March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

I am opposed to the proposed gambling casino. After research I am sssured the benefits to Calais citizens have been highly overrated, and the drawbacks have been understated, or not mentioned. It is apparent from the experience of other casinos that the only beneficiaries are the financial backers from outside Maine — indeed from outside the United States.

The fallout among local businesses is almost entirely negative. People who come to gamble do just that. They do not shop in local stores. They do not stay in local motels, or go to local restaurants or movies. They spend all their money at the casino complex, and then they leave — broke, mad, and often drunk — not people we like to share our roads with.

A city with a high-stakes casino has an unenviable reputation. It will become increasingly difficult to attract professional people of quality — teachers, doctors, nurses, retirees — who would be assets to our community. The only local benefits will be small, short-lived, and to a very few. Please, people of Calais, think about it. Mary S. Livingstone Calais


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