If a Tiverton casino opens, there needs to be a plan for social justice

Guest Opinion: If a Tiverton casino opens, there needs to be a plan for social justice be a plan for social justice

An artist's rendering of the proposed 85,000-square-foot Tiverton casino. It would have 1,000 video lottery terminals and 32 table games. It would be attached to an 84-room hotel.

Drawing Courtesy of Twin River Management Group

Friday 

Posted Aug 12,2016

As a priest, pastor and President of the Tiverton Interfaith Clergy Group opposing the expansion of gambling in Rhode Island in general and the placement of a casino in Tiverton specifically, I asked the Tiverton Planning Board to begin working on a social plan. If there must be a casino placed in Tiverton, then there must be a social plan for the sake of social justice. I am asking the Planning Board to consider developing, approving and submitting a social plan to the Tiverton Town Council, as soon as possible, in the event Tiverton voters approve the casino referendum on Election Day, Nov. 8, a mere 90 days away.

The Rev. John E. Higginbotham

As a priest, pastor and President of the Tiverton Interfaith Clergy Group opposing the expansion of gambling in Rhode Island in general and the placement of a casino in Tiverton specifically, I asked the Tiverton Planning Board to begin working on a social plan. If there must be a casino placed in Tiverton, then there must be a social plan for the sake of social justice. I am asking the Planning Board to consider developing, approving and submitting a social plan to the Tiverton Town Council, as soon as possible, in the event Tiverton voters approve the casino referendum on Election Day, Nov. 8, a mere 90 days away.

A social plan will help facilitate and help to provide Tiverton residents who become addicted to casino gambling with access to resources they will need when they, and their families, suffer the financial fallout from a gambling addiction as a direct result of a casino coming into this town. Some of the resources needed would include psychiatric treatment for gamblers suffering from this addiction, legal resources when criminal activity, eviction, bankruptcy or utility shut offs are involved. There should be access to emergency financial resources such as low- interest rate loans providing residents with food, utility payments, rent money to prevent eviction and emergency mortgage payments to prevent foreclosure. Employment assistance must be made available when the gambler has been terminated as a direct result of their gambling addiction.

These resources are all about survival. We all know our finances go much deeper than basic survival. However, a gambling addiction does not discern between disposable income and survival income. The addiction just knows that money is the fuel needed for the high the “action” gives the gambler when playing slot machines or any of the table games in the casino. This addiction not only takes away the luxury of disposable income from the gambler, a gambling addiction takes away all the money an addicted gambler can get their hands on.

A casino can easily create a gambling addiction in a model citizen’s life. For example, a Tiverton resident goes into this proposed casino one night just for the fun of it to play the slots and winds up a year or two later with a full blown gambling addiction. The person becomes an active gambler and craves the excitement of the “action” playing the slots only to end up broke, borrowing from Peter to pay Paul, maxing out the credit cards at the ATM machine, which the casino so conveniently provides. Finally, when there is nothing left but toxic shame, bankruptcy becomes a way out for many gamblers.

Unfortunately, there is embezzlement from the gambler’s place of employment just to keep gambling because the addiction whispers “Keep playing. You can hit it big. You can save the house and the car and the 401(k) and replace the kid’s college tuition money that you have been saving since birth. You can save face. You can be a hero and still have fun.” That’s a gambling addiction controlling what was a model life, a good life, a healthy life. In the end, a person with a chronic gambling addiction can end up ruining their life and the life of their family and loved ones who depend upon them for their survival. In chronic cases they could end up in bankruptcy court or doing 3-to-5 years in prison for embezzlement or even worse taking their own lives. It’s not just about your money; it’s about your life. In this case, it is the life of this beautiful town.

I know the Tiverton Town Council and many proponents of the casino say, “This is just hyperbole. These are just scare tactics. This is just an over exaggeration of the facts.” When asked about the addiction issue, casino executives usually point out that most people don’t have a gambling problem, which is true. Just over 1 percent of the population is considered to be compulsive gamblers, those with the most serious level of gambling addiction and another 3 percent to be problem gamblers, those folks with somewhat lesser levels of addiction.

However, as documented in the landmark Institute of American Values report “Why Casinos Matter” (www.americanvalues.org), multiple independent studies show that 35-50 percent of casino gambling revenues come from that 4 percent of the population who are collectively referred to in the gambling literature as “problem gamblers.”

This means that the casino industry’s very business model is dependent upon preying upon addicted gamblers. That is people with some level of gambling addiction and that up to half the money government obtains from casino gambling comes from exploiting addicted citizens and the people close to them. This is the basis of the argument that it is unethical for government to support and promote gambling. The bottom line: It is difficult to take seriously the casino industry’s claims that casinos do everything possible to identify, bar, and help addicted gamblers get treatment since most casinos would be hard pressed to stay in business if they lost 35-50 percent of their revenue.

If the voters approve the referendum, then this town must be prepared for the social fall out. You see, the town is our people. We have a responsibility to our people. This is a matter of social justice. As an advisory body to the Town Council, the Planning Board has an obligation and a duty to at least plan for any eventuality, especially the placement of a casino in this beautiful New England village and to protect the people they serve from harm and when that harm is done, be there to help them. Otherwise, our town will be changed, and not for the better. Otherwise, there will be no peace in our town because there will be no justice. Otherwise, we are saying, I just don’t give a damn.

The Rev. John E. Higginbotham is president of The Tiverton Interfaith Clergy Group.


http://www.heraldnews.com/opinion/20160812/guest-opinion-if-tiverton-casino-opens-there-needs-to-be-plan-for-social-justice