HAZEL CREST | While city officials in Country Club Hills, Calumet City and Harvey hope for a shot at the state's 10th gaming license, a group of about 45 bowed their heads and prayed that a casino would never open its doors in the southland.
The South Suburban Coalition Against Gambling Expansion held a town hall meeting at the Hazel Crest Community Church of God on Thursday against the proposals in the three south suburban communities.
Rosemont, Waukegan, Stickney and Des Plaines, in addition to Harvey, Calumet City and Country Club Hills, are vying for the state's 10th gaming license. The Illinois Gaming Commission is expected to announce three finalists.
Verlene Johnson, of Country Club Hills, and others said they plan to write the Illinois Gaming Commission voicing their opposition.
"I don't want this casino anywhere in the south suburbs," she said. "I certainly don't want it in Country Club Hills. Calumet City, Harvey, the proximity is too close. We don't need this. The economy, most of our home values have fallen. Strong working people are struggling to pay our bills. We don't need an outside influence."
Waneta Martin, 78, of Homewood, said she knows two people whose lives were devastated by gambling addiction.
"They lost houses, jobs and have gone bankrupt," she said. "You see it happen."
When it comes to claims about lower taxes and economic benefits, Martin said she doesn't believe it.
A casino would bring bankruptcies and increase the number of pathological gamblers, coalition President John Stob said.
"Businesses and families all feel the burden," he said. "The south suburban taxpayers end up picking up the tab and paying for the social costs a casino will bring."
During the meeting, Jerry Prosapio, co-founder of Gambling Exposed and a board member of South Suburban Coalition Against Gambling Expansion, shared his story of pathological gambling addiction and bankruptcy. He cut short his honeymoon in Hawaii to lose all the wedding money in Los Vegas, he said. After the Mafia threatened his infant son over a missed loan payment, he got help, he said. Not everyone is as fortunate, Prosapio said. He has known people who have committed suicide, he added.
James Gigliotti, Calumet City community and economic development coordinator, said in a phone interview he understood people's moral and ethical opinions, especially if they've had personal experiences, but in Calumet City, the boats are already next door in Indiana.
"Some of the impact these people talk about, some of those points in the area are moot points," Gigliotti said.
The 1893 Entertainment Group's proposal in Calumet City would include the Columbian Exposition Casino & Entertainment Complex, a multiuse entertainment development next to Torrence Avenue and the Little Calumet River. It has proposed a 100,000-square-foot casino that officials expect to create about 1,600 jobs.
The 10th gaming license is going to be awarded somewhere and it should be to the south suburbs, he said. The proposal would bring much-needed jobs to the region, and funding for schools, job training and scholarships, Gigliotti said.
"If the goal is to stop the Illinois money from flowing into Indiana, there is no better location than Calumet City," he said.
