'A vote for a casino is a vote for failure'

Anti-casino forum panelist in Palmer: 'A vote for a casino is a vote for failure'

Published: Wednesday, October 10, 2012
 By Lori Stabile, The Republican 


Wyatt Aloisio photoPalmer community members gather in the Palmer High School auditorium on Wednesday evening to participate in an Anti-Casino Forum. Left to right on stage: Michael Kogut, Les Bernal, John Epstein and Robert Goodman.

PALMER — Just because casino gambling is legal now in Massachusetts, it doesn't mean that a casino is a done deal for Palmer, those who attended an anti-casino forum at Palmer High School on Wednesday night were told.

"You have ability to pull this thing back," Leslie Bernal, executive director of Stop Predatory Gambling, said to the approximately 30 people in attendance.

Bernal said there is a movement to get a question repealing the gaming law on the ballot next year. He said residents need to be aggressive, and organize their efforts, if they do not want a casino in their town.

"The operative word here is fight. Show up and make your voice loud and clear ... My slogan in Palmer is don't vote for failure. A vote for a casino is a vote for failure," Bernal said to applause.

"Everybody needs to wake up. You can do something about it. It can be done. It's a lot of work. It's getting the message out and sharing it with your neighbors," said John P. Epstein, a Holyoke anti-casino activist.

Bernal and Epstein, along with Robert Goodman, author of "The Luck Business," were the speakers at the event sponsored by Quaboag Valley Against Casinos and the Amherst Chapter of the League of Women Voters.

Bernal said he also doesn't buy into the argument that a casino brings jobs.

"It's phony prosperity. Don't settle for this garbage," Bernal said.

Before a casino can open in a community, a binding referendum must be held. 
Connecticut-based Mohegan Sun for years has wanted to build a resort casino off Thorndike Street (Route 32) across from Massachusetts Turnpike exit 8. It is one of several casino operators competing for the lone casino gaming license in Western Massachusetts. The company has started the host community agreement process with Palmer.

Companies interested in a Springfield casino include MGM Resorts International, proposing a casino in the South End; Ameristar Casinos, planning a site at the former Westinghouse property in East Springfield; and Penn National Gaming, proposing a casino that would include The Republican's Main Street building and the Peter Pan Bus Lines property.

In addition, Seminole Hard Rock Entertainment has expressed an interest in downtown Springfield, but has not revealed a location.

"'In order for this government program to work, citizens need to lose," Bernal said.

"Why would the government of Palmer ... create addicts?"

Epstein questioned who would be against a casino if they are told that one would bring in jobs and lower taxes. But that's not the entire story, he said.

"Everybody in this room tonight, and all your friends and all your neighbors, are going to need to make a significant effort to convey the rest of the story ... Report after report shows casinos negatively affect host communities," Epstein said.

Goodman, who spent two years as director of the United States Gambling Study, an experience he used for his book, said the casino industry is moving more toward an automated industry, with fewer jobs for people.

He said the majority of a casino's revenues come from slot machines, which, he was told during his research, cost $7,000 and "never go out on strike and show up every Monday."

"Once people understand the impacts of this they're usually against it," Goodman said.

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/10/anti-casino_forum_held_in_palm.html