Activists gear up for 2010 battle

By Taryn Plumb
Turley Publications Reporter

REGION - The battle – what a few even consider a fundamental clash of good and evil – is on the horizon.
And both sides are geared up for a fight.
“It's about legalizing and state-sponsoring addiction – for profit,” said former Monson Selectman Kathleen Norbut, president of the grassroots group United to Stop Slots. “It's a predatory business.”
“Do I believe that casinos are outright evil? Absolutely not,” rebutted Carl Bryant, an activist from Bondsville. “I want people to look at this as an opportunity.”
Early next year, the Legislature is expected to take up a long-anticipated debate over casino gambling in Massachusetts. According to published reports, House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo plans to continue forward with filing a bill to legalize casino gambling by January or February.
The Legislature re-opened the issue of expanding gambling in the state in a hearing on Oct. 29 before the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies. Talks were previously stymied by former Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, who blocked expanded gambling.
As in the past, opponents lament that casinos are a misguided band-aid that won't address the cause of the state's real wounds, nor generate nearly the amount of projected jobs or tax revenue – but will, instead, prey on and even promote addiction.
But proponents and self-described neutral observers point to the potentially lucrative tax and spin-off revenues, economy stimulation and job generation in Palmer, where the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority plans a casino, events center, hotels, restaurants and retail shops on 150 acres of land leased from Northeast Realty off the Mass Pike.
“I know all the pros and cons – let someone else work those out. Our coalition is focusing on job creation,” said Joseph Turek, chairman of the Pioneer Valley Jobs Coalition.
With roughly 27 members in Berkshire, Hampshire, Hampden and Franklin counties, the coalition is an impartial participant, Turek said, and hasn't strictly aligned itself with either the pro or con camp.
But the group's message certainly seems in favor. “If it's a legal job, even if it's entry-level, it's better than no job,” said Turek.
He added that the positions in the proposed casino might not be the highest paying, but workers are promoted from within – something he learned when he visited the flagship Mohegan Sun facility in Connecticut.
Preliminary estimations are that a Palmer site would create between 1,000 and 1,500 construction jobs, and 2,500 to 3,000 permanent positions within.
Yet that doesn't count the jobs that could be created with landscaping and other services, according to Turek, as well as jobs with other businesses and shopping facilities that piggyback on the casino's tourist pull.
“We're hoping there's a spin-off of several hundred other permanent jobs,” Turek said.
That's baseless optimism, dissenters say.
As Norbut contended, about 40 percent of jobs at Connecticut casinos came from businesses that perished when the gambling facility moved in.
Also, others say, the perception that Mohegan is going to hire locally is unfounded.
“They're not going to hire local people,” said EmmaLadd Shepherd, co-president of Quaboag Valley Against Casinos, asserting that gambling facilities recruit people from other countries.
But Mohegan Sun executives insist that they will be dedicated to the local economy.
Paul Brody, vice president of development for the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, pledged that area residents will be given first dibs on 100 percent of the jobs.
“We don't see why we'd need to recruit from outside the area,” he said. “Our calculations show that all positions could be filled locally.”
Going into 2010, Mohegan plans to continue its area speaking engagements and Palmer office hours. “We've worked hard to connect with the community,” Brody said.
Opponents plan to work hard, too – looking ahead, they will continue to push for an independent cost-benefit analysis that lays out the impacts on housing, education, small businesses and public safety, road, water and sewage infrastructure. They may have their work cut out for them, as DeLeo said recently that he sees no need for new cost studies.
But if they succeed, Norbut said, “We will see this is, in fact, a terrible long-term economic drain.”
However, the social aspects are much worse, she and others contended. Between 70 and 90 percent of casino revenues are derived from problem or addictive gamblers, Norbut said, noting that slot machines are “Designed to hypnotize players.”
“Should we be funding our government services off the misery of addicts?” she said.
Shepherd was just as vehement.
“Slots are evil,” she said. “People have lost their houses, 401Ks, life insurance. It's unbelievable.”
Still, others say, gambling is only a portion of what casinos do – they're also destinations for shopping and entertainment. “It is not the total picture,” Bryant said.
And Brody noted that Mohegan is “transparent” about such social impacts.
The company contributes money to treatment programs, is involved with the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling, provides employee training on the warning signs, and posts compulsive gambling hotline numbers and information throughout its facility.
It also offers a self-exclusion program that imports participants' photos into a database, flags their credit cards, and even makes them liable for arrest for trespassing if they are found on-site. Brody could not provide numbers of how many people currently participate in this program.
“We're mindful that it does have an impact negatively on some people,” he said.
Indeed, Shepherd, Norbut and others drew attention to these negative impacts, including increased casino traffic – which is estimated by Mohegan officials at 9,500 additional on weekdays and 13,500 additional on weekends – and drains on public safety and infrastructure. And not only in Palmer, but in surrounding towns, as well, they asserted. That in mind, Shepherd said that, if Palmer has a referendum vote on casinos, they will push for similar votes in outlying towns, including Sturbridge.
Because ultimately, “Whatever happens in Palmer is going to affect us,” she said.
Still, proponents assert that the benefits outweigh any potential impacts.
“It's a strong messaging of jobs, jobs and jobs,” said Brody. “There are jobs here, permanent jobs that pay well.”
And, Turek noted, is anyone else offering opportunities of more than a handful of jobs?
No, said Bryant. “There aren't a lot of people stepping up to the plate to offer jobs,” he said.
All told, in addition to employment opportunities, a casino in Palmer will enable a consistent tax base, he said, and would also draw in other businesses.
All that in mind, “We should give casino as much consideration as any other company,” Bryant said.
However, he acknowledged that casinos shouldn't be relied on as the solution to all the state's problems. There are still many other issues to address. “It's not going to be the cure-all,” he said.
On that note, supporters and dissenters agree.
As Norbut put it, the state should actively be taking steps to create a stronger job market and offer skilled job training.
“It's a problem that was here before the recession," she said, "and that will be here in the future."
In the end, she said, debating over casinos is a “Distraction from what we really need to be looking at.”