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Issue 3 passed on November 3rd, awarding Penn National Gaming the ability to install casinos in four Ohio cities including Columbus. Voters in Franklin County opposed the casino proposal 58% to 42%, and so did every other Central Ohio county. A local movement is being started by Jon Myers and Chuck Hootman to remind Central Ohioans that just because Penn National is allowed to build a casino here, it doesn’t mean that they have to.
The duo have started up the “Casino Free Columbus” movement that aims to block the development of the Arena District Casino in favor of allocating resources towards better jobs, local businesses and smarter development. The movement is pushing for educational advocacy that will build a large vocal population that will make it known that the Columbus community will not support the Casino.
More information about Casino Free Columbus can be found in this article in yesterday’s Other Paper, as well as both Facebook and Twitter.
FYI – Some coward created an anonymous Twitter handle and is trying to intimidate.
This is the handle: http://twitter.com/Cholers4Casinos
Come out from behind the curtain if you have something to say.
Is there some way to find out what elected officials had money donated to their campaigns from the casino interests?
Did you see the news that (if I recall correctly) it was the absentee votes that gave the Casinos the victory. I wonder if there was any unsavory antics involved in getting those votes.
No, I haven’t seen it. Do you have any suggestions on how to research the legitimacy of those absentee ballots?
“In Cuyahoga, Hamilton counties, about 70% of early ballots backed it…”
And, apparently, absentee ballots accounted for about 45% of the total vote in Cuyahoga, where they were mailed to all registered voters.
http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/11/20/copy/absentee_casino.ART_ART_11-20-09_B5_37FO3P9.html?adsec=politics&sid=101
Also, another article in today’s Dispatch reports on the indictment of a campaign worker for falsifying 2 applications for absentee ballots.
http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/11/20/copy/FRAUD.ART_ART_11-20-09_B7_37FO4P5.html?adsec=politics&sid=101
I still think Columbus should form a Municipal Gaming Commission and make some heinously draconian laws about casino operation (e.g., only allowed to be open between 2:00am and 6:00am on the third Thursday of months ending in “R”). The amendment forbids local zoning/land-use from precluding operation, but it says nothing about local gaming commissions.
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moove that casino to Rickenbacker!
^^^
Ohio Supreme Court has steadily eroded the concept of “Home Rule”. Doubt that would hold up. Would be funny though.
Democracy, ye have failed me yet again…
“somebuckeye: Democracy, ye have failed me yet again…”
I’m sorry but what? Just because you disagree with the result does not mean Democracy failed. It means the exact opposite.
@Brent – explain, what do you mean?
Game on, people. Check out the Dorrian and Curtin op-eds in today’s daily.
Hugh J. Dorrian commentary: Too much is invested in Arena District to put it at risk
Mike Curtin commentary: City leaders can stop casino plan in its tracks
More people voted for casinos than voted against them; therefore we’re getting casinos. That’s democracy, pure and simple. For somebuckeye to state that democracy has failed him is a non-sequiter argument. Democracy succeeded perfectly. You might not like the result, but to claim to have been failed is an untrue and weak complaint.
@Brent – unfortunately it’s not that simple.
Dispatch : “
Can you imagine the response of Jack Sensenbrenner? Maury Portman? Buck Rinehart? Those responses would not have appeared unedited in a family newspaper.
This is a history-making moment for Columbus. This is the good fight. It’s the kind of fight, if you’re a lucky public official, you get once or twice in a career.
All this city and its leaders must do is stand up. Just say no. Make my day.
The casino gets no discretionary infrastructure. No new streets. No interchange realignments. No land concessions. Keep that site inaccessible. Don’t like that, Penn National? Sue us.” “
Abso-fucking-lutely.
The Mayor – of whom I had previously been a big supporter – was a total coward here, waiting until too late to oppose. Now it is time to see if he will stand up for up something other than himself.
A.
<quote>
lizless Says:
Is there some way to find out what elected officials had money donated to their campaigns from the casino interests?</quote>
http://www2.sos.state.oh.us/portal/page?_pageid=34,56478,34_56508&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
@JonMyers: I read The Other Paper article and your comments here, but I still don’t quite understand what exactly is so bad about this casino. I was opposed to Issue 3 and am also disappointed with our mayor, the elected officials, and the anti-casino campaign. In the aftermath, I’m not convinced that the casino is going to be that bad for our city.
@JasonFisher – As with any interview it’s impossible to capture and report on all the talking points.
I don’t want to continue to bore everyone with the specifics, but here is a good place to start:
http://www.columbusunderground.com/forums/topic/dispatch-says-no-to-casino
@roy, those op-eds in today’s Dispatch were amazing. I sure hope the electeds were listening.
Thing is, if the mayor does stand up against this planned casino, which I think he should, he would have to take a stand against ODOT’s plan for the split too. If ODOT was to plan some serious highway work which would hurt businesses for a long time and tear down a couple of buildings in the Arena District you know full well that the mayor and other city leaders would never let that fly. The mayor needs to stand up for lower-income and up and coming neighborhoods like Franklinton, King-Lincoln, and Olde Towne East, not just a couple of well-off areas Downtown and the Short North.
The parties that have an anti-progressive agenda against casinos in Columbus say that the money to develop, build, and operate a casino in Columbus should be used to develop jobs in the area . Columbus hasn’t created worthy jobs with any portion of those funds and no private organization has approached with any funds to do the same. We need to move forward and be unified.