Voices across Chicago and downstate—and even some in the race for 45th Ward alderman—have called for allowing casino gambling in Chicago and an expansion of video gambling across the state. Those who favor gambling mistakenly believe it can be a way to fix our budget problems in the city and bring in much-needed revenues.

John Arena thinks this is wrong, and wrong for Chicago. Frankly, paying our bills with gambling money is a risk we don’t want to take. For one, allowing casino gambling within the city limits—even with a strict regimen of controls and regulation—is likely to increase crime and drive out other businesses.

Further, gambling hasn’t worked for other cities that have tried it. From Atlantic City to Las Vegas and beyond, gambling has all too often proved to be an unreliable and often unavailable revenue source. Still, municipal governments often must increase expenditure to cover the infrastructure costs associated with gambling, even if revenues fall or during tough economic times.

Further, when you combine the hazard of an historically untrustworthy government with an industry such as gambling, the odds just aren’t in the average Chicagoan’s favor. There are more honest ways to fill our budget holes, and as alderman, John Arena is committed to an open, transparent budget process that relies on sustainable revenue sources and fiscal prudence, not risky band-aids for sustainable budgeting.

As a long-time resident who is raising his family and operating a small business in the city, John loves Chicago too much to allow gambling to change the character of Chicago for the worse.