LETTER: Casinos a drain on profits

George's of Galilee Waterfront Seafood Restaurant is adamantly opposed to a casino in Rhode Island. My family has owned and operated one of the most popular restaurants in New England since 1948. We have stood fast, held on and weathered many storms in Rhode Island, from high utility costs, group health insurance, worker's compensation, unemployment insurance, and have weathered a few Nor'easters too. A mega resort casino would add insult to injury to an already difficult business climate here in Rhode Island.

We have already felt a negative impact from the Foxwoods casino in Connecticut. Fifty percent of our senior clientele evaporated once the casino opened its doors. How can we compete with the free buffets at a casino up the road in West Warwick?

It's not just the hospitality industry that is going to suffer here in Rhode Island. Every small business will suffer. When a casino moves into an area, the locals patronize it and lose millions of dollars to it every day. The money that average people would have had to spend at local restaurants, shops and entertainment venues will be lost to the casino.

Just take a look at every casino mega resort in the United States. You go inside and see a multi-million dollar resort, furnished with gold ceilings, waterfalls, fine artwork and a virtual fantasyland paid for by the local economy. Then take a look at the type of businesses that surround a casino. You will always find check cashing places, pawnshops and liquor stores. Is this what we want here in Rhode Island?

When I think of Rhode Island, I think of Narragansett Bay, going to the beach, boating,

swimming, fishing, barbecues and, of course, clam cakes and chowder! We represent what is great about Rhode Island and will continue doing what we do best, providing visitors with a small taste of Rhode Island, and we will continue to weather whatever storm comes our way, casino or not. We just hope that the lies and misinformation that Harrahs will put forth won't mislead the R.I. voters.

So here's a little advice for our politicians. If you want to create jobs here in Rhode Island, leverage the high quality of life Rhode Island offers, thanks to the hospitality and tourism industry, to attract high tech companies. The lawmakers before you were very successful at driving out almost every industry Rhode Island has had to offer the world. Let's not cripple the tourism industry too. It's one of the only industries we have left.

Lawmakers who try to justify their existence to the taxpayers by working hard making up laws that add more red tape and bureaucracy to an already fragile local economy are forced to make such short-sighted decisions to increase revenues like considering a casino for Rhode Island! Here a little tidbit of advice: Take a 50 percent pay cut. Then you don't have to work so hard! Take a vacation. Come to George's and have a pina colada on me!

Kevin Durfee

Narragansett