Casino Opposition Encouraged to Ramp Up Operations

In order to prevent a casino from coming to Milford, speakers at last night's Casino Free Milford encouraged residents to begin spreading the word about the downsides of a casino.

The group invited Stephanie Crimmins to speak to residents about what she did while working to oppose the casino proposed in Foxborough.

Crimmins focused on what worked in Foxborough and what she learned going through the process of fighting the Wynn-Kraft casino proposal.

“What really worked for us in Foxborough was the drop in house values, they dropped 20 percent on the roads leading to and around Foxwoods,” she said.

While Crimmins was volunteering in Foxborough she was able to meet with a former mayor of Ledyard Connecticut, the home of Foxwoods casino.

“You don’t have to look that far to see what happens to a small town when a casino opens there,” she said. “It’s drugs, it’s guns, it’s crimes, it’s pawnshops that follow the money to town.”

One audience member asked Crimmins what to tell residents who don't think the proposal is serious.

“This is already real,” she said. “They wouldn’t have plunked down the $400,000 application fee if they didn’t think this was a possibility.”

Simply telling people about the casino will help sway public opinion against the casino, Crimmins said.

“The fact is that most people don’t know or aren’t thinking about this a lot,” she told the audience. “It’s not that hard to convince a reasonable person this is not the right thing for the town of Milford.”

Spreading the word in Milford will take a step forward Monday when Casino Free Milford has been invited to speak before the Milford Board of Selectmen. Everyone who will be in attendance was encouraged to show up with signs and stand outside Milford Town Hall before the meeting and wear red to show solidarity.

“Our goal on Monday is to put enough pain to get them to really think hard about putting a casino in Milford,” Ken Rockett, one of the group’s leaders said. “We’re going to post our presentation on our website after the meeting. I think those of you that can’t attend will be very happy with it.”