Casino gamble is a poor investment

LETTER: Casino gamble is a poor investment

By The Rev. James Hornsby
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Fall River

I write in opposition to predatory casino gambling in general, and particularly casino gambling in Fall River.

Predatory gambling with slots in a large casino is a terrible investment. True, there will be some jobs in building a “fleecino,” but at a high cost. It is far better to build something constructive.

My suggestions today for construction jobs, which we really need: Build several new schools in greater Fall River, a new highway system around the Braga Bridge and Route 79 and commuter bicycle paths. Finish the Brightman Street Bridge. Daylight the Quequechan River. Build a composting plant to take care of the trash when the landfill closes. Fix some roads and streets.
Construct a bus station; and a new rail system throughout southeastern Massachusetts. That list is for starters.

If we raised the money fairly, all of the money would go into our pockets. We would not give away a huge percentage to the owners, developers and management. We would avoid the bad effects of casinos both on individuals and nearby businesses. And we could actually build some of the things we need, providing needed construction jobs.

I oppose casinos because I have visited them, studied them and I have seen what they do to people and to the communities around them. They try to lure people into becoming regular customers, then real addicts.

Twenty percent of the customers (the addicts) provide 80 percent of the income. The idea is to play the machines until all the money is gone, gone, gone.

New Jersey and Connecticut have large casinos and they have all the problems we have, and probably more. Rhode Island’s race track casino seems not to have helped that state much.
Over-promising is part of the gambling game. Hit the machine, change your life is the hope, a hope that quickly vanishes.

Now we have “save the state,” and “jobs, jobs, jobs.” About $1.8 billion is the latest over-promise in the recently released state Senate plan. Our currently secret plans for casinos on both sides of Fall River have equally outlandish promises. We need to continue to work on solid industry that will provide employment well into the future.

A casino is a really bad investment, which can only hurt our city and our state.