Letter to the editor - Oct. 17

Racino will only make Clovis poorer

My father and four friends went to Kentucky buying thoroughbred mares and a stud to breed racehorses. I loved the races as a child and still do. I taught school in areas of the state that had racing and loved going.

I lived in Pojoaque when Indian gaming started. The out-of-state company promised millions would be made and for the reservation; paved roads, medical centers, and jobs.

Not!

They bring their own management, high-wage jobs, to run casinos. Promised jobs were waitresses, bartenders, and custodians. Four years later nothing had changed for the positive.

My neighbor mortgaged and lost everything for the “big win,” took his family to his parents’, left, and killed himself.

Children were found locked in cars in the middle of the night because their parents had been gambling for hours.

Our area does not need a racino. The sign says, “jobs and tourism,” but if you build it they will not come.

Construction, management and high-wage jobs will be people from out of state. The horseracing communities live in RVs, so nothing for Realtors. Texans won’t get past the track and won’t spend the night, so nothing for hotels. Restaurants are on site, so local restaurants may lose patrons causing a loss of jobs.

Clovis will become poorer.

We are used to the weather in March, April, and May, but not for racing. Is Clovis ready to put up $500,000 weekly for purses to get horses here?

When it’s bankrupt and leaves the remnants of what was, like Raton, the people who made money will be developers, (who will take their cut off the top) and people selling the land.

For families, communities, and economy, vote no and find something healthy for us.

LaNell Leatherwood

Grady