Former Conn. US Rep. Steele to speak: Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Liberal Club at 20 Star St., Fall River

This is a MUST if you haven't heard Former Conn. US Rep. Steele speak or read his book!

Only a neighbor knows how bad Predatory Gambling is and what it does to a community!

Former Conn. US Rep. Steele to speak against casino proposal at Liberal Club on Wednesday


FALL RIVER — Amid the possibility of a casino coming to Fall River — or New Bedford, depending on who you talk to — a group of Greater Fall River residents who opposed to Foxwoods' proposal to build a resort-style casino has been quietly organizing.


On Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Liberal Club at 20 Star St., the group called Citizens for the Common Good will host speaker, author and former Connecticut Congressman Robert Steele, who will give a presentation titled “The explosion of casino gambling and its impact on Connecticut, New England and the nation.”


The event is free and open to the public.


“Most people don’t know what is involved and how it affects their community,” Steele said.


From the 1970s to the late 1990s, Steele lived with his family on the edge of the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation, he said. Steele said he saw firsthand the effects of living in a community with the two largest casinos in the world in their backyard.


Steele said he’s been speaking to groups across the commonwealth and New York who oppose the development of casinos in their municipalities.


Former Fall River mayoral candidate and community organizer Joseph Carvalho said his group invited Steele to speak to “try to give people a sense of the other side of the story.”


“He’s coming to tell people the experience based on what’s happening in Connecticut,” Carvalho said. “The education process is very important, and we’re finding people are overwhelmed by the propaganda from Foxwoods.”


It’s important, according to Carvalho, to show people a casino is the wrong way to build a local economy.


Carvalho said Citizens for the Common Good was started in 2009 when Mayor Will Flanagan first proposed a casino at the site that now houses the biopark.


He said the group reorganized when it was made aware a new casino proposal was possible.


In January, Flanagan and Foxwoods CEO Scott Butera announced the casino conglomerate was looking to build a $750 million resort casino in Fall River.


Initially, the company identified a 30-acre parcel at the New Harbour Mall site, but Flanagan recently reported that Foxwoods was looking to move the project to a 120-acre waterfront site.


Foxwoods has not confirmed the change of location, and last week, The Standard-Times reported the company was in negotiations with New Bedford.


Flanagan said he received assurances from Butera the reports were not true and that Foxwoods remained committed to developing in Fall River.




http://www.tauntongazette.com/article/20140602/NEWS/140609465/1994/NEWS