Most readers know by now that the proposed location for the
Miwok casino has been moved near the Hollister airport.
Most readers know by now that the proposed location for the Miwok casino has been moved near the Hollister airport. While some may consider it now outside of Gilroy’s interests, a number of full-page advertisements in The Dispatch entitled “Give Us A Chance To Make Our Case” boldly proclaimed “The California Valley Miwok Project would provide San Benito County with a destination resort and casino that will create thousands of jobs for the people who live here and generate millions of dollars for local businesses”
I found it noteworthy that the state of Minnesota is currently embroiled in the very same issue over gambling, specifically with state-run casinos.
In the current Minnesota debate, the Taxpayers League of Minnesota has asked the question “whether or not Minnesotans would be better off if we had more or less gambling here, and that is the real issue.”
Now while the Miwok ad seems to have already arrived at a forgone conclusion – that gambling would benefit San Benito County, the Minnesota Taxpayers League follows with another question to apply here, asking “What if the scientific data – not moral posturing but hard-core scientific data – shows that the costs of new casinos far outweigh the benefits? What then?”
While the Miwoks and their financial backers are again beating their drums even more strongly within these ads indicating how they are “paying for an expert economic impact analysis” the conclusion from their “expert” analysis can pretty well be predicted by virtue of their initial ad statement – that more jobs and business benefits WILL be created. Not might be created. Not they won’t be created. That’s certainly a different conclusion that the Taxpayers League has arrived at. Consider:
“Every credible, peer reviewed study shows that the costs of gambling far outweigh any benefits to the community. And that’s the bottom line: costs vs. benefits. You can’t have one without the other. And what are the costs associated with more gambling? With gambling comes more crime, bankruptcies, suicides, social service costs, illnesses, family breakdowns, and of course huge business costs as employers have to cope with addicted employees.”
Yet, while the Miwok financers continue to push the jobs and business benefits angle, the Taxpayers League of Minnesota again arrived at another conclusion: “Dr. Earl Grinols, an economist at the University of Illinois, did a cost-benefit analysis of gambling that showed that for every dollar in added benefit to society, gambling imposed costs of over three dollars. Every pathological gambler costs society at least $10,000 a year.”
“And where does the money from gambling come from? Overall, it’s not the casual gambler who keeps the money flowing. About 80 percent of the money comes from 10 percent of the gamblers – the people betting the grocery money and the mortgage because they are addicted. All that ‘free’ money coming into the state will soon enough get recycled into social programs and welfare to pick up the pieces of broken homes and broken lives.”
It won’t be any different with added financial burdens upon social services in San Benito County or even Santa Clara County. The
trade-off – $3 spent on gambling imposed social costs does not justify the one dollar gained by our local “society” from gambling.
Finally, kudos to San Benito County Sheriff Curtis Hill who had the guts to stand-up in the recent Hollister community meeting and speak to the point: “What we’re witnessing here is a seduction of our community by the out-of-town developers.”
Right-on Sheriff Hill, we need more leaders like you who can see through this snow job propagated by five people who can’t prove they have any legal right to even present this proposal.
Kudos as well to Dispatch letter writer Phil Johnson, who said “Do not be fooled by the [Miwok] gestures of sharing with the community.”
You’re correct Phil, the real benefit of this will go into the pockets of a small handful of people, and in reality, the community be damned.
