COMMUNITY
LEADERS, LAW ENFORCEMENT, AND ELECTED OFFICIALS COME TOGETHER TO OPPOSE LAS
VEGAS-STYLE CASINOS IN ARKANSAS
LITTLE ROCK, AR – A diverse group of community
leaders, law enforcement officers, and elected officials from around the state
gathered at the State Capitol Thursday to announce the creation of Stop Casinos Now!, a committee to oppose
ballot initiatives to bring Las Vegas – style casinos to Arkansas.
“We’ve seen what happens when these full-scale
casinos come to town – you get increased crime, higher unemployment, and more
families going bankrupt,” said Chuck Lange, the committee chairman and former
executive director of the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Association. “Nancy Todd is a Las Vegas insider,
trying to come in and tell Arkansans what’s best for our state, so she can make
a profit at our expense; we’ve got to stop her initiative. We want folks to be
aware if they are asked to sign a petition, they need to think twice. It’s going to take all of us working
together to protect our communities and our families,” said Lange.
“Big casinos are a nightmare for the men and women
out there working hard to keep our neighborhoods safe,” said Doc Holladay,
Sheriff of Pulaski County, one of the locations where Todd proposes to
authorize a casino. “It has been
shown that these casinos cause an increase in serious crime within the first
few years of opening. I say keep
it in Vegas - we don’t want that in our backyard,” Holladay said.
Several state legislators have also joined the
effort to stop this measure from reaching the ballot. “This is bad policy, and it’s bad precedent,” said Rep. Prissy
Hickerson (R-Texarkana). “This
initiative would not only change our state’s constitution, it would establish
an unregulated casino industry that answers to no one. Setting something like
this up with no oversight would be a gamble with our state’s future, and I
think the stakes are too high for that,” said Hickerson.
“As a pastor, I believe these casinos will have a
harmful impact on countless Arkansas families,” said Bishop Sam Wherry, Monticello. “They prey on the poor, and as a
religious leader, I’ve seen firsthand the destructive emotional and financial
burden the addiction can have on individuals, their spouses, and their
children,” said Wherry.
For more
information, visit StopCasinosNow.com
