Monday, October 21, 2013
An argument against having a casino in Springfield
The following was submitted to the
LongmeadowBuzz blog by Michelle Steger, a resident of Longmeadow, MA.
________________________________________________
“Do you live within a few miles of the proposed casino
site in Springfield, and could any roads in your town be used as a cut through
to access the casino?”
“Yes on both counts,” I replied to the woman
working for the North Stonington, CT Select Board Office. “Then your town
will never be the same if the casino comes to Springfield. It’s been so painful
for us here,” she said.
My conversations with this woman and other
town leaders who live in communities surrounding Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut
have haunted me.
I am not from around here. I was born and raised in
Dallas, Texas, but growing up, I always wanted to live in New England. When I
first visited Longmeadow, where my husband, Ted, grew up, I knew I had found my
home. We have been here for 5 years now, have a 1-year-old son, and could not
be happier. However, when we first heard that a casino might be placed 2.5
miles from our house, we wondered what impact that might have on the community
we love so much.
My husband and I are not experts, but we have been
humbly asking questions and seeking answers for the last year, and the more we
have learned about casinos and the way they operate, the more concerned we are
about what a casino in the South End of Springfield would mean for Springfield,
Longmeadow and other surrounding communities. This concern has led us to join
with other concerned citizens to form a group, No Casino Springfield (www.nocasinospringfield.com)
that will be hosting a Call to Action on Wednesday October 23rd at 7PM at St.
Andrew’s Church in Longmeadow.
Before we get too deep into the argument
against having a casino in the area, we should probably set the stage to make
clear where we are in the process. Under the Massachusetts gaming law, a
commission was formed called the Mass Gaming Commission (MGC), and it is made up
of 5 people who are tasked with deciding which applicants will get a casino
license in each of the 3 regions of the state. In Western Mass, there are 2
contenders.
Springfield, which signed a host community agreement with
MGM, held their referendum in July, and it passed 57-42. Now that sounds like a
big margin until you consider that Everett, MA passed their referendum 83-17.
And when you consider that MGM spent $12 million to try to win the vote, the
fact that they could not even get to 60% tells us that there is not overwhelming
support for a casino in Springfield, which is something that the MGC has said
that they would like to see.
The town of Palmer has signed a host
community agreement with Mohegan Sun, and they will hold their referendum on
November 5th.
In the language of the MA Gaming Commission (MGC), the
cities of Springfield and Palmer are host communities because the casinos will
be located in those towns, and Longmeadow and other communities will be
considered surrounding communities to Springfield. In order to be a surrounding
community, the chairman of the MGC has said that community would have to
experience a "substantial negative impact” as a result of the casino.
The host community gets a direct vote, but the surrounding communities have also
been asked by the MGC to give input. They have said that the enthusiasm, or
lack of enthusiasm, shown by the host community and surrounding communities will
be taken into consideration when the MGC debates where to put the
casino.
We have been encouraging people in the region to provide
enthusiastic opposition to a casino in Springfield, and the citizens of
Longmeadow have two ways to provide that input.
- Go to www.massgaming.com/contact and
share your thoughts.
- Come to the Town Meeting on November 5th at the high school and vote to
approve a resolution opposing a casino in Springfield.
So, I may not be
from around here, but I want to do everything I can to keep my adopted home
casino-free. Below is a summary of some of the reasons and evidence for why I
oppose a casino in Springfield, and why I hope you will join us in our
efforts.
Traffic / OUI
- Our roads are already congested and having a casino nearby would only stand
to make things worse.
- By state law, the casino will be allowed to serve FREE alcohol from 8AM to
2AM daily. The town of Ledyard, CT which hosts Foxwoods casino has the highest
rate of OUI accidents in the state of Connecticut. Do we want more drunk and
impaired drivers on our roads endangering our families and
ourselves?
Economic Impact
- Casinos can operate their entertainment, shops and restaurants at a loss in
order to get as many people as possible to the casino, but this undercutting of
prices will hurt local businesses and restaurants in Springfield, Longmeadow,
East Longmeadow and other communities.
- The only way for a casino to have a positive impact on a region is for most
of the patrons to come from outside the region. For a city like Springfield,
there is very little likelihood that many people will come from more than a
short drive away. Therefore, people who live locally who would normally be
spending money at other local businesses will instead go to the casino to spend
their money. This will enrich the casino operator at the expense of our local
economy.
- Casinos reduce residential property values in surrounding areas, thus
reducing town receipts, which may require tax increases to make up for the lost
revenue. This would be especially painful for a bedroom community like
Longmeadow that is dependent on strong residential property values to support
town operations. A National Association of Realtors study calls casinos effect
on home values "unambiguously negative." A 2009 study from the state of
Connecticut found that property values along main arteries decreased by 10%.
One selectman we talked to in North Stonington, CT said that property values in
his town have decreased 25% within a 1/4 mile of routes traveled to reach
Foxwoods casino.
Social Costs
- Approximately 1.5-2% of people nationally have a gambling problem. But,
living within 50 miles of a casino doubles the number of addicted gamblers, and
having a casino within 10 miles doubles the number again. So, if a casino is
located in Springfield, between 6-8% of people living within 10 miles of the
casino will have a gambling problem. There are currently 481,000 people living
within 10 miles of the proposed MGM casino site, so that means somewhere between
18,000-28,000 additional people (not to mention the suffering of countless
family members) in our communities will be plagued with a gambling problem if a
casino were to come to Springfield.
Jobs
- A 2005 Harvard study of jobs and casinos shows that, on average, the
unemployment rate is unchanged after the introduction of a casino, which is
partially due to the closing of businesses in the area that lose income because
of the casino itself.
- The number of people who will be harmed by the casino far outnumber the
people who will be employed because of the
casino.
Mitigation
- The town on North Stonington, CT (population 5400, adjacent to Foxwoods)
receives $880,000/year in mitigation funds, but one town selectman we spoke to
says it is not nearly enough to cover the costs they incur because of the
casino.
- There are many hidden costs to a town (including impacts on school budgets,
housing, tax base, quality of life, and character of the town) that cannot be
accounted for by mitigation costs.
Long Term
Prospects
- The casino proponents have never pointed to a template of a successful
casino city that Springfield is trying to emulate. If casinos are so great for
a city, why can’t they point to a city and region that has benefited from a
casino in the long-term? Casinos may provide a brief economic boost, but the
casino licenses that will be awarded in Massachusetts are for 75 years, so it is
important to look at long-term impacts, and no city, excluding Las Vegas, has
benefitted from casinos in the long run.
- I want the best for Springfield and Longmeadow both today and for many years
to come. Any potential short-term benefit would soon dissipate and be more
than made up for by the costs that grow as the casino sucks more from our local
economy and damages our local families.
For more information, or if
you’d like to get involved, feel free to contact us at nocasinospringfield@gmail.com.
Michelle
Steger
http://longmeadowbuzz.blogspot.com/2013/10/an-argument-against-having-casino-in.html
“Yes on both counts,” I replied to the woman working for the North Stonington, CT Select Board Office. “Then your town will never be the same if the casino comes to Springfield. It’s been so painful for us here,” she said.
My conversations with this woman and other town leaders who live in communities surrounding Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut have haunted me.
I am not from around here. I was born and raised in Dallas, Texas, but growing up, I always wanted to live in New England. When I first visited Longmeadow, where my husband, Ted, grew up, I knew I had found my home. We have been here for 5 years now, have a 1-year-old son, and could not be happier. However, when we first heard that a casino might be placed 2.5 miles from our house, we wondered what impact that might have on the community we love so much.
My husband and I are not experts, but we have been humbly asking questions and seeking answers for the last year, and the more we have learned about casinos and the way they operate, the more concerned we are about what a casino in the South End of Springfield would mean for Springfield, Longmeadow and other surrounding communities. This concern has led us to join with other concerned citizens to form a group, No Casino Springfield (www.nocasinospringfield.com) that will be hosting a Call to Action on Wednesday October 23rd at 7PM at St. Andrew’s Church in Longmeadow.
Before we get too deep into the argument against having a casino in the area, we should probably set the stage to make clear where we are in the process. Under the Massachusetts gaming law, a commission was formed called the Mass Gaming Commission (MGC), and it is made up of 5 people who are tasked with deciding which applicants will get a casino license in each of the 3 regions of the state. In Western Mass, there are 2 contenders.
Springfield, which signed a host community agreement with MGM, held their referendum in July, and it passed 57-42. Now that sounds like a big margin until you consider that Everett, MA passed their referendum 83-17. And when you consider that MGM spent $12 million to try to win the vote, the fact that they could not even get to 60% tells us that there is not overwhelming support for a casino in Springfield, which is something that the MGC has said that they would like to see.
The town of Palmer has signed a host community agreement with Mohegan Sun, and they will hold their referendum on November 5th.
In the language of the MA Gaming Commission (MGC), the cities of Springfield and Palmer are host communities because the casinos will be located in those towns, and Longmeadow and other communities will be considered surrounding communities to Springfield. In order to be a surrounding community, the chairman of the MGC has said that community would have to experience a "substantial negative impact” as a result of the casino. The host community gets a direct vote, but the surrounding communities have also been asked by the MGC to give input. They have said that the enthusiasm, or lack of enthusiasm, shown by the host community and surrounding communities will be taken into consideration when the MGC debates where to put the casino.
We have been encouraging people in the region to provide enthusiastic opposition to a casino in Springfield, and the citizens of Longmeadow have two ways to provide that input.
- Go to www.massgaming.com/contact and share your thoughts.
- Come to the Town Meeting on November 5th at the high school and vote to approve a resolution opposing a casino in Springfield.
Long Term Prospects
For more information, or if you’d like to get involved, feel free to contact us at nocasinospringfield@gmail.com.
Michelle Steger
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