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(With
Sources for Information Underlined)
DID YOU
KNOW?
Did you know, of
all of the surrounding communities, Lynwood:
-has
the lowest unemployment rate
-has
the highest median household income
-has
the highest median family income
-has
the highest median house value
-has the lowest percentage of families and individuals
below the poverty level (United States
Census Bureau)
Our Lynwood Mayor
and his trustees would have all of us believe that the Village of
Lynwood is in such a poor financial state that it is one step away
from being bankrupt and unable to function. The truth is that Lynwood
is a bedroom community, with the majority of its residents having good
jobs outside of the community, and whose residents would not benefit
whatsoever from any jobs that might come from a casino. What this
area needs for true economic growth is better road infrastructure, an
Illinois-Indiana expressway south of I-80, and a rail line to the
city, among other improvements. Until we get those things, true
economic development cannot occur. Any attempt to locate a casino
here is misguided and shortsighted and is not what this area needs for
true economic development. We, as residents of this community, need
to encourage our Mayor and the Village Board to rethink their stand
and encourage them to embrace transportation improvements that would
truly benefit Lynwood.
GAMING INDUSTRY FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS
Despite the
overwhelming body of research that has documented the disadvantages of
casinos and the havoc they have wreaked on the communities where they
are located, gambling proponents continue to make baseless claims
about their benefits. When responding to a question and quoting a
reference, one must consider the source and understand the
context in which it was written. In reference to the federally
funded gambling impact study, one should read the whole document, its
sources, and its recommendations before using it as a reference.
1.
What is the best type of gaming package for a
community?
There is no best
type of gaming package for a community relative to the community. The
National Gambling Impact Study Commission (NGISC) has
recommended that there be a moratorium on all gambling
expansion.
2.
Where is the best place to locate such a resort?
As shown by the
United States Census Bureau, Lynwood does not have high levels of
unemployment or underemployment and therefore would not benefit from
the jobs this casino would provide.
3. What are the
economic impacts of casino gaming?
The introduction of
casino gaming may create some low paying jobs, for example, the
average tribal casino pays its employees an average annual salary of
$17,835 per year. The Ho-Chunk Nation’s own average is $18,872 per
year.
As far as the two
sources quoted by the Village of Lynwood, The National Opinion
Research Center (NORC) was found to be biased and non-accurate by the
National Gambling Impact Study Commission. Moreover, the study done
by PricewaterhouseCoopers ought not be considered since they are
biased to the gaming industry. Their own mission statement is “the
professionals of PricewaterhouseCoopers Hospitality and Leisure
practice have a long-term commitment to the gaming industry. Our team
of specialists have experience in providing the vast range of services
required to support a successful gaming development initiative”.
Any report from them is certainly biased since they will not and
cannot “bite the hand that feeds them.”
Dr. John Warren
Kindt, an economist from the University of Illinois, has studied the
economic impacts of gambling and has noted, “Traditional business are
at a competitive disadvantage when pitted against legalized gambling
interests (The Economic Impacts of Legalized Gambling Activities).
Furthermore, “Areas that develop successfully through casinos, shrink
the economies of neighboring areas, while sending many of the social
costs home with the problem gamblers (Id).
4. What are
the statistics on casino employment opportunities?
While
it is true that casinos do employ people, the jobs created destroy an
equal number of jobs elsewhere, thus “creating” no new jobs (Chicago
Metro Ethics Coalition). The average non-tribal casino wage is
$20,589, while the average tribal casino wage is $17,835.
5. Do other
businesses suffer when casinos are introduced into a community?
Dr.
John Warren Kindt has found that “casinos compete too well in a
capitalistic society. Land values are inflated by speculation;
skyrocketing real estate taxes overwhelm local residents who do not
sell out to speculators; and existing institutions and recreation
facilities cannot match the attraction and economic clout of the
casinos.” His research has led him to conclude that, “traditional
businesses resent that they must compete with the gambling interests
not just for the so-called ‘entertainment dollar’ or ‘recreational
dollar’ but for other consumer dollars as well. Generally,
traditional businesses were slow to recognize the way in which
legalized gambling organizations captured dollars from across the
entire spectrum of the various consumer markets.” (The Economic
Impacts of Legalized Gambling). Based on this research, clearly
local businesses, especially if the casino complex offers the same
type of businesses, will suffer if they survive or will close up
completely.
6. Do mobsters
and organized crime control the casino industry?
One
cannot conclude conclusively from the NGISC if mobsters
and organized crime do or do not control the gambling industry today.
7. Is there an
increase in crime near casinos?
All
of the evidence, with the exception of that which is done by the
gambling industry themselves, show that, without doubt, crime does go
up in and around a community that has a casino. From the standpoint
of pure numbers, to have a casino this large and to attract the amount
of visitors that they would like to attract each day, the law of
averages states that there would be an increase in crime due to the
increase in people. To say there is no increase in crime is blind and
shortsighted. Even Sauk County, Wisconsin’s Sheriff, when
asked if there was an increase in crime since the arrival of the
Ho-Chunk Casino near Baraboo, Wisconsin, stated that there was an
increase in crime since its arrival. From The Economic Impacts of
Legalized Gambling Activities, Dr. John Warren Kindt states,
“Shortly after the advent of legalized casino gambling [Nov.
1989], the Deadwood[South Dakota] casino economy lurched forward. The
state’s attorney’s office in Deadwood indicated that within
approximately two years:
1.
Child abuse cases had increased 42-43%
(from 350 to 500 cases);
2.
Police costs had increased 80%-100% with
a virtual doubling of the number of police officers;
3.
Although national statistics had
increased only slightly, crime in the Deadwood area had increased
overall by 10% (although prior to 1989 the crime rate had been
declining) with a 50% increase in felonies. Furthermore, there were
614 Class one misdemeanors or felonies in 1988, and 1070 in 1992, a
75% increase in four years;
4.
Domestic violence and assaults had risen
80%; and
5.
Burglaries and writing of bad checks had
increased, while illegal drug, prostitution, and drunk driving cases
had remained relatively the same.
8.
Do communities with casinos experience unique or elevated levels of
social problems?
In
his research Gambling as Economic Policy: Enumerating Why Losses
Exceed Gains, Dr. Earl L. Grinols states that “Nevada, for
example, has the highest suicide rate for residents for the nation—its
rate is more that double the national average. It has the highest
high school drop-out rate; is first for deaths per vehicle-mile
driven; and, according to the January 1994 issue of the Archives of
Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, it led the nation in child
death by abuse in 1979-1988 (a period when casino gambling was illegal
in other parts of the nation except Atlantic City).”
9.
If casinos open in a community, will there be
an increase in the number of pathological gamblers?
The answer
is an unequivocal YES! Dr Earl L. Grinols states that the number of
problem economic gamblers is approximately 10% of the population, even
in those states that only have state lotteries (Gambling as
Economic Policy: Enumerating Why Losses Exceed Gains). Dr. John
Warren Kindt in The Economic Impacts of Legalized Gambling
Activities, states that the “ proximity to gambling influences
the extent to which people engage in that activity. By exposing
potential gamblers to legal casino gambling, a number of these
individuals will experience problem gambling behaviors which may have
otherwise remained dormant.”
10. Do
bankruptcy rates increase when casinos are introduced into a
community?
YES! From the
Institute for Problem Gambling, “A third of all people who seek
treatment for problem gambling in Connecticut have either already
filed for bankruptcy, or are in the process of filing, as they enter
treatment,” explains Health Center psychologist Nancy Petry, Ph.D.,
principal investigator of the nation’s first controlled study on
treatments for compulsive gamblers. “These rates are nearly eight
times higher than in the general population,” she added. According to
The Christian Science Monitor March 19, 2004, “A controversial
new study has found that personal bankruptcy rates are twice as high
in counties with gambling casinos than in those without.”
We
would ask that our Mayor of Lynwood and the board individually do
their homework and research this all for themselves. The overwhelming
evidence shows that a casino would be a BAD DEAL for this community
and we need our Mayor and his board to see that a short-term,
short-sighted “economic” plan for this community would not be
beneficial in the long term. Long term economic development is going
to take time and infrastructure changes. We need to be patient and
put the interests of this community first, then true economic
development can and will take place, to benefit not only the village
of Lynwood and its residents, but also the entire Southland.
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