Balanced on the back of Sullivan County

To the editor:

Does it seem reasonable that Sullivan County should assume the state’s obligation for Indian land claims, gratis?

After listening to Governor Pataki’s representative last Friday, January 7, speak before the county legislators, I think we are being manipulated!—or swindled! This is a big shell game. We are, if we are so foolish, to grant Indian reservations here, to the Indians tribes, with nothing in return from the state.

If we accept this obligation, it would only seem fair that Sullivan County should get a good percentage of whatever the state would have had to pay to buy out those land claims. Would that maybe come to $100 million or $200 million a year in perpetuity? The reservations would be in perpetuity. I think the state should have to pay the bill for this land swap, not the property taxpayers of the county. The county should not beg for $15 million a year per tribe (casino operator) for the land taken off the tax rolls and for compensation for normal taxes and infrastructure expenses associated with this business.

No wonder the governor is smiling. The state’s budget will be balanced off the top of the casino profits. And, Sullivan County?

What will gambling cost you?

To the editor:

Areas that have embraced casinos have the highest rates of bankruptcies, suicides and crime when compared to communities without gambling.

For every dollar that a community makes from gambling, three dollars are spent to provide extra law enforcement, costs for rehabilitation for addiction problems, road and infrastructure repair due to increased traffic, etc.

Most of the jobs offered are low paying ($7 to $9/hour) with no benefits. Tens of thousands of low paid workers will flood into the county bringing their children. Our schools are already at maximum capacity. It will cost tens or hundreds of millions of dollars to build new schools, hire teachers, administrators and maintenance workers. Our taxes will skyrocket even higher.

Property values for residential homes within 10 miles of a casino typically take a nosedive. Insurance rates for homes within a 30-mile radius increase due to higher crime. Violent crimes increase by as much as 300 percent or more.

Indian casinos offer free liquor and food, cheap gas, cigarettes and their own shopping and restaurants. Other businesses will go under as thousands of residents will use their cash to gamble instead of buying real goods such as needed appliances, vehicles and food. Don’t be fooled with slick casino hype!

Casinos are larger than Sullivan County

To the editor:

What has come into sharp focus, because of recent petitions and demonstrations, is that both sides of the casino issue are supported by substantial numbers of people from outside Sullivan County. As well they might be, since the issue of gambling in NY State impacts enormous numbers of people far, far beyond Sullivan County.

That is what makes the current focus on Sullivan County and its plague of posturing and pretentious politicians, so preposterous. Casinos are a far larger issue than Sullivan County. And that is why the governor’s cynical attempt to duck crucial constitutional issues and to place the burden on our backs is so dishonest.

If Pataki were to get his way, and casinos were to come, the piper would have to be paid, but not until Pataki were ensconced elsewhere, leaving the inevitably messy and costly clean up to others, the traditional tactic of the irresponsible casino interests that he champions.

New casinos. No! New factories or businesses. Yes!

To the editor:

Will the union construction groups supporting Pataki’s assault on the people of Sullivan and Ulster counties come and build casinos for quick jobs and profit, then leave all the mess, crime and corruption to us? Or will they do the sensible thing and respect the will of the people to stop the immoral, corrupting, gambling activity now planned. Shame on you George Pataki!

Will the Sullivan County legislators acknowledge the will of the respectable people and reject the invitation to virtually destroy the county with related crime and corruption? Why haven’t all these political figures fought to bring in productive industry and business that will bring viable jobs and wealth to the county? Casinos will only serve the managers and owners, not the public at large.

Or is it the cut of revenue that’s enticing the politicos? The pittance of wages brought forth by the casinos will be far offset by the cost of public security and police activity. Is this what Sullivan County really wants? I don’t think so. Citizens of Sullivan and surrounding counties, you’d better let your favorite politicians know and demand they respect your will. No casinos in Sullivan or Ulster.

Keep Sullivan County casino free

To the editor:

Casino-Free Sullivan County, the coalition of concerned citizens, has done extensive nationwide research to learn the truth about the impacts of casinos. We have worked tirelessly to inform citizens as well as the Sullivan County Legislature about the true impacts of casinos.

I would like to call attention to the fact that our organization stands to make no money. In fact, we spend our own hard-earned dollars to inform and warn our neighbors with nothing to gain but the preservation of our community. It appears, according to the media, that our county is improving without casinos.

While we thank the few churches that have taken part in our efforts, we need more churches to speak out about the negative impacts of gambling. Perhaps congregations think that casino jobs will be worthwhile. That is most unfortunate, because whatever jobs come to our local people will not be any better than at Wal Mart.

The well-paying jobs will not be going to our local residents—the minimum wage jobs will. Just like the construction jobs that local people think will be coming to them, will be going to construction companies that will be the result of contracts that are put out for bid all over the country. The same thing happened at the Galleria Mall in Middletown and in Poughkeepsie. The jobs will not come to Sullivan or Hudson Valley residents; they will be going to the lowest bidder.

On Friday, January 7, 2005, there was a meeting of the governor’s representative with the Sullivan Legislature. The place was crawling with union workers with their “Five Casinos–Yes” buttons and signs, which incidentally were not printed by union shops.

When one talked with them, one found they were not even from around here, but had come up from Long Island via two chartered buses as well as driven over from Poughkeepsie.

I personally witnessed that someone had taken several of their pro-casino signs and placed them over our Casino Free Sullivan truck parked in front of government center. What kind of behavior is this?

Anyone wanting more information about the downside of casinos may contact me for a DVD or video that shows the tragedy that has befallen the area surrounding Turning Stone, the Oneidas’ casino in Vernon, NY or go to our website: www.casinofreesullivancounty.com, which will link you to much more information from all over the county.

Rosa Lee, media liaison

Backyard burning is poisonous

To the editor:

Yesterday at noon my wife and nearly four-year-old son took a walk from our home on the flats to the Narrowsburg Post Office. While walking the length of Second Avenue and Fifth Street, they were subject to the smell of somebody burning plastic. It caused irritation on my wife’s skin, and my son, who has mild asthma, needed to be carried.

We are thankful that in the fall The River Reporter included an ad campaign to educate people about the dangers of burning trash. It remains so poorly understood.

People have asked me, “What’s the difference between the smoke that comes out of a burn barrel and the smoke that comes out of a car? Do you think we should also eliminate cars?” The answer is that most of the poisons that come out of a car are not an immediate danger when outdoors. Most of those gasses have a specific gravity that is lighter than air. That means that the automobile poisons tend to go up, up and away very quickly. We are not subject to them now because they go high into the atmosphere.

The horrible poisons that are emitted when burning plastic, Styrofoam, and glue present in corrugated cardboard have a specific gravity that is heavier than air. That means that they don’t rise. Instead, they stay close to the ground where neighbors breathe them. You can’t smell the fumes of a gasoline-powered car that is 25 yards away. However, the smell of burning plastic that is 250 yards away just hangs in the air at level where people walk and breathe. It is a colorless gas and full of poison. It includes dioxins, and they make their way into the food chain.

Narrowsburg needs a law that will protect citizens in the hamlet from the insensitivity and ignorance associated with burning garbage. I would consider such a law family friendly and also friendly to the Bald Eagle. I hope such a law will come soon.