Casinos No! opposes a bad idea for Maine

I read with interest the article, “Indian decries casino rhetoric,” published in the Bangor Daily News on June 20. It is difficult to address all of the issues raised by state Rep. Donald Soctomah in the article, but I will try.

Regarding the recent elections held in seven southern Maine towns, he said that the nonprofit organization Casinos No! used “strong-arm … tactics” to accomplish the positive vote against casinos in their towns. This is false.

After the tribes announced their plans to build a huge casino in southern Maine, Casinos No! joined with concerned citizens in the region to co-sponsor three informational forums, to which all residents and local politicians were invited. At these forums, we listened to speakers who are intimately familiar with the impact that Foxwoods Casino and Mohegan Sun have had on neighboring communities in Connecticut. At home, we have worked hard to educate ourselves, via newspapers and the Internet, regarding the impact casinos have had throughout the United States. Casinos No! did help the general public to gain a better understanding of the social impacts of a large casino, but this is certainly not a case of using strong-arm tactics. It is, instead, a fine example of public service.

Rep. Soctomah also claims that Casinos No! has employed scare tactics, and that knowledge of the “true facts” would allay the public’s fears about the impact of casino gambling. Just what are the facts? The social and economic impacts of gambling casinos have been thoroughly studied by professional economists and social scientists. A good example is a recent paper by Earl L. Grinols and David B. Mustard, published in Managerial and Decision Economics, Volume 22, pages 143-162 (2001).

Let me quote briefly from page 150 of that paper:

“The most comprehensive analysis of the casino-crime link is Grinols et al. (2000), which evaluated county-level data for seven offenses in every U.S. county over 20 years, and controlled for about 50 variables. It concluded that, on average, 8-10 percent of crime in casino counties in 1996 could be attributed to the presence of casino gambling in the county, resulting in costs of $63 per adult annually in these counties. Furthermore, counties that border casinos also experience increased crime rates, which suggests that casinos truly increase crime, not merely shift it from one location to another.” I don’t find these facts reassuring at all.

He also accuses Casinos No! of not addressing the issue of high unemployment in the state. True, it is not the primary mission of Casinos No! to seek out new strategies for economic growth. Casinos No! was created to fight the legalization of casinos in Maine, to keep the law as it is at the present. Even so, the organization has recently begun work on organizing a forum to address the important issue of real economic development in our state.

In making this comment regarding jobs, Rep. Soctomah is suggesting that building gambling casinos would be good for Maine’s economy. It would not. The study quoted above concludes that, for every dollar of positive economic benefit that comes from a casino, there is around $2 of social and economic loss. Nationwide, the authors conclude that casinos are responsible for the loss of $27 billion a year. Most of this loss is the result of gambling addicts depleting all of their own financial resources and then turning to crime to support their habit. Why should Maine become another statistic in this sad history?

Rep. Soctomah talks about the people behind Casinos No! as being the “richest of the rich.” My husband and I are active members of the Casinos No! organization, and we know of a lot of members who are office clerks, educators, civil servants and many who are (like us) retirees living on a fixed income. Those who have the ability to contribute money to the cause obviously do so. However, many members are limited by their financial situations to contributing only their time.

He also refers to southern Maine as the “Palm Springs of Maine,” in a transparent attempt to pit northern Maine against southern Maine. Again, he shows total disregard for the facts. Just recently, we saw figures giving the per capita income of people in Washington County ($25,000 a year) and York County ($31,000 a year). Given the high cost of housing in York County, I would easily believe that a person earning $25,000 in Washington County lives more comfortably than a person earning $31,000 in York County.

Rep. Soctomah’s portrayal of a Casinos No! conspiracy of the super rich trying to push some evil, private agenda is outrageous.

We cannot speak for everyone in the organization, but I can tell you what our own agenda is. My husband and I chose to live in Kittery Point because we love the small-town atmosphere, the low crime rate and the natural beauty of this clean, coastal community. Constructing a $600 million casino here and bringing in 30,000 visitors a day would have a devastating impact. The burden on our water supply, sewage treatment facilities, law enforcement and social services would be staggering. We oppose casinos because, by so doing, we hope to save our town.

Rep. Soctomah would have you believe that it is an act of racism to oppose the casino proposal. I certainly don’t look at it that way. In fact, my great-grandmother was part Apache, and I am proud of that heritage. Casino gambling would make our state poorer, attack our quality of life, deplete our natural resources, and bring misery to the families and friends of gambling addicts. Whether operated by Donald Trump or by a tribe, casinos are a very bad idea for Maine.

Janice Muir is a resident of Kittery Point and active in Casinos No!