Casino news source: The Mississippi Press - http://www.gulflive.com
Casino vote OK'd
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
By VETO F. ROLEY
PASCAGOULA -- The Jackson County Board of Supervisors honored its pledge Monday, unanimously voting to hold a non-binding referendum this year on a proposed Choctaw casino in the county.
The referendum will be held Nov. 6, and will specifically ask residents if they are for or against gaming on land owned by the Mississippi Band of Choctaws near the Mississippi 57 and Interstate 10 interchange.
Supervisor Frank Leach said Monday that he is happy to provide a way for Jackson County voters to express their feelings about the proposed casino, but is not happy with the way the authorization for the vote came about.
Leach and other supervisors repeated their wish for the referendum to be backed by state legislation. However, a proposed bill in the Legislature to allow a referendum died in the House Friday when the Legislature ended its session without the House Local and Private committee ever taking the matter up.
Supervisors had promised in the past that if the Legislature did not pass the bill, they would seek a Mississippi Attorney General's opinion. Attorney General Jim Hood's office released an opinion March 26 that gave legal backing for a vote.
Hood's opinion was specifically quoted in Monday's Board of Supervisor's resolution authorizing the referendum.
"We are very pleased to get this on the ballot," said Tim Taranto, spokesman for Coast Businesses for Fair Play, a group sponsored by Harrison County casino owners.
Taranto said the seven months between April and the November referendum is sufficient time for the two sides to make their case to Jackson County voters.
Jackson County voters last considered gaming in a 1990 binding referendum. In that vote, 15,351 voters, or just over 60 percent of the number casting a ballot, voted against gaming at that time.
Taranto said opposition to gaming in Jackson County might not be as strong as it was in 1990 due to the casinos in Harrison County, particularly in Biloxi and D'Iberville, just over the county line.
"More people are aware of the economic impact and the jobs casinos can bring in," Taranto said.
However, he said comparing the casinos that wanted to locate in Jackson County in the 1990s with the Choctaw casino is like comparing "apples to oranges."
Taranto said his group will try to educate voters on the differences between non-tribal gaming, such as is practiced in Harrison County, and tribal gaming, such as is practiced by the Choctaws.
While Carl King, spokesman for Jackson County United for Families, said his group is "extremely happy" the referendum will be on the ballot, he noted his group is against gambling, tribal or non-tribal.
He said the vote Nov. 6 will probably not be the last time Jackson County voters are faced with a choice on gaming, although the referendum might bring a temporary "respite" on the question.
"As long as people prey on taking other people's money and making themselves wealthy," King said there would be the threat of gambling in Jackson County.
The Mississippi Band of Choctaws want to build a $375 million casino on land it owns in the county. The 100 acres is located north of the Sunplex Industrial Park and the Ocean Springs city limits and south of Ocean Springs Road.
The casino would have more than 2,300 slot machines and a 400-seat buffet. The hotel part of the casino would feature 1,100 rooms, theater, indoor and outdoor pools, and a fitness center.
Mississippi Choctaws also run the Silver Star and Golden Moon casinos near Philadelphia, Miss.
Before the Choctaws can open a casino in Jackson County, they have to receive the approval of the Mississippi governor, currently Haley Barbour, and the U.S. Department of Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs. A key component of approval by those agencies is community approval of the proposed casino.
Choctaws Chief Phillip Martin has said he will respect decision in the referendum. If Jackson County voters reject the casino, Martin has said he will not build the casino. However, the 81-year-old elected chief is running for his eighth term of office and faces his own ballot in June.
King said his group is looking to the Choctaw's election. He said he hopes, if Martin is not re-elected chief, that the new chief will honor Martin's pledge.
Reporter Veto F. Roley can be reached at vroley@themississippipress or (228) 934-1427. |
|
World Casino Directory 
Gambling Forums 
