No on Issue 6: a downstate casino would do Cleveland too little good
Posted by The editors September 29, 2008 12:02PM
ENDORSEMENTS
Ohio voters will again be asked in November to authorize casino gambling, albeit this time at just one site 200 miles southwest of Public Square. Geography isn't the only problem that State Issue 6 has, but for Great Clevelanders, it's a deal-breaker.
Proposed for Wilmington -- in Clinton County, northeast of Cincinnati -- the casino is backed by Greater Cleveland promoters who call themselves My Ohio Now. They're partnered with Minneapolis-based Lakes Entertainment Inc., a NASDAQ-listed company that runs Indian casinos in California, Michigan and Oklahoma.
My Ohio Now estimates the Wilmington casino would pay $240 million a year in taxes, with the money given per capita to every Ohio county. In Cuyahoga, that could be $25.9 million a year.
But even if the estimate is solid (foes say it can't be), that's just 5 cents a day per resident. If that's a windfall, ping-pong balls are hailstones.
Like earlier gambling initiatives, Issue 6 has a motley set of friends. One is the Ohio AFL-CIO. And no wonder: My Ohio Now vows to pay the prevailing wage on what could be 5,000 construction jobs.
But Gov. Ted Strickland, organized labor's big Statehouse friend, opposes Issue 6.
Issue 6's other main opponents nest in two pigeonholes. One, labeled "Vote No Casinos," consists of Ohioans opposed in principle -- economic, ethical, philosophical, religious -- to gambling. They also have serious questions about loose My Ohio Now wording that, they charge, could prune or even erase the Wilmington casino's tax bill. My Ohio Now says that's hooey. But if promoters wanted air-tight wording, they know legal talent that could have written it.
In the other pigeonhole is "No on 6," backed by Penn National Gaming Inc., whose slogan could be, "Profit is not a dirty word -- in Indiana." That's where Penn National runs the Argosy Casino Lawrenceburg, 15 miles west of Cincinnati. (My Ohio Now's casino would be 40 miles from Cincinnati.) Argosy Lawrenceburg "is the closest casino to the Cincinnati metropolitan area, its principal target market," Penn National regulatory filings say. Penn National wants to keep it that way.
For Greater Clevelanders, Issue 6 may offer a marginal upside -- additional cash for Cuyahoga County's government. But it also offers a major downside -- geography. A casino 200 miles from Cleveland won't stanch the flow to Detroit and Erie of Greater Cleveland entertainment dollars. The Plain Dealer recommends a "no" vote on Issue 6.
5 comments:
Issue 6 deserves a big NO!!!!
Issue 6 has my NO vote!!!
This is the first time I get to vote and I can't wait to press NO for issue 6!
I live in Cleveland and I would rather take the trip to Detroit than drive into southern Ohio where there is nothing but farms and open fields!!! I say NO on issue 6!!
Cleveland won't benefit from issue 6,and the southern cities will feel the effects after awhile and I don't see them being good. I vote a BIG NO on issue 6!
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