Fighting Casino Expansion In Kings Mountain, NC

This is family policy matter program is produced by the North Carolina family policy Council of profamily research and education organization dedicated to strengthening and preserving the family enough in the studio. Here's John Rushton, president of the North Carolina family policy Council and thank you for joining us this week for family policy matters.

It is our great pleasure to have Adam and Theo portrayed with us on the program. Adam and Cynthia are the volunteer leaders of the Kings Mountain awareness group, which is a grassroots citizen organization that was formed to fight the establishment of a proposed 220,000 square-foot gambling casino in Cleveland County, North Carolina.

Just about 30 miles west of Charlotte. This gambling casino proposal is an effort by the South Carolina based Catawba Indian nation to purchase land just outside of Kings Mountain, North Carolina in order to build a Las Vegas style gambling casino on Interstate 85 near the North Carolina South Carolina border efforts by the tribe to establish a gambling casino in their home state of South Carolina have been rejected at every turn. So they have set their sights on their neighbors to the north, namely us are adamant simply I'm so excited to have you on the show to talk about your efforts to fight casino expansion in North Carolina as we get started, tell us about the Kings Mountain awareness group and how it all began. Hi John I fight how honored we are to be on your show in large part, were talking the day here because of you first learned of the possibility of a casino Mountain back in January 2014, I reached out to our local elected officials and during a subsequent meeting with Keith Miller image in your name in the North Carolina family policy Council as a possible source of advise and you will remember a call you late one Friday afternoon and we talked for a long, and the rest of the site is history for member correctly your first recommendation was to organize a community meeting for you to come speak to the community. Cynthia and accomplish that a little over a month later we will all phenomena. The concept of a group, coalesced around some talk to me after Scott Whitney and and Cynthia.

We preformed the founding nucleus and it is since grown and become more organized. We currently have around 200 active members with couple of small action committees and a steering committee to provide leadership guidance. Our motto has been being educated boys, and our goal is to make sure the entire community is aware of all the patient casino potentially coming here not just what was presented by the Catawba tribe and the developers well y'all have done such a great job with this, and it was just a wonderful opportunity when you called just to connect with a concerned citizen who had a real hard to get involved in this issue in both you and Cynthia have just honored at an amazing job to really keep a sustained ongoing effort to express your concerns to help educate the community about this early on, Adam. I know that local elected officials in Kings Mountain and Cleveland County actually signed letters in support of the proposed casino project, and those letters were actually submitted to the federal government when the Catawba Indian nation filed its request to have the United States Bureau of Indian affairs take this land in Kings Mountain into trust on the tribe's behalf. Now that has not happened yet, but it really is the linchpin to this whole effort. I know that when you learned of these local elected officials siding on board with this project. You were quite concerned and upset about that tell us what John Oxley might be really angry. I was just amazed that an elected official would actually submit a letter on official letterhead that had been written in secret and proclaim to represent the desires of the community that knew nothing about the kinds of actions that any of us expect from the people that we have trusted with the stewardship of our community and a lot of our groups actions over the past year have been targeted at exposing and killing the sacred letters of support. One thing I've noticed over the last year that when people attend one of our our community educational forms and learn of these letters universally outrage to a person with good reason because when you see local elected officials jumping on board with a proposal like this really not knowing at all what the ramifications would be for the community. It is something that should concern every citizen in the community.

Now I know that, taken a step back a little bit prior to your efforts adamant Cynthia with the Kings Mountain awareness group. I'm not sure that you knew a whole lot about casino the complainant and all that you've learned throughout this process talk about that a little bit and how much you have learned about not only casino gambling but just getting involved in an effort like this John really crying about fortis started it matter whether one would be good at picking out that I sent out to learn as much as I could and the more I read the words that God probably less compelling information about the overwhelmingly negative impact gambling found in the white matter publication outline 31 evidence-based proposition in this research is important because it ended, and it conducted five very notable and credible scholars.

We've also learned a lot from other areas that have personal variance with in their town needed is not good places like Rohnert Park, California. It would Attend at Ledyard, Connecticut, black hawk Colorado universal message from the evidence that if you don't have a casino in your town. You just don't want one. So this was not a situation where you will, going out looking for a fight really before I came to you. Yes that's right.

As a result of that, and in response to that, I will tell you that you all have managed to develop quite a formidable coalition with the Kings Mountain awareness group and that group includes private citizens, churches and pastors, business leaders and local elected officials.

How did you go about building the coalition and informing this group that you have a persistent and not having early. This message has really led to our success topic table conversation with her neighbors. We put in a tremendous effort in educating the community and our neighbors. Once people get educated about the negative consequences of casino gambling or predatory gambling. They generally want to help her stop it from coming to Kings Mountain fleet held community forums brought an expert week down to local affairs. Basically, any chance that we have to get our message out will take it and the Facebook pages really helped us drive engagement, but ultimately for your listeners. We can understate the power of prayer and allowing God. Well, that really underpins everything I know that you all have done there. Another thing that has just been a consistent consistent part of this effort over the past year is that Adam both you and Cynthia and other members of the Kings Mountain awareness group have had a constant presence at city Council meetings at meetings of the County commission in Cleveland County.

If you have also spoken at these meetings and Adam when you have spoken. What do you tell local leaders for listeners who may not be aware of of all that's been going on what you tell local leaders and others about casino gambling and why this proposal by the Catawba Indian nation would be such a bad bet for Kings Mountain and the surrounding area, my focus with the city and county officials is going to try to get them to acknowledge the massive amount of scholarly research regarding negative impacts that come along with the casino they have consistently claimed that we use bad data presented out of context but constantly claim that nothing bad has ever happened Cherokee after the casino opened their life that's that's the flag with my wife, my focus has been to show them in public in public session what they are choosing to embody in your account in our community, and hardluck.

Tell them I try to present unimpeachable data with sources regarding the devastating social impact the casino will bring in the count of also spent a lot of time trying to explain to them that the promises of jobs and economic development are false, and that even if true, would in no way justify the ruminant wreckage that comes with the fire some very pointed questions such as, are you willing to knowingly subject to an additional hundred and 50 children in the county next year to physical abuse. I assume are based on unimpeachable research data and always give them the supporting documentation will not finish the well and you don't great job of balancing the factual information. But then the practical, real-life implications of what happens when gambling casinos come to town and like you said impacts on children impacts on families impacts on the economy own business and I think that is been one of the reasons why you all have been so successful now, Adam.

I truly believe this to be the case of the Kings about awareness group has had a major impact not only on the community's awareness, but you've also had a significant impact on changing the perspective of local officials.

Almost all of whom supported the project at the onset, tell us about your perspectives on this. What kind of impact do you believe the Kings Mountain awareness group has had on the community and on the local elected officials continue our people have when they use their voice, Keith Miller had the casino from the beginning you mentioned we had one councilman change his original position, Connie Hawkins Originally Supported the Casino When He Changed His Mind. He Then Las Vegas for Himself and He Said What He Saw Was Devastating and He Could Not after Seeing That Clinging to Support Casino in Kings Mountain and As You Mentioned Several Pastors and Local Citizens Have Spoken before the City Council and the County Commission and We've Got I Loyal Group of People Who Were Present at Nearly Every Meeting and Event That We Held and That Last City Council Meeting I Was on Private Community, Willingness to Get Involved in the Power of Everything That We Have Worked out in the past Year That God Really Brought Together and Had a Wonderful Message for the City Council Will Not Have the Opportunity to Meet You All. Now You Are What I Would Consider to Be Just Solid Average Private Citizens Who Have Jobs and Lives of Your Own. Yet You Have Poured Just Countless Amounts of Time, Energy and Resources into This Fight Was Such an Important Issue to Both of John for Me. I Can Say That Waiting. This Effort Is Just Just a Clear and Straightforward, No Doubt in My Heart: from the Lord to Warn the People of the Evil of the Gate. People Who Know Me Have Been Really Surprised. Over the past Year at the Things up Because It's Just so Far Out Of Character for Me, There's Just No Doubt in My Order One for Which Is Negative Is Regardless If You Frequently Read Ezekiel 317 through 21 One on a Fresh Energy or Inspiration to Continue All God Called Us to the Commission on High Energy and Resources to Lead This Effort and God Called Us and Has Provided Everything That We Needed along the Way Will You Stop in Such a Gracious Way and in Such a Powerful Way to Do This. I Really Believe It's All Have Had an Incredible Impact Talk Little Bit about the Latest on the Catawba Indian Nations Offered to Establish a Casino in Kings Mountain. I Know You Both Recently Made a Trip to Washington DC to Meet with Some of Officials up There Tell Us about Your Trip and That What's Happening Now with This Whole Proposal, I Will. John, As You Probably Know, Our Letters Might Not Know the Pierrot of the Main Affairs of the BIA Must First Decide on the Matter of Taking a Land Trust, Hearing Our December Meeting with the BIA. They Stated That They Are Very Early in the Process the Application Must First Be Reviewed and Decided on the Legal Merit, and They Also Said That There Will Be Opportunity for Public Comment before Final Decision and May Have To Say I Really Consider You All to Be Disconsolate.

Examples of the Ideal Grassroots Effort. You So-Called and Led to Get Involved in. You Did so and You Have Been Committed in This Fight Ever since.

Your Efforts Really Highlight the Importance of Everyday Citizens Speaking out, Getting Educated and Working to Educate Others. What Advice Do You Have for Others Who May Be Facing Similar Battles in Their Communities May Be over Gambling over Education Issues over Religious Liberty Issues That Come up. How Important Is It from Your Perspective to Speak out and What Steps Should Citizens Take to Build a Successful Grassroots Campaign If Your Listeners like the One Thing Out Of My Words Today. I Hope It Is You As a Conservative Christian Are Not a Minority Mod.the Graph Jump in and the Watchman Lord Will Not Hold You Accountable.

People Don't Listen Only If You Don't Issue the One.

Unfortunately Adam and Cynthia Were Just about Out Of Time for This Week, but I Know That You Have a Website and Facebook Page for the Kings Mountain Awareness Group. If You Would Give Us the Information and Links to Those Sites so That Our Listeners Can Learn More about Your Efforts and Maybe Pitch in and Help with What You're Doing and Fighting against This Casino Proposal. Our Website Is Thought, No.com with A Lot Of Information There. We Have Live Links to outside Agencies with Other Other Resources and Information regarding Predatory Gambling, All the Good Place to Get Started out in Our Our Day-To-Day Newsfeed If You Will, Is on Our Facebook Page, Which Is the Kings Mountain Awareness for You to Find and and You Can Keep Absolutely after the Date on Your List. I Want to Keep up with This Reach out to Ways like Get in Touch with Adam and Cynthia Want to Thank You for Your Time to Answer All of Your Efforts and for Being with Us on Family Policy Matters, John John, the Owner Is Our Family Policy Matters Is Information and Analysis of the North Carolina Family Policy Council Known As Weekly Discussion on Policy Issues Affecting the Family You Have Questions or Comments, Please Contact 919-0708 on Visit Our Website and See Family.

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