I thought it would be an interesting exercise to list most, but certainly not all, of the reasons why a casino in Glendale is not a good idea. Last week Councilmember Alvarez had a meeting with 20 of her most avid supporters. She invited the Tohono O’odham’s Ned Norris Jr. to present another pitch in support of a casino in Glendale. The attendees heard nothing new and it was an opportunity for Norris to reiterate the TO’s position.
I am disturbed by her action. As a Councilmember one of the duties expected is that once a City Council position on an issue is adopted, one’s responsibility is to advocate FOR the city’s position. If a councilmember disagrees with that position, it must be revealed with the disclaimer that it is one’s personal position and not that of the city’s. It is also not allowable to use city resources in support of one’s personal position. If her Council Assistant was in attendance or if her Council Assistant used city time to order and/or pick up the refreshments it would be an express violation of city policy. To use one’s office and position to invite residents to a meeting to advocate against an adopted city position is morally and ethically reprehensible. There is also the propriety of advocacy for an opponent’s position when the city remains in active litigation.
65 percent of businesses are hurt by the proximity of gambling. Decreases meals and room taxes away from other, traditional sources (shifts tax revenue away from hotels and restaurants in Westgate)
Visitors and residents spend money on gambling that would be spent on other local goods and services
Shifts workers currently in one industry to the gambling industry. Takes workers from other industries and moves them into the casino industry
Social costs increase related to increased crime and pathological gambling
Most patrons come from within 30 miles and participation declines exponentially as distance increases.
Traffic impacts experienced at all times of day. Casino traffic is not seasonal because the number of trips to and from casinos is relatively consistent from month to month. Casinos operate 24 hours per day; there is no peak travel period to and from casinos
Five years after a casino opens, robbery in the community goes up 136 percent, aggravated assault is up 91 percent, auto theft is up 78 percent, burglary is up 50 percent, larceny is up 38 percent, rape is up 21 percent and murder is up 12 percent, compared to neighboring communities. Crime is low shortly after a casino opens, and grows over time, costing the average adult $75 per year
Each slot machine costs the surrounding community one job per year
Business and personal bankruptcies increase between 18 and 42 percent, while ‘impulse’ business transactions in the area decline by 65 percent.”
Every slot machine takes $60,000 out of the local, consumer economy
Gamblers spend 10 percent less on food; 25 percent less on clothing and 35 percent less on savings
For every one job that the casino creates, one is lost in the 35-mile feeder market
The Tohono O’odham ignored their promise to their fellow Tribal leaders to keep another casino out of the Phoenix Metropolitan area
It destroys the state-wide voter approved gaming compact and will cause casinos to be built in many other Arizona cities
All of these issues will directly and severely impact the 10,000 Glendale residents living the closest to the proposed casino
All of these reasons have been cited and attributed to the original researchers on the subject in my previous posts about the casino.
Opponents have said the Tribes that oppose this casino in Glendale are doing so purely out of greed, to protect their market share. Yet the Tohono O’odham wants to site this casino in Glendale for exactly the same reason, pure greed, for it would open a very lucrative market far, far away from their Tribal lands in southern Arizona.