I am concerned about the effects of a casino in Oxford County.
My wife and I had a nice little cabin in Dillsboro, N.C., about 15 miles from the town of Cherokee, N.C., a dream place to take children and enjoy little shops.
That was all destroyed when casinos came to Cherokee, with big hotels and crime. Home prices went out of sight. Rents for homes doubled, and the roadways were jammed so bad it took a long time to go to a food store just miles away. We knew we could never afford to live there on a retirement income.
My wife and I moved to Mexico to build a new home because the area is peaceful, just as it used to be in Cherokee.
Rumford families need to ask themselves if they can afford it, if home prices went up so much. Can they afford to lose the small businesses and motels, if a casino comes in? Casinos bring in more jobs and new people to work those casinos, yes, but at a cost to local families. Crime will follow. It’s the name of the game. Money brings crime.
If people want to see what a casino can do to a nice, little village, book a vacation at Cherokee and see what it costs to spend one week there.
Rumford needs to focus on the future of their children, not the needs of some selfish gamblers.
Leo Turner, Mexico
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