Members of Citizens for a Better Alabama and Alabama Citizens Action Program (ALCAP) challenged the state’s residents to look beyond empty promises made by casino operators wanting to “get into [their] pocketbooks” during a Jan. 13 news conference in Montgomery.
“Gambling is predatory in nature,” said Joe Godfrey, executive director of ALCAP. “It’s bad for Alabama … and it’s only going to get worse if we allow [it] to continue.”
Tom Anderson, president of Concerned Wiregrass Citizens, which is fighting to rid Houston County of illegal slot machines, urged citizens to reject gambling pushers “trying to buy your mind” by pledging money to improve the economy. “There are some people baiting the field … [and] throwing money around. If gambling is an industry, it only produces broken lives. … It leaves behind a wake that is hurtful and painful.”
Several speakers, including Sens. Hank Erwin, R-Montevallo, and Scott Beason, R-Gardendale, called upon church members to take a stand as a community of faith and ask their legislators to do the same.
“The battle for Alabama is about to begin,” Erwin said. “What is going to transpire here is a showdown of the magnitude of Phenix City. ”
Beason compared promises made by gambling proponents in other states to the ones made in Alabama. “It (gambling) does not do what it promises,” he said.
“As long as we can keep this based on rational thought … I believe the people of Alabama will make the right choice. I just hope the Legislature will.” (TAB)
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