In 2006, we got some stunning news. Without a newspaper in town anymore, information gets about by the oldest of means -- word of mouth. One of our friends from church told us that the Eastern Shawnee of Oklahoma were working on a deal with Canal Fulton to build a casino/hotel somewhere along Rt. 21. When we found out about it, discussions had already been held.
Thing is, the land that the Indians were eyeing isn't in Canal Fulton; it's in the unincorporated area that we call Lawrence Township. The audacity of a governmental jurisdiction making plans for land that isn't theirs seemed over the top to me.
A band of citizens, coming from both Canal Fulton and Lawrence Township, began to meet to fight this proposed plan and formed an organization. My husband and I joined in.
Research became one of the most important facets of our group's basis. I read and read and read about casinos, gambling, and the effects of all of this on a community. And we found two or three experts who do research on gambling who were particularly helpful. Others in the group did the same, and one stalwart member of the group traveled to Oklahoma to see the gambling operation that the tribe currently operates. She brought back pictures and stories.
There were those in town who absolutely hated us, because they were convinced that all of the money woes in our area would disappear and there would be no need to travel to Mountaineer or any of the other existing gambling places at that time. As time has gone by, though, I'm fairly sure that most of the pro-casino residents have changed their minds. There is a good reason why there are ads all over the place for gambling addiction help since the Horseshoe opened in Cleveland.
It isn't just that gambling can become a problem; it's that gambling becomes a problem with young people very quickly. It's just that an area that has a casino is sucked dry after a while. Anything of value, such as history or culture, gets passed by and overlooked. People go broke and that hurts families, and the most vulnerable of the family, the kids.
For me, there was a basic point -- why would we need a casino here?
From the researchers' standpoint, and this is really key -- gambling produces no "new" money. Money just changes hands. There is no product, nothing to show for the expense of it. Casino employees work awful hours, in darkened rooms, with loud noise all about. Very few casino employees make the big bucks. Most of the jobs are low paying.
In one case that I found, a casino was built in an area that had a historic home that had always been a popular tourist attraction. After the casino, the mansion sat ignored and they were forced to move the house to another location.
If you do business with the Indians, there is only two percent of the proceeds from the gambling that comes back to the community. With traffic, crime, addictions, EMS calls, road repairs and the like, that two percent is gone in a heartbeat. We learned that for every dollar spent on gambling, two dollars is needed tor social services, like help for addiction.
The early reports of earnings for the Cleveland casino is starting to show what our group said all along -- that proliferation of gambling centers lowers the amount of money that the operation makes and shares with the local community. And we haven't seen the end of it. Yesterday's paper details a plan for a new racino near Youngstown.
One thing that I never saw coming was the threat of a casino in our area. There are times when we are called to activate ourselves, and this was one of those times. Now, each time when I drive down Rt. 21 and pass the intersections where the casino was being considered, I am so relieved!!
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