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I would like to extend a sincere apology to Chuck Hootman and Jon Myers for slinging some insults their way. These insults weren't meant to be personally demeaning, nor an indictment of their character as individuals. I was simply being a smartass, which is something I tend to do. I don't know either of them on a personal basis, and therefore have no personal problem with them.
For the record, I am not a full-time employee of (614) Magazine. I am a freelance writer who contributes to the publication. Normally I write about inane topics such as beer and places to drink beer. I took an interest in the casino issue because I felt as though the Columbus Dispatch was grinding a biased axe and not providing Columbus with a realistic perspective. So I contacted several cities that have casinos to get that perspective. In addition to New Orleans and Erie I spoke with people in Bay St. Louis Mississippi and Chicago. While I got positive feedback, space and the uninteresting nature of their comments left me inclined to leave out their sentiments.
I went with New Orleans because that city has so much more history and character than Columbus and stands to lose more with a casino. I picked Erie because it's not far away and doesn't have much to offer, so if a casino was the drain on the local economy people claim it to be, Erie would also be suffering. If people in New Orleans had told me that the casino was poison, I would have printed that. If Erie's representatives felt their casino was hurting their community I would have written my article accordingly. In fact, if I had encountered any negative feedback from the other cities I called I would have mentioned it as a simple counterpoint.
My opinions on Casino Free Columbus were formed after I attended the meet-up, and before the January issue of (614) was printed. I went to the CF Columbus meeting hoping that younger, more progressive people would have a better argument against casinos than the pre-election opposition. I came away very disappointed and as somebody who grew up in northeastern Ohio, has friends and family in Cleveland and voted for the casino in order to force Columbus to meet with the developers and discuss the project seriously (I'm still not for the casino, just for hearing what Penn National has to offer) I thought their attitude was elitist and a little rude. I conveyed that here on CU. I regret not being a bit less aggressive.
I apologize for my actions in this regard, but it's important to understand that the article was not approached with bias. Journalists routinely put their personal opinions aside when pursuing a story even though they are allowed to form them after the fact. It's also important to understand that my opinions are mine alone.
-Steve Croyle
Launched in August 2010, TheMetropreneur.com is a local online resource devoted to small business development and entrepreneurship. Its aim is to tell the stories of Central Ohio's business community, foster regional economic development and assist entrepreneurs with its resource-heavy focus.