The California Valley Miwok Project Gambling Casino would be a
bane and a blight on San Benito County and its surrounding
neighbors: Monterey, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties.
Gary Ramos, project manager for the proposed casino, waxes
obsequious to the San Benito County Board of Supervisors for
adopting a resolution on Dec. 7 (ironically also known as the
notorious Day of Infamy) to review information regarding potential
impacts to the county. Mr. Ramos also attempts to make a case for
important benefits that the proposed gambling casino will offer the
county.
Dear Editor,
The California Valley Miwok Project Gambling Casino would be a bane and a blight on San Benito County and its surrounding neighbors: Monterey, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties.
Gary Ramos, project manager for the proposed casino, waxes obsequious to the San Benito County Board of Supervisors for adopting a resolution on Dec. 7 (ironically also known as the notorious Day of Infamy) to review information regarding potential impacts to the county. Mr. Ramos also attempts to make a case for important benefits that the proposed gambling casino will offer the county.
The problem with gambling is that it is illegal, prone to abuse and addiction, counter-productive to economic benefit to the individual participant, linked to other criminal behavior and thus immoral. I disagree that anyone can make a good case for gambling based on “continually expanding revenue streams” from the proposed casino to local cities when the nature of the enterprise is morally corrupt and evil.
According to the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling, “Since 1978, gambling casinos, racinos, Indian gambling, lotteries, slot machines and Internet gambling have attacked American families.
The average American adult now spends more on gambling than on television, movies, theater, sporting events and all other entertainment combined. Each year the gambling industry does more damage to the American economy than did Hurricane Andrew. This damage is in the form of crime, corruption, addiction and their attending social impacts. As children follow their parents, gambling is now the fastest growing addiction among American teenagers and college students.”
Rather than view the Dec. 7 resolution as a positive step toward affirming the proposed casino, I applaud the San Benito County Board of Supervisors for constructing an instrument that can be used to accurately measure the negative impacts that the proposed casino would put upon our society.
It is bad business … period!
I look forward to the newly elected Board of Supervisors wisdom to weigh all the information regarding the proposed gambling casino and see it for what it really is: detrimental to the social and moral fabric of our community.
Mike Smith, Hollister
