Anti-Gambling activists leaded by a computer software developer have built a campaign to stop the building of a casino in Erie County. With their weekly meetings in church, their massive mailings to get more supporters, and their orange signs with anti-casino slogans, he and his fellows believe they will achieve their objectives.
He believes that he and his fellows can stop Seneca Nation from building a new casino in their County. They count with more than a thousand supporters and their campaign against gambling is fierce. They have planted anti-casino signs across Erie County, they constantly publish letters in local papers and they are raising money for future legal actions. Up until now they have rallied over 1,000 supporters and fundraised around 15,000 dollars. Their current goal is to delay the casino building in order to void their deal with the state. He states that although they know they are facing a giant, they believe their arguments are solid and will convince County residents and authorities.
Seneca Nation already has two casinos and its capital is huge. They bought nice acres in Buffalo, and they are planning to open a new casino in Niagara Falls. Experts say that this is not good news for Niagara Falls attractions, for the Niagara Falls Aerospace Museum will continue to be empty or will be even emptier when the Seneca Niagara Casino will open.
This is not first of Joel Roses battle. Years before, he led a campaign against a zoo in North Buffalo and won. Like then, he believes that the benefits of having a casino do not compensate the harm it will cause to the community. His arguments are that Buffalo is not a place that attracts tourists, therefore, mostly locals will play at the casinos. The result is that there will be no benefits for local government or residents but only for the casino. Bill Thompson, a gambling expert of the University of Nevada, stated that employees will hire less people because they will spend money at casinos instead of investing it in hiring workers. This, along with future gambling addictions and family problems, make building a casino a very negative thing for the County.
