “I actually feel like the little people are being heard a little more, and I’m very excited about that.’’
She has made her presence felt. Since forming United to Stop Slots on the Fourth of July last year, Norbut has successfully pushed the state Democratic Party to adopt a resolution opposing slot machines, helped persuade the governor to endorse her call for a new economic analysis of gambling, and organized an anticasino rally at Faneuil Hall with former governor Michael S. Dukakis.
“She certainly has made an impact,’’ said state Representative Daniel E. Bosley, a North Adams Democrat and a leading casino opponent in the Legislature. “It’s hard to find people on both sides who aren’t reactionary. They have a moral objection to slots, or they’re very libertarian. She really has done her homework, and is really energetic.’’
In some ways, Norbut, who has not been active in prior fights over gambling, is an unlikely figure in the casino debate. She has no personal story of a family member addicted to gambling, nor moral qualms about gambling. She first got involved in the issue in 2007, she said, when the operators of Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut proposed building a casino in Palmer, which borders Monson, the town 30 minutes east of Springfield, where she has lived for 23 years and was serving on the Board of Selectmen. Norbut said she was concerned the casino would ruin the town’s rural character, drive up crime and addiction, and strain local services.
“I didn’t choose the cause,’’ Norbut said. “I really feel like this cause chose me to be the champion. I wasn’t looking for a hobby. I’m married. I have a 13-year-old. I have elderly parents. I have a career. It started by caring about the community.’’
As she began researching the issue, she became convinced that a casino was bad not only for Monson, but for the state because, she believes, casinos cannibalize other businesses and burden taxpayers with additional social and economic costs.
“It’s long-term economic drain,’’ Norbut said.
Supporters of expanded gaming counter that the state is missing out on thousands of jobs and millions of dollars as gamblers flock to out-of-state casinos.
The last time casinos were debated, in 2007, the group Casinofacts.org, led by residents concerned about a proposed casino in Middleborough, helped organize the opposition. Bosley, state Senator Susan C. Tucker, and then-House speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi helped galvanize opponents in the State House.
This year, prospects for a Middleborough casino have faded, Bosley and Tucker are preparing to leave the Legislature, and DiMasi, a powerful casino foe, has been replaced by DeLeo, a longtime supporter of expanded gambling whose district includes two struggling racetracks.
The changes have thrust Norbut into a newly prominent role in the ranks of the opposition, helping lead a nonpartisan, nonprofit group that includes partners such as the Massachusetts Family Institute, a socially conservative group.
In December, she and other members of the organization met with the governor for an hour. Afterward, Patrick sent a letter to DeLeo and Murray encouraging them to meet with United to Stop Slots and supporting Norbut’s call for a new economic analysis of gambling, which the state last conducted when the governor proposed licensing three casinos in 2007.
“She is a really thoughtful, energetic, smart organizer with a great head and a great heart,’’ said Patrick, who first met Norbut when she volunteered on his 2006 campaign.
She can also be polarizing. In a private briefing with lawmakers last week, Norbut hotly debated state Representative Kathi-Anne Reinstein, a Revere Democrat and ardent supporter of slot machines whose district includes Wonderland Greyhound Park.
“We’ve clashed heads, and the impression I get from her is that she’s not very fond of me,’’ Reinstein said. “I obviously disagree with a large percentage of what she says, and I feel like their side is using absolute fear tactics when it comes to this issue, and that’s not fair.’’
Norbut said it is the pro-casino crowd that has used fear to push its agenda.
“I’ve had retired police officers tell me to watch my back; I’ve had verbal threats from a top AFL-CIO official,’’ Norbut said. “Maybe it was a warning. He said, ‘If you ever run for office again, we’ll remember.’ ’’
“It’s not easy,’’ Norbut added. “I’m not a thick-skinned person.’’
Norbut, the third of six children of a Marine who fought in Iwo Jima, is tough, however. She and her husband, a carpenter, lived in a tent for six months while they cleared trees and built their home from scratch.
This fight, she says, will also require a lot of heavy lifting, but she has no intention of giving up.
“I have no issue with anyone who wants to get on a bus or a plane and go and do their thing,’’ she said, referring to gamblers traveling to casinos. “But it becomes my business when it impacts my property tax, my community, and the society that my child is going to live in.’’
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