 Todd DormanTodd Dorman is a columnist for The Gazette. His blog has been bringing smiles to readers' faces since November 2007. |
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Linn County Voters need to consider the dark side of our flashy casinos
Two days after Christmas, Cedar Rapids attorney Susan L. Hense sent her clients a letter.
“I write to inform you that Hense Law Firm will be closed by the time you receive this letter,” it began, on her law firm’s letterhead. “I am leaving the practice of law voluntarily and have consented to disbarment. I recently came to understand that I have developed a debilitating gambling addiction over the past few years. My addiction has affected my life in catastrophic ways, not the least of which is that I harmed you.
“You are receiving this letter as notice that I have committed criminal theft by using funds entrusted to me — some of which belonged to you — for my gambling activities. There remain no funds in trust — nor do I have any personal assets — to distribute to you as part of the matter which you entrusted to me.
“By the time you receive this letter, I will not only have reported these thefts to the Iowa State Bar Association Client Securities Commission and the Iowa State Bar Association, but also will have turned myself in to the Cedar Rapids Police Department and I will have notified the Linn County Attorneys,” Hense wrote.
“Finally, I cannot begin to express how sorry I feel for the awful breach of trust my actions have created,” Hense writes near the end of the letter, which she signed.
On Jan. 2, Hense’s sworn affidavit consenting to disbarment was filed with the Iowa Supreme Court, home to Iowa’s Attorney Disciplinary Board. “The board understands that Ms. Hense misappropriated approximately $800,000 of client funds,” the document states. Hense, according to the affidavit, frequented casinos in Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois. She has “self-excluded” herself from those casinos and is in treatment. The Supreme Court issued the order revoking her license Wednesday.
It’s important to note that Hense has not yet been charged with any crime. Linn County Attorney Jerry Vander Sanden said he has been contacted by Hense’s attorney, Frank Nidey, but that the investigation is still in the hands of Cedar Rapids police. Police spokeswoman Sgt. Cristy Hamblin said the case has been turned over to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“I can’t confirm or deny the existence of any investigation,” said Peter Deegan, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Standard procedure, he said.
So far, 15 claims tied to the case have been made to the Supreme Court’s Client Security Commission, according to Steve Davis spokesman for the Iowa Judicial Branch. The commission administers a trust fund intended to repay victims of attorney misconduct. But the fund pays out a maximum of $150,000 per case of misconduct, far less than the estimated $800,000 lost.
Calls I placed to Nidey’s office were not returned. The phone at Hense’s office has been disconnected.
SIGNIFICANCE
Of course, this sort of thing would be news any time. But with a gambling referendum on the ballot March 5, it takes on an added dimension. The letter, which has been circulating around the city’s legal community, was sent to me by Sara Riley, a local attorney who opposes a potential Cedar Rapids casino. In particular, Riley is concerned about a casino’s potential to spawn gambling addiction.
But, coincidentally, I got a call from another person, who didn’t give her name, pointing me to Hense’s case as an example of how problem gambling already exists in Cedar Rapids, without a casino.
This is an awful saga for everyone involved. But I’m not writing about it so I can preach about the evils of gambling. Nor do I cite it as evidence that we already have gambling’s problems, so we might as well reap the profits locally.
I simply want we the voters of this county to look at this aspect of gambling, its darkest side, squarely in the eye. And with all the bickering between dueling campaigns about jobs claims and sweetheart deals, transparency and hypocrisy, addiction hasn’t gotten much attention. This case got my attention.
Maybe many of us, as Iowans living in a state with more than two decades of gambling, with casinos from the Mississippi to the Missouri, have gotten used to this. We’ve got gambling, and we’ve got some problem gamblers. What’s new?
OTHERS AFFECTED
But the Hense case is a jarring reminder that gambling addiction isn’t just about the gambler.
A 2011 survey of 1,700 Iowans conducted by the University of Northern Iowa Center for Social and Behavioral Research, funded by the state health department, found that 14.5 percent reported experiencing at least one symptom associated with problem gambling during their lifetime, and 12.1 percent within the last year. Just 2 percent of Iowans in their lifetime, and 0.6 percent in the last year, met the criteria as a pathological gambler.
But 22 percent of those surveyed said they have been negatively affected by the gambling behavior of a family member, friend or someone else they know.
The state will spend just more than $1 million on treatment services and another $1 million on prevention through the 1-800-BETSOFF program, funded with gambling revenues. There were 4,029 calls to the helpline in 2012, up from 3,695 in 2011.
Would a Cedar Rapids casino make the problem here worse? Like so many gambling issues, it depends on who you ask.
A survey of 365 Eastern Iowa adults by University of Iowa researcher Donald Black found that fewer Iowans are gambling and are addicted to gambling, compared to previous similar surveys, despite expansion in recent years.
But a 2005 survey of 2,631 U.S. adults by the University of Buffalo’s John Welte, often cited by gambling opponents, found that having a casino within 10 miles of your home significantly raises your risk of becoming a problem gambler. Welte cautions that addiction is complex, and other factors can contribute more than geography, such as alcohol abuse.
ACCOUNTABILITY
I struggle with this issue. Addiction can exact a horrible cost. But who is responsible? If I develop a drinking problem, can we blame the grocery store where I buy my booze? Some folks were opposed to expanding Highway 100, but I never heard anyone say it shouldn’t be built because people certainly will be maimed and die in auto accidents.
And yet, my grocery store’s business model doesn’t depend on my loss of sobriety like a casino’s depends on me losing my cash, all the while telling me I’ll hit the jackpot any minute now.
I think gamblers are primarily responsible for the harm caused by their addiction. Hense has taken responsibility. But as someone preparing to vote on bringing gambling to my county, I have a responsibility to consider the damage that has and could be done.
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In discussing the “human cost” of legal gambling, I’m always amazed at how just about everyone I discuss the matter with knows someone like Ms. Hense whose life, and the lives of others surrounding her, have been destroyed because of gambling. I have a friend from high school (I’m now 50) who was convicted of stealing thousands from his employer to feed his gambling habit. He was married with three kids when he was convicted. He also stole from his family, including his children. Ultimately, he left them in poverty under the threat of a foreclosure to serve his sentence after conviction for felony theft. If you had told me back in high school that this would be his fate, I couldn’t have disagreed more. Another friend of my family, a retired widow, within a couple years after losing her husband, gambled away her entire retirement savings and filed for bankruptcy. She was in tears when telling us of her problem and how embarrassed she was. She feared she would not have enought to take care of her in her old age. I guess if you don’t care about others, you can vote yes. I do care. If I lived in Linn County, I’d vote NO. In fact, I’d vote to get rid of gambling in Iowa everywhere. If linn County votes for gambling and get its casino, it affects neighboring counties. Are you resident of Linn County going to pick up the tab for the gambling addicts in my county?
I was wondering when this story would surface. It’s unfortunate when adults can’t control themselves. I am personally tired of hearing whiners who want to discourage something for many because of there inability to control themselves. I don’t like paying higher taxes to subsidize many things but does that discourage them from raising taxes? Sorry I’m not buying the fact that adults need to be treated like children, no matter how childish they can be.
” . . . adults can’t control themselves.” You are talking about addictive behaviors ( be it gambling, alcohol, drugs . . . ), right ? Then in your last sentence you refer to “childish” (a contradiction). That said, where are addictive behaviors defined as “childish” behaviors ?
“The commission administers a trust fund intended to repay victims of attorney misconduct. But the fund pays out a maximum of $150,000 per case of misconduct, far less than the estimated $800,000 lost.”
This makes me wonder what constitutes a “case” of misconduct- does “per case” encompass all clients that an attorney pillaged in his/her career, or does the $150K limit apply to each client individually? Seems to me that it would be the latter, in which case the individual loss would (probably) be fully compensated if there were 15 complain filers. Your tax dollars at work (snark mode now off).
I’ve seen too many people get hooked into gambling since it became legal here in this state. We can do better than casinos and gambling to bring in jobs and revenue!
Someone made the point amongst the bickering about the merits of having a casino in Cedar Rapids, that I think holds true. It won’t be as great as the Yes side says, or as worse as No side says. In my opinion, I don’t think it is a good fit for Cedar Rapids. It doesn’t enhance what is already here, nor does it bring anything we don’t have already have access. The potential negatives definitely outweigh the potential positives, especially since economic prosperity can be achieved (if our city leaders wanted to) without counting on people losing money they may or may not be able to afford.
It is important to realize the co-dependency in a Casino Economy. State and local governments are now extremely addicted to the tax funding that they scim off of the Casino scam. A little historical perspective is in order; as we look at the words of Governor Branstad from 1984; “Once you get into the gambling business and you are dependent on that revenue to fund the operations of state government you are hooked. And I don’t think the state of Iowa wants that addiction.” [February 16, 1984 /Branstad CSPAN Interview File 112 19:57 – 20:07] In 1991, Governor Branstad pulled the lever on the first slot machine on April Fools Day in 1991. Iowa has played the fool ever since in a Casino economy. In 2013, the Gambling lobby effectively buys of the votes of both parties with campaign contributions. Linn County can still claim our local intelligence to keep gambling our of our own county, and not repeat Branstad’s April Fools day pull of a slot lever. Pull the Voting machine lever with a decisive NO Vote.
So we should oppose a casino because some people have a gambling problem? OK. So should we also oppose every new bar because some people have an alcohol problem? Should we oppose every new store that sells tobacco because some people have a tobacco problem? Should we oppose every new restaurant because some people are overweight? Do we really want to punish the many for the sins of the few? If you know anyone with any of these problems you should try to help them, but taking away the option from those who enjoy this kind of entertainment responsibly is not the way to do it.
Any amount the state Supreme Court’s Client Security Commission compensates to those swindled by Ms. Hense is effectively an Iowa taxpayer subsidy to the casinos (including out-of-state casinos) who exploited Ms. Hense’s addiction. VOTE NO ON MARCH 5!
A bartender may refuse to serve an intoxicated person, but will a casino refuse a compulsive gambler with cash?
Bars also have Happy Hour and food/drink specials to draw people in. Every waiter is taught to offer appetizers and dessert. People need to take personal responsibility for their actions. It’s not the fault of the venue.
Kudos to Todd Dorman for putting a name and a face to this problem. Please note in Ms. Hense’s letter the harm to her clients that she takes responsibility for. A number of people see a casino as place of entertainment; but what it really is is a modern day Pavlov’s Dog experiment where somehow we the human participants like the dog expects a reward(a payout) for a desired action (a wager). That’s what all the lights and bells an chimes are for they are part of the stimuli. Everything from the time a person enters is to provide the stimuli to gamble your hard earned dollars for an expected greater return. Some casinos even pump in pure oxygen and laughing gas to produce a feeling of euphoria; So that you gamble more! The free drinks and cheap food are other enticements to get you inside and gamble away money you cannot afford to lose. Sure it promises jobs; but most of those jobs are in construction. Those jobs will only be there until the casino is built( if allowed) the balance of the jobs are slightly better then minimum wage positions: desk clerks, warm up cooks,waiters, waitresses, dish washers and a few dealers. “One armed bandits are simply that these are machines the machines don’t care if you have a gambling problem,the machines don’t care if you are gambling your rent, gas, groceries, utilities or kids college money; the casinos encourage it and the machines don’t care. We all need to ask ourself :”If this happened to our neighbor or our brother or sister would we take them in?” Would Steve Gray and The Silent 60 (or whatever their moniker is now) ? I think the answer is the same and it means families on the street. We need to think about the damage it will do and weigh it with the value it projects because face it… this is a gamble just like in the casino it seems one side is projecting the return and the other side is telling us the cost of this investment. In closing Investment companies don’t build casinos to lose money, they build casinos to gain yours and your families!
The Client Security Fund is NOT taxpayer money. It is funded by fees paid by lawyers in private practice in Iowa. Casinos DO in fact bar some problem gamblers from their premises.
Mr. Kehl, the CEO at Riverside Casino, should be so proud of what his family has done to the state of Iowa.
What a great story about the “Dark Side” of gambling. Little is being said about how gambling can destroy lives and only about how many new jobs we can expect. For people that know someone whose life has been diminished by gambling words pale at the real “dark side”.
My grandfather was a cattle buyer for the Sioux City Stockyards for years; he passed years ago now. He looked the part with dusty cowboy boots, ten gallon hat, plaid shirts and jeans. After a day of dust and dirt he would meet up with some buddies for cards in a back room of a bar.
Not only did he lose a lot but when he died he left my grandmother with his gambling debts. The people he played with then came after my grandmother and her retirement pension for what was owed to them. She did not have enough to pay all the debts so they then went after my dad who made up the difference.
Little of this was spoken of when it was happening but I got glimpses of Mafia types threatening my grandmother and my dad. When people are in the throes of gambling debt they typically do not talk about it, preferring to buck up and pretend it is not going on, especially if they are very private people to begin with.
I think that people look for other ways out including suicide and that there may be more suicides related to gambling than our community will acknowledge. Denial is a terrible thing, on top of disgrace and shame.
For every “victim” of gambling, I can find many more people having a good time while spending money and supporting jobs. I don’t need or want voters protecting me from gambling, tobacco, bad interest rates, frisky women, or booze. The idea that people need laws and government to protect them from addiction issues is absolutely ludicrous. People who oppose these kind of things are the idiots responsible for our nanny state and entitlement culture.
I think the Linn County casino has the cards stacked against it, even without the gambling addition problem. Some of the names on the list of backers is strike 1. The location is strike 2. Then it’s voter’s choice of strike 3, whether it be opposition to gambling in general, backroom deals with the city council, minimum payback from the investors. You name it, it stinks all around. Oh, and that’s not just the cigarette smoke.
Addiction, not addition. Sorry.