Crime - The Price Citizens Pay For Gambling

Dare we risk letting Ashville, Alabama become the next Phenix City, Alabama?

Many of us are too young to remember Phenix City, Alabama and its degradation into the commonly used moniker “Sin City.” This is a city that was so notorious for crime that movies were made about it. Gambling was the beginning of the fall of Phenix City. Soon it became a haven for organized crime and eventually even led to the murders of City Officials. Martial Law was what it took to restore the city.

Phenix City was notorious during the 1940s and 1950s as being a haven for organized crime, prostitution, and gambling. As a result, the city had a negative reputation, and many people still associate this legacy with Phenix City. The Tragedy and the Triumph of Phenix City, Alabama by Margaret Ann Barnes chronicles these events. Which led to the small town to be known as "Sin City, USA". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenix_City,_Alabama

Growing Up Across From Sin City by Dr. Roger Lovette

“… My daddy, who worked eight hard hours in the mill, one day discovered Phenix City. What appealed to my father, with limited horizons and little chance of breaking out of the system, was the gambling across the bridge. There were slot machines and cock fights you could bet on and gambling tables in the back rooms. Anybody could make a fortune if you happened on a streak of good luck.My father won only once.

One night he came home happy and laughing. I never heard him laugh that long or hard before or since. He had played the slots and won. Out on the bed, he poured from a paper sack a hundred silver dollars! We were rich. My brother and I sat on the bed and counted and counted with awe and wonder. It was the most money we had ever seen.

I don't remember my father laughing about gambling after that night. He got in deeper and deeper. He owed so much that they threatened his life if he didn't pay up. But he kept trying, week-end after week-end, saying, wistfully: "One day my ship will come in." He borrowed money from the local finance company with astronomical interest charges. Then, threatened by the finance company, he borrowed from relatives to pay off the finance company. After his death my mother took part of his insurance money and paid off the rest of his gambling debts. …”

Up From The Ashes: The Rebirth of Phenix City

“... an Alabama city so wicked that Gen. George S. Patton threatened to roll his tanks across the river from Ft. Benning and destroy it...”

“… Since Phenix City lacked the revenue that jobs bring in, the city fathers took an unusual step.

"They voted to authorize gambling to come in, illegally, of course, and they collected revenue in the form of licenses of illegal gambling operations," explains former governor John Patterson. "This was a conscious decision that the city fathers made."…

Notice those last two paragraphs!

Phenix City needed revenue and jobs just like Ashville.

City fathers voted to allow gambling although it was illegal, just like Ashville.

Phenix City collected revenue from the gambling just like Asville plans to.

Phenix City became overwhelmingly crime ridden just like Ashville will!

We Alabamians are notorious for not learning from our mistakes.

Ashville, Alabama is following along in Phenix City’s footsteps. The City Council has voted to allow “Charity Bingo” in the city. For those who think bingo, big deal, here is a better explanation of what they have approved.

Bingo

This isn’t the kid’s game of bingo where you call out letters and fill spaces. Nor is this the Catholic Church variety of fund raisers. This is electronic Bingo Games. Insert money or tokens, some have you pull a lever, some have push buttons and then you see if you win. Many times, there is not even a Bingo Card displayed on the monitor. In order to get around the legality some include a “dub” button just to give the appearance of being bingo-like.

For those that think this is a time for senior citizens to sit around a table and socialize while playing a game you are wrong. These Electronic Bingo machines take away any possible social element and it becomes a solitary addictive activity.

Even California’s Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger ruled that charities couldn’t utilize Electronic Bingo Machines in the state of California in September 2008. Therefore, Ashville is going in a direction even California won’t go.

Charity

In Alabama in order to be declared a charity, all I would have to do is fill out a form and pay a $25 dollar fee. Then all I have to do turn in my earnings each year. The way the Bingo Parlors get around the laws is that they are allowed to operate for multiple charities throughout the day.
The major bucks that will come rolling in to St. Clair county charities will be divided as follows:
For every $1.00 of income, $ 0.10 will go to the charities divided up in the following way.

$0.04 - 40% (forty percent) of said funds shall be allocated to volunteer fire departments located in St. Clair County;

$0.03 - 30% (thirty percent) of said funds shall be allocated to senior citizens' programs and facilities;

$0.02 - 20% (twenty percent) of said funds shall be allocated to youth recreation programs and facilities;

$0.01 - 10% (ten percent) of said funds shall be allocated to the St. Clair County sheriff's department.

That means it would take $1,000, all taken from the poor and elderly who can least afford to lose it, to give even the fire department $40 dollars. Which might not sound too bad until you add in the added expenses of traffic accidents and crime associated with the establishment.

But the big thing that everyone misses is someone else is getting the other $0.90 on every dollar. Who is that? The owners of the Bingo Parlor, while the citizens of the area pay with increased crime levels!

Crime

Don’t think a “Bingo Parlor” will increase crime. Notice that this isn’t just a ‘little’ facility planned. Silver Star in Mississippi has “nearly 3,000 gaming machines” according to their own website. Ashville intends to put in 2,500 gaming machines. These are planned to bring a boon to Ashville but the facts are that in Philadelphia, Mississippi, home of Silver Star Casino, this is the boom:

Job growth negative

Median House prices falling

Some of the crimes that increase with gambling:

Alcohol related traffic accidents and DUI’s

Drugs and drug trafficking increase

Gangs increase

Illegal gambling increases

Counterfeiting

Traffic accidents due to congestion

Divorces skyrocket (Biloxi divorces increased 250% in the first two years.) http://www.uspact.org

Suicide rates increase dramatically (1100% in Biloxi) http://www.uspact.org

Child abuse and neglect increases – particularly children left alone while the parent gambles.

Prostitution increases

Assault, burglary and theft increase

Check fraud and embezzlement increases (Just what Ashville needs after the embezzlement in the public school system over the past few years.)

Don’t think Bingo can get that bad? Obviously, those in charge do because they stress that this will not be near a school or neighborhood.

“Amari said this location would not be near schools, playgrounds or
neighborhoods.” http://www.dailyhome.com/news/2008/dh-st_clair_county-1224-ghanner-8l23w0528.htm

I pray that Ashville’s City Council will reevaluate their decision and consider the best for the citizen’s in the area. Before they have to say what the Mayor in one city said after allowing gambling.

The Mayor of Black Hawk [Colorado] admits, "We thought we'd studied the problem thoroughly; I don't think we studied it enough." http://www.uspact.org/

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