By MARY HOUGHTALING, guest columnist

I find it very comforting to see the “Vote No on 6” signs next to signs supporting both political parties

At least people are thinking for themselves on this issue and, of course, the “Vote No on 6” signs give me hope that our citizens, who are thinking clearly, see these Ohio Now people for who they really are. They don’t speak the truth.

I spent 17 years in the casino industry in Reno and Lake Tahoe, Nev. I also spent nearly a year on the Grand Victoria Riverboat in Rising Sun, Ind. I started as a keno runner and then became a cocktail waitress briefly for a summer, when I went to visit my mother in Reno from Illinois. I went to spend just that summer of 1979.

It was the longest summer of my life (that is, before the one we just experienced). I broke in the “pit” that fall and learned to deal $1 blackjack. I worked the graveyard shift, 2 a.m. to 10 a.m. They call it graveyard for a reason — it will kill you.

After we stayed (barely) awake all night, many dealers would drink for the next several hours at the bar and then, of course, drive home. Please be aware that this happened in Indiana as well as in Nevada. This will happen here, too. The breed follows the next new thing and they bring their bad habits with them to share with all of you. The casino will hire some “break-in” from dealer schools that they will form, but for the most part they will bring their own help with them.

That leads me to Myth No. 1: We will create 5,000 jobs.

The last place I worked in Nevada was the Reno Hilton, now the Grand Sierra. I called the general manager myself to ask how many full-time, benefited employees they had. His answer was 1,800. Mind you, this is the largest casino in Northern Nevada. In fact, just a very few in Las Vegas have nearly 5,000 employees.

The few dealers they train will be locals. The maids and hotel staff will be locals, the restaurant staff will be locals and that will be about it. The rest of the “front of the house” will be experienced people who the casino will hire from out of state. They will not be locals.

About five years into my casino life, I “went on the floor” or became a pit boss. These are the people you see behind the table games, supervising. I won’t bore you with more details as to detract from the point of the story. Suffice it to say that I guarantee that all of these people will be experienced or they won’t be getting a gaming license from the state of Ohio. You can’t teach people to watch people who just learned to deal, when you are talking about the responsibility that comes with watching that much of the casino’s money. Believe me, that is not going to happen. This comprises the bulk of the people who will not make anywhere near the amount of money in salaries they claim is going to happen.

Which brings me to the proof about Myth No. 2: The jobs will average $34,000 to $38,000 a year.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics for May 2007, the annual median wage of a gaming supervisor is $42,980. Remember, they will not be local people. The dealer‘s wage is $16,570, service workers’ wage is $23,120, change person’s wage is $20,050, security guards’ wage is $23,330, and bartenders’ wage is $17,590. You see where this going. Do any of these sound like their claim about the average wage?

All of this is draining, repetitious, degrading work. It is a dead end for women caught in the trap of easy-money. It is emotionally, physically, and mentally tasking work for which you are accomplishing nothing, except making money for people who could care less about you and are more than willing to suck dry every small business owner, unemployed former ABX employee, housewife, addicted gambler (whom, yes, I agree, has free will and that is not your problem, or is it?).

You are doing it in a gaming space that isn’t - Myth No. 3: It will be 220,000 square feet of gaming space.

According to the Nevada Gaming Control Board Listing of Financial Statements Square Footage for 2007, statewide the largest casino in Nevada is the Bellagio in Las Vegas with 159,760 square feet of gaming space. Now because they have tens of millions of visitors each year, don’t you find it odd that the lone casino in Ohio would be that much bigger than any of the ones in Las Vegas?

Oh, you say, but they will be spending time in Waynesville, buying an antique, or coming into Wilmington to look around. Well, sorry, that’s not going to happen.

Here’s why. Myth No. 4: They will visit our town.

The proof debunking the thought that Wilmington will be anything to patrons except the name on the exit (providing they are going north on I-71): according to the South Jersey Transportation Authority reporting in January 2008, the number of bus riders into Atlantic City casinos for 2007 was over 32 million people. Of these riders, 90 to 95 percent came for a three-hour “turn around” to spend their obligatory dollars and get back on the bus to go back home — in our case to Akron, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and so on. They will not be going to Waynesville or Wilmington for any reason.

Hasn’t it been a long summer for you, too? Do we really want to believe what another big business tells us and shoves down our throats? Have your politicians done their due diligence in digging up any of these facts, or have they just taken a trip to Lawrenceburg and witnessed for themselves all the wonderful new fast-food restaurants that line Highway 50 or the six massage parlors that weren’t there when I first moved to Dillsboro, Ind., in 1996?

Several of our local politicians tout the wonderful thing that is the Ohio Now fiasco every chance they get. They say that we need good jobs in Wilmington. I agree. We do. Please know that these are not the good jobs that we deserve.

Do we sell our souls once again because they tell us to? Can we think for ourselves this time? Do your own homework, go online, or call me and I will forward you the information I have. Do something.

Vote no on 6. Don’t believe what the local politicians tell you. They tell us myths. They don’t know. They haven’t been there. I have.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Mary Houghtaling is the founder of Community Care Hospice.