I have been a Concord resident for forty four years. I have seen a lot of changes to the city, many, such as our growing homeless population, are sad to see. A 43,000-square-foot casino will do nothing to improve the quality of life in our city. My parents moved here from the Bronx in 1979 for a better life. We vacationed in New Hampshire and my parents chose Concord because of its excellent schools, fabulous library, beautiful parks, and low crime rate. That’s the Concord I want to see maintained. In the last few years near the proposed location of the casino, there was a shooting in the parking lot of Steeplegate Mall; two older hikers were murdered on hiking trails. On January 21, downtown, a fugitive from justice (known to carry a firearm, according to Concord Patch) was arrested for fighting at The Draft and Concord Casino.

A much larger casino will only bring more violence to an area of town that has seen too much already. To those who say casinos bring in needed charitable revenue, I say the fact that we resort to exploiting people’s addictions to fund social programs is an example of how warped our society’s values are. I’d rather have a sales or an income tax so students can get hearing screenings. I urge the planning board to reject the proposed casino and to keep Concord a family-friendly city.

Michele Kirschbaum

Concord

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