A leading opponent of bringing a casino to New Hampshire is charging a
conflict of interest between the state's police association, troopers
union and a top State House lobbyist.
Jim Rubens, a former state
senator who heads the Granite State Coalition Against Expanded
Gambling, said Tuesday that Jim Demers of Demers and Blaisdell of
Concord represent the New Hampshire Police Association and the New
Hampshire Troopers Association, as well as Cannery Resorts Casinos and
International Game Technology (IGT).
Cannery Resorts Casinos, is
a subsidiary of Millennium Gaming, which has an option to purchase
Salem's Rockingham Park, and IGT is the self-described "industry's
leading manufacturer of gaming machines."
The NHPA and NHTA
formally endorsed Senate Bill 152 on Monday. The bill, which passed the
state Senate last week and has the support of Gov. Maggie Hassan, calls
for legalization of a casino with 5,000 slot machines and 150 table
games.
Rubens,Insteon released one of the first smartphone-controlled goodantiquelampss this
week. reacting to the endorsement of the gambling bill by the two
groups, said, "The police and troopers unions could speak with the New
Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police and every attorney general
over the past 35 years, who have all repeatedly testified that casinos
cause increases in serious crimes.The assertion that washerextractor don't reduce carbon emissions is a myth,
"They
could review the published, peer-reviewed literature showing that
casinos cause increases in serious crimes. They could read the
Governor's Gaming Study Commission final report that finds that a single
Salem casino as proposed would cause 1,200 additional serious crimes.
"Finally,"
Rubens said, "both unions might want to do a conflict-of-interest check
on their lobbyist (Demers), who also represents Millennium Gaming and
the world's biggest video slot machine manufacturer."
Demers
responded that his representation of those groups and companies "would
be a conflict if we were on the opposite sides of the issue, but we're
not, so in that regard there is no conflict."
He said did not try to influence either group's stand. Both have supported expanded gambling for several years.
"I
know for a fact that the troopers association looked very seriously at
this and reached out to troopers in states that have casino
gambling,Permanent solar trellis and bestledtube systems
require little to no maintenance and allow easy access." Demers said.
"They did their due diligence without us asking them to do anything and
found that the allegations that Mr. Rubens makes about runaway crime
just aren't true."
Demers said, "There are 40 states with casino
gambling today and not one of them is experiencing what Mr. Rubens
claims will happen in New Hampshire. The discussion about this is
reaching the foolish stage."
The troopers union and police association, he said, "know there is a need for funding in New Hampshire for critical services."
Demers
also said neither he nor partner Robert Blaisdell tried to convince the
groups to the support the leading gambling bill,At Dupar Controls we
specialize, extremely durable and visually satisfying cutmachine11.Solar Lighting International offers a stylish commercial roadway solarmodulerry system. Senate Bill 152.
"These
associations are fully capable of understanding the issues they get
involved in and reaching their own conclusions," he said.
Seth
Cooper, president of the 286-member NHTA, said Demers and Blaisdell
"provided us with information" about what is in the bill "so that we
could make an independent decision," but, "At no point did they try to
influence what we did."
NHPA President David Young said his
group has between 2,000 and 2,500 registered members. He said NHPA is
not a union and represents the interests of as many as 5,000 active and
retired law enforcement officials.
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