Plainville: 22 reasons to VOTE NO on slots

Reason #1 to VOTE NO SLOTS:
Gambling changes a town forever. Once slots (and then table games) are here, the very culture of the town will change, as so many other towns that have adopted expanded gambling have said. Increases in embezzlement, theft, DUIs, domestic violence, child neglect, bankruptcies, and suicides as a result of a substantial increase in pathological and problem gambling cannot be denied. The growth of payday lenders, pawn shops, “hot-bedding,” and prostitution in gambling towns is well documented all over the country. An increase in out-of-town workers in low-wage jobs causes a strain on local services, including housing and schools.

The original plan put forth by Plainridge for a small slots parlor and a food court has grown exponentially. The several restaurants and sports bar means that people who go to the facility won’t be stepping out to eat in the local restaurants.

The much-touted defense of the facility as having no impact on traffic because people will be getting off 495, then right back on without traveling our town’s roads means that they won’t be passing by local businesses and stopping in. So, which is it? Bad for traffic, or bad for business? Proponents can’t have it both ways.

Finally, the claim that crime won’t go up is belied by the fact the we have already experienced more than seven years of crime at the track — the armored car heist pales in comparison to the embezzlement that continued, unchecked, for years. What else was happening there that the owners and the Racing Commission didn’t see?

Reason #2 to VOTE NO SLOTS:
Plainville should not be forced to prop up harness racing, a dead industry, that cannot support itself. We would not do it and have not done it for ANY other business in Plainville.

Reason #3 to VOTE NO SLOTS:
There is less than a week between when the selectmen met Penn National for the first time and the day when voters go to the polls to give the thumbs up or thumbs down to allow Penn National to apply for the slots license at Plainridge. To add insult to injury, the MA Gaming Commission has not concluded its vetting process of PNG, nor issued a suitability ruling.

Reason #4 to VOTE NO SLOTS:
Casinos and racinos saturation in New England means a dim future for slots and harness racing at Plainridge.

Reason #5 to VOTE NO SLOTS:
Plainville selectmen want voters to accept Springfield's and Tewksbury's rejects.

Reason #6 to VOTE NO SLOTS:
Once expanded gambling comes to Plainville, it's here forever.

Reason #7 to VOTE NO SLOTS:
Plainville is having serious money problems, but we can't gamble our way into solvency, any recovering gambling addict would tell you that. And any recovering gambling addict would tell you that it's foolish to try.

Reason #8 to VOTE NO SLOTS:
Slot machines are designed to trick players into continuing to "play to extinction." A recent Canadian study shows that some modern slot machines ‘trick’ players – by way of their physiology – into feeling like they are winning when in fact they are losing.

Reason #9 to VOTE NO SLOTS:
Slots casinos are capital intensive, not labor intensive — they depend much more on machines than on human workers. An operator that needs workers with skills tailored to specialized machines seems unlikely to hire from the local neighborhood. In slot parlor after slot parlor around the country, the projected jobs to the town are never realized.

Reason #10 to VOTE NO SLOTS:
Unless Plainville votes NO on September 10th, we will be bound by a Host Community Agreement (HCA) that allows the developer to EXPAND the slot parlor without another town vote; expanding the number of slot machines and adding table games would already be approved for Plainridge if we don't defeat the referendum now.

Reason #11 to VOTE NO SLOTS:
Gaming will NOT fuel the creation of new, cutting edge industries in Plainville.

Reason #12 to VOTE NO SLOTS:
Research suggests that problem and pathological gambling is associated with depression and suicidal tendencies.

Reason #13 to VOTE NO SLOTS:
"We find that crime increases over time in casino counties, and that casinos do not just shift crime from neighboring regions, but create crime. We estimate the crime-related social costs in casino counties at approximately $75 per adult per year," [Baylor University professor Earl] Grinols said.

Reason #14 to VOTE NO SLOTS:
Youth gambling is increasing at an alarming rate.

Reason #15 to VOTE NO SLOTS:
Seniors are more vulnerable to gambling than folks who are working full time.

Reason #16 to VOTE NO SLOTS:

Child Abuse and Neglect: Research has documented an association between pathological gambling and child maltreatment.

Reason #17 to VOTE NO SLOTS:

Gambling is a multi-billion dollar drag on the economy: For every $1 that's gambled, you lose $3 to the consumer economy.

Reason #18 to VOTE NO SLOTS:

Saturation: With a slots parlor and 3 casinos, no one in Massachusetts will live further than 50 miles from at least one, sometimes two or three, gambling sites. Right now Plainville is within 50 miles of two facilities.

Reason #19 to VOTE NO SLOTS:

Slots are the “crack cocaine” of gambling: "It's important for voters to understand how these machines work. Every feature of a slot machine — its mathematical structure, visual graphics, sound dynamics, seating and screen ergonomics — is calibrated to increase a gambler's ‘time on device’ and to encourage ‘play to extinction,’ which is industry jargon for playing until all your money is gone ... - Dr. Natasha Dow Schüll, Assistant Professor at MIT, and author of the book Addiction by Design

Reason #20 to VOTE NO SLOTS:
The Planning Board may have overreached the zoning by-law of the town by allowing slots at Plainridge.

Reason #21 to VOTE NO SLOTS:

Economists at the National Association of Realtors call the impact of casinos on housing markets "unambiguously negative." A casino would sap home values in the host community.

Reason #22 to VOTE NO SLOTS:

Would you hire someone you’d never had the chance to interview? Would you hire someone whose references you hadn’t had an opportunity to check? That’s what we’re being asked to do for Penn National Gaming.