You bet they're against it
Coalition forms to halt spread of gambling across state
Some say it's immoral or unconstitutional. Some say it's bankrupting their communities. And others say it's bankrupting their neighbors.
Whatever the reason, gambling is the common enemy of the members of a new statewide coalition.
Sparked mainly by the prospect of a proliferation of Indian-run casinos in the Catskills and Western New York, the Coalition Against Gambling in New York says it wants to provide a unified counter-voice to pro-gambling interests.
The idea for the new group was hatched during a July 29 meeting in Syracuse of people representing local anti-gambling organizations from around the state.
The coalition, which announced its formation this month, hopes to make its presence known during the state Legislature's first working day of 2005 on Jan. 10.
"We're asking for a moratorium on expansion of any gambling in the state," said Charlotte Nindl Wellins, of Wellesley Island, coalition vice chairwoman and secretary. "We're looking to stop the expansion of the Lottery, Quick Draw, Indian casinos, anything that's out there."
Wellins, who has been active in the group NoCasino Thousand Islands, said the new coalition hopes to bring nationally recognized anti-gambling experts to Albany next month.
The basic message is that gambling does more harm than good, both socially and economically.
Wellins, a 66-year-old former school administrator, cites studies showing up to "$7 plus in social costs go out for every $1 that comes in to a state because of gambling."
Judy Bachmann, of Vernon, said she joined the new coalition because of the effects of the Oneida Nation of New York's Turning Stone Casino resort.
"I am not against gambling per se," the 62-year-old retired real estate broker said. "But I don't believe I should have to subsidize other people's gambling. That's what's happening."
She said she andher neighbors pay higher taxes to compensate for taxes the Oneida Nation doesn't pay on the 18,000 acres it owns in Madison and Oneida counties. Turning Stone profits enabled the nation, which maintains it is exempt from taxes because it is sovereign, to buy that land.
Plus, she says her county's hotel bed tax - charged to people who stay in non-Indian hotels and motels - winds up promoting Turning Stone, which charges no such tax for accommodations.
Bachmann said her work running a business examining titles for attorneys opened her eyes to the issue.
The new coalition's chairman, Joel Rose, has had his own firsthand experience with casinos in Western New York. The Seneca Indian Nation runs a casino in Niagara Falls and wants to open another in Buffalo or suburban Erie County.
That prompted the formation of Rose's local group, Citizens Against Casino Gambling in Erie County.
"We found that there are many organizations doing good work from Buffalo to the Thousand Islands, out to Long Island, and many points in between," said Rose, 60.
Rose cites studies showing new casinos can double the rate of gambling addiction in a 50-mile radius.
"You're talking about human hardship: broken homes, bankruptcies, crime, child abuse, suicide," he said.
Other studies, he says, show that for every job a casino creates, two to three other jobs disappear.
"Casinos suck moneyout of communities," he said, noting casinos tend to be self-contained units that offer visitors virtually everything they need.
"Casinos are the major problem, but we don't necessarily want to limit it (the coalition's work) to that," Rose said, citing video lottery terminals, among other things.
The other coalition officer is the treasurer, the Rev. Duane Motley of Rochester.
He heads New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, a conservative Christian-based religious group that is part of a lawsuit against the state to stop gambling expansion, including VLT operations.