Mitigation to be drop in the bucket to actual harm

Bill Gouveia is still 'un-enlightened'!


Posted: Thursday, October 10, 2013
Mitigation to be drop in the bucket to actual harm

I'm so glad that Bill Gouveia doesn't live next door to me, as he seems to believe that neighbors should just take whatever garbage is thrown over their fence and never seek redress ("Foxboro's approach to seeking slots mitigation falls short," Oct. 7).

Remember when Plainville Selectman Rob Rose said that Plainridge "almost isn't in Plainville"? Well, if it's almost not in Plainville, then it must be somewhere - and that somewhere is almost in Foxboro and Wrentham.

The consultant hired by the Plainville selectmen found plenty of examples of negative impact to the surrounding towns. To wit: a 44 percent increase in gambling addiction within 10 miles of the facility; an increase in crimes like embezzlement and petty theft due to the increase in problem gambling; an increase in domestic violence and child neglect; an increase in drunken driving fatalities. There are more causes for concern, for anyone who cares to read the report, which barely touches on the unquantifiable and unmitigable impact of expanded gambling.

Not one of those by-products of slots stops at the town line. Foxboro selectmen would be seriously remiss if they didn't seek mitigation for the ills that expanded gambling next door will bring to their town. Believe me, the amount they'll get - if they get anything at all - will be a proverbial drop-in-the-bucket of the actual harm that slots will bring. But still, it's something.

Mary-Ann Greanier, Plainville

http://www.thesunchronicle.com/vip/opinion/letters_to_editor/mitigation-to-be-drop-in-the-bucket-to-actual-harm/article_d4be2b57-c3ad-5eae-b52b-cb10d9ffa8d1.html