Wyandotte County voters approve gaming
By MATT KELSEY, Kansan Managing Editor
Published: Tuesday, June 26, 2007 11:03 PM CDT
Wyandotte County voters Tuesday night overwhelmingly approved two measures that will allow a destination casino in the county and slot machines at The Woodlands race track.
With 100 percent of the county’s precincts reporting in, 15,976 voters, or 80.84 percent of the total, voted “Yes” to Question 1, which opens the door for a casino to be constructed in the county. An even larger percentage said “Yes” to Question 2, which allows slot machines at The Woodlands, with 16,189 voters, or 82.04 percent, supporting the measure.
Total voter turnout was 23.46 percent, substantially higher than other recent elections, and particularly high considering Tuesday’s vote was just over a single issue.
“Our voters have spoken in this election, and this casino will benefit everyone in Wyandotte County,” Unified Government Mayor/CEO Joe Reardon said during a watch party at The Woodlands Tuesday night.
The atmosphere at the race track was celebratory and high-spirited even before any results came in Tuesday night. Hundreds of elected officials, gaming supporters and members of the public who just came out to see the spectacle crowded into the greyhound racing building, where TV monitors showed the results live as the votes were counted. After about 50 percent of precincts reported in - and it was a sure thing that both measures would pass - local officials held a ceremony that was more pep rally than press conference. A jubilant Cindy Cash, president of the Kansas City, Kan., Chamber of Commerce, served as master of ceremonies and introduced Reardon along with the mayors of Bonner Springs and Edwardsville.
“This is a huge night for us,” Bonner Springs Mayor Clausie Smith said. “This is a victory for all of Wyandotte County; all three cities. Every resident will share in what this will bring to Wyandotte County.”
“The voters have spoken loudly, and they’ve made a definitive decision,” Edwardsville Mayor Heinz Rodgers said. “I look forward to the opportunity this decision affords the community.”
Although the vote was by all indications a landslide of support, not everybody in the county was happy with the outcome. On Question 1, 3,787 voters, or 19 percent, said no; 3,545 voters, or 17.96 percent, said no to Question 2.
Prior to the election, opponents of gaming who were willing to speak out about the issue were few and far between. In fact, the Kansas City Kansan received only one letter to the editor and one guest editorial voicing negative opinions on the issue.
The writer of that editorial, Rev. Steve Neal, pastor of Oakland Park Baptist Church, said Tuesday night he was not happy with the outcome.
“I would say that even though 80 percent voted in favor that not necessarily it’s the wisest, best decision,” Neal said. “I’m just kind of disappointed that people didn’t take the time to look at the evidence out there about the negative effects a casino can have on a community.
“What we have to do now is hold our elected officials accountable.”
Supporters are hopeful that the positives will outweigh the negatives.
“I think this is going to keep the progress in the county going,” State Rep. Margaret Long said Tuesday night. “I’m looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to see what it’s going to produce, what we’re going to use that revenue for.”
Long said supporters were bracing for a negative campaign that never materialized.
“I was very surprised, and everybody was worried that at the last minute, something would happen,” Long said, “that they’d put a big push on, but it just didn’t happen.”
As they were playing host for the watch party Tuesday evening, officials at The Woodlands also celebrated what has been a years-long struggle to bring slot machines to the facility.
“This means that we have a future, a bright future,” Woodlands General Manager Jayme LaRocca said. He said temporary slot machines could be moved into the facility as soon as next spring, and that a full slots casino could be completed by 2009. The current plan calls for the casino to be built onto the front of the horse racing building, and for all racing operations to be consolidated there as well.
Rep. Long said she was happy to see The Woodlands succeed in getting slot machines after so many years of failure.
“The Woodlands has been such a great partner from the very beginning, and this is like Wyandotte County giving something back to The Woodlands,” she said.
Former UG Mayor/CEO Carol Marinovich echoed those sentiments.
“The Woodlands has been a really good partner in Wyandotte County, and to see that partnership continue is very, very exciting,” she said.
Marinovich credited the Wyandotte County legislative delegation Tuesday with working to ensure state approval this year. One member of that delegation, Sen. Chris Steineger, said the work has only just begun. He said the state and the county must look at ways to see that the unemployed in Wyandotte County are trained and able to fill the jobs that will be coming to the community thanks to the outcome of Tuesday’s vote.
“We should try harder than any other community ever before,” Steineger said, “to end unemployment as we know it.”
Kansan reporter Sam Hartle contributed to this report. |
