Introduction
Many, perhaps all, of the arguments made by opponents
of a Mashpee Wampanoag resort casino in Middleboro can be classified into
two major groups.
One is speculation based on what happened or has been
reported by some to be detrimental effects to have happened to communities
hosting tribal casinos.
The other is a more generic argument based on the moral
and social ramifications of compulsive gambling.
We will endeavor not to be dogmatic, or state
statistics as facts when they are really speculation. We will
avoid using anecdotal reports as proofs no matter whose side they
support.
We respect those who oppose our
viewpoints and we will do our best to respond to their questions and
concerns. |
Middleboro and the Mashpee Wampanoag doing it right.
Just because other communities have had problems
associated with large Native American gambling facilities located nearby
doesn't mean this must happen to Middleboro.
Dire predictions, voiced as if they are unavoidable,
are predictions and we urge people not to be swayed by worst case
scenarios and what has come to be fear mongering. We shouldn't wring our hands in desperation at
the mere thought that they will come to pass. Instead we should do our
best to assure they don't come to pass.
In order to minimize the negative impact of each of the
major concerns we heard expressed at the meeting at the Nichols
School and in letters to the editor, our town officials and concerned
citizens can and must work closely with
tribal representatives to come up with creative, sensible, proactive and
ongoing plans and programs. |
Crime
Much has been made of the increase in crime in other
communities where casinos have been built. We don't have to reinvent the
wheel to come up with ways to fight crime as it is now, or as it may
increase because of a resort casino.
The Middleboro Police Department is drastically understaffed as it is. It makes no sense that the Mashpee Wampanoag want to
assure Disney World level security on their property and leave the rest
of Middleboro under-policed and less safe for the citizens. For one thing, many of their employees,
including tribe members, will live in Middleboro.
We are trusting the tribe to act in good faith on their
promise to help the Middleboro Police in any way they can. Everyone
realizes this will mean increasing funds for law enforcement, including
funding police units to deal with specific crimes associated with having a
nearby gaming facility.
This is Police Chief Gary Russell's view, from The
Providence Journal:
He expects traffic to be the biggest problem a casino
causes.
With an expanded staff, help from the Massachusetts
State Police barracks in town and a tribal security department, he
foresees little disruption to the town's tranquil nature. Reference
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Traffic
It's in the best interest of all concerned to assure
that traffic flows in and out of the facility smoothly. It is also in
everyone's interest to make sure that this traffic doesn't cause traffic
problems elsewhere in Middleboro.
For some this will be an unavoidable consequence of
having a casino and we fully expect many of these residents to be strongly
opposed to a casino. We understand this and sympathize with those who
purchased houses on streets that they thought would never have more than
residential traffic.
The "fact" is that nobody knows for sure what traffic
patterns will be on a specific side street at present. If certain streets
do have a significant increase in through traffic there are probably ways to
mitigate this. |
The rural character of Middleboro
 Thanks to large tracts of conservation lands,
protected wetland, and
thousands of acres in cranberry cultivation, Middleboro will remain one of
the most rural suburban towns in eastern Massachusetts. Middleboro has more than 72 square miles, that is more than 46,000 acres. Many of those who are against the casino cite its losing its rural character because 1,000 of those acres are used for a resort - casino complex. However, much of it will be golf course and woodsy buffer. A thousand acres is only about 2% of all the land in Middleboro.
Unlike Carver, Plymouth and other towns with cranberry bogs and
undeveloped woodland, Middleboro will be unique in that it will have an
economic engine to drive it forward into the 21st century while still
remaining suburban rural.
While immediate neighbors of the casino will be
effected to varying degrees by a large resort casino, and we do feel for them,
the majority of residents won't notice any change that wouldn't come about
anyway through population growth and housing development
Even with the new subdivisions built for those who move here to be close to resort and casino jobs, these developed acres of
upland, and two acre house lots being carved out of wooded areas along
many of our roads, Middleboro will be about as rural as a town can be so
close to Boston for decades to come. |
Morality
There are many sincere and impassioned people who are
against gambling for valid moral reasons. One striking moral dimension is
that the people that seem most hurt by compulsive gambling are those in
the lower income brackets.
In their collective "wisdom" legislatures around the
country have promoted gambling for monetary reasons, whether to get a cut
of casino income or to supplement their budget through the lottery which
some argue is a stealth tax on the poor.
Those opposed to casino gambling invoke the image of
the elderly spending all their Social Security income on slot machines. We
suggest that by far most people on limited incomes who gamble at casinos
go in with a limit to their spending and leave when they have spent their
limit.
This brings us to the Native Americans and the fact
that the United States government has given them the right to profit from
gambling on their land.
They were offered the opportunity to engage in a
lucrative business and from their point of view it would be foolish not to
take advantage of it.
Are they beholden to the rest of us not to dangle
temptation in front of those with incipient gambling addiction?
Are they to ignore such a lucrative business
opportunity and instead engage in less profitable and
more risky businesses?
I think from a moral standpoint, their obligation is to
work with us to do everything possible to deal with the minority of people
whose lives will be disrupted by having a casino close by.
Although some disagree, we believe that our moral
obligation to the Mashpee Wampanoag is to provide redress to
them for the wrongs done to their ancestors by our ancestors. |
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The ministers "fight to the bitter end" to keep a casino out of
Middleborough.
A large number of local clergy, a clinical social
worker and a former social worker have expressed grave concerns about the
increase in the numbers of those afflicted compulsive gambling if a casino
comes to town. I suggest that these are but predictions, which are based on
reasonable sounding assumptions, but still based on assumptions.
Such predictions should be cautionary notes. But those
who express them aren't infallible fortune tellers. They can't divine how
well our educational and professional community, working closely with the
Mashpee Wampanoags, will deal with potential problems.
According to the Boston Globe (May
24, 2004) "area religious leaders, joining together to warn of
the dangers of gambling, vow to 'fight to the bitter end' to keep a
proposed casino out of Middleborough.
While such language is unfortunately bellicose in tone, I believe a
spirited "fight" should really be a dialogue, and will be healthy and
illuminating as long as both sides stick to the facts. But once the
dialogue is over and, assuming as we do, the Mashpee
Wampanoag open their resort casino, I know the clergy will join us in
letting bygones be bygones.
We know many of the clergy who signed the letter against the casino and
view them as dedicated community leaders who will work with all their
hearts to assure Middleboro enthusiastically welcomes our oldest residents
back home.
Once we have a thriving gaming industry nestled in the Precinct Street
woods there will be some attendant untoward social and community consequences.
We count on our clergy to minister to their congregations to help them
cope with yet another one of those changes that makes 21st century life so
perilous.
If we all work together
to establish the best possible preventative and treatment programs, we can
prove that all the dire predictions about what a casino does to harm the mental
health of a community are wrong. Top |
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