Why we're against the casino

It boils down to three things:

Quality of life
Problems associated with gambling
We like our existing government, and the protections of the US Constitution

This is a small town. Most of us here like it that way. Those who'd rather live in a city generally tend not to settle here. It's safe to say that, so far, nobody has moved here expecting economic development to take off. We'd like to preserve our quality of life. Casinos are very hard on communities. Here are a few specific reasons:

Gambling casinos simply do not bring economic benefits to their communities. In fact, quite the opposite occurs. People who come to casinos are unlikely to shop in town, and tax advantages to tribes make it difficult for neighboring businesses to compete. Look at the towns of Sherrill, NY, or Lac du Flambeau, WI.
The proposed casino and the inevitable collateral development would urbanize one of the quietest corners of the county. DeKalb County has a Unified Comprehensive Land Use Plan, one goal of which is to keep rural areas rural.
Casino jobs tend to be low-income service jobs. These aren't the kinds of jobs that will bring stable families to the area.
The proposed casino and all related development would be completely exempt from state and local regulation. Zoning rules and local ordinances, intended to protect communities, would be set aside. Federal laws relating to employee rights would not apply. As a sovereign entity, the tribe would even be immune from legal actions brought by their own customers.
The proposed casino would be immediately adjacent to the 1550-acre Shabbona Lake State Park. This wonderful and popular natural area would be severely impacted by the traffic and development.
The proposed casino would be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and would be exempt from state tobacco regulation and some alcohol regulation.
The proposed casino is likely to grow tremendously.

All in all, this casino is simply not a good match for this area. Corn and soybean futures are all the gambling we need here.

Furthermore, gambling brings many many problems, both to the immediate community and to the larger region. Casinos tend to create wide areas where many families must struggle with gambling addictions. Tribal casinos are immune from state and local ordinances addressing problem gamblers. There are lots of statistics here. Pathological and problem gamblers make up about 4-5% of communities, when a local casino is present. Divorce rates rise. Bankruptcies rise. Every dollar lost to gambling costs taxpayers another dollar. For every job created within the casino, another local job disappears because money is sucked out of the local economy. [Actually, as our economics page documents, in DeKalb County's particular situation that's likely to be two local jobs lost.] Crime goes up, not only locally but throughout the feeder radius.

Finally, tribal sovereignty brings its own share of problems. Both casino patrons and local residents are denied the right of redress; tribes basically cannot be sued. Local residents subject to tribal jurisdiction lose many of the protections of the US Constitution; the Fourteenth Amendment extended federal constitutional protections to state (and local) governments, but not to tribal lands. And, of course, no existing local residents would be eligible to vote in tribal elections. There is ample reason for local residents to worry.