Casino Expansion – Again!?

Commentary by Sam Murrell

Executive Director, CasiNo Watch, Inc.

Recently, I opened the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and much to my dismay I read that Peter Herschend, co-owner of Silver Dollar City, in Branson, had decided he would enter the ‘casino expansion battle.’ It didn’t bother me that he had entered the fray, I was, however, bothered by where he seemed to have landed. To be fair to him, I need to let you know that Mr. Herschend has been against casinos coming into Missouri from the beginning. He has been a friend of families in this State for more years than we can count. That’s why his most recent move, agreeing with the casino goal of ending the $500 Loss Limit, seems incongruent with his verbalized stance against casino expansion. He is not doing Missouri families any favors by his current actions. It appears that he has decided to sell out his neighbors in the rest of the State, in order to keep casinos out of his back pocket-I mean back yard.

The Post-Dispatch reported that Mr. Herschend has met with several casinos behind closed doors and two items have been hot on the agenda: the $500 Loss Limit and a cap on the number of casinos in the State of Missouri. He is quoted as

saying, “The first step in controlling a flood is to build a levee.” This ‘levee,’ that Mr. Herschend is interested in building, would surround the Branson-Rockaway Beach area and allow the rest of the State to drown (to continue with his metaphor) in a sea of casinos. The supposed cap on the number of casinos at twelve would include a new casino for Lemay, which is Mr. Herschend’s gift to the rest of the State. I’m not certain why he thinks that an industry that has made a living playing ‘bait and switch’ with the citizens of Missouri is suddenly going to accept a moratorium on casinos just because they met with him. It would only be a matter of a few short years before casino C.E.O.’s would be lining up in Jefferson City lobbying to build casinos in the Branson-Rockaway Beach area because their studies showed that Missouri was losing revenue to Arkansas, Tennessee or someone else. If there is one thing we have learned about casinos it’s this: they always want more. More, practically speaking, means an increase in

Peter Herschend

Missourians filing for bankruptcy, an increase in broken homes, an increase in losers in this great State.

The $500 Loss Limit caps the amount of money an individual can gamble at $500 on a two hour ‘cruise.’ Oh, wait a minute! It’s not a cruise any more, is it? That’s one of the things they baited us with when they came in and when they got us on board the ‘boat’ they switched the meaning of the word ‘cruise’ on us. And we were left looking stupid while they laughed all the way to the bank at the expense of Missouri’s families.

It is imperative that we not stand around and allow anyone to negotiate away the Loss Limit. Missouri cannot afford to allow this unique ‘speed-bump’ on the road to compulsive gambling to disappear. Mr. Herschend may mean well, but this is not the way to limit gambling in our State. Valerie Lorenz, Ph.D. of the Compulsive Gambling Center, of Maryland, stated, in a letter she wrote to the Missouri General Assembly, January 27, 1999, “I state with confidence that removing the loss limits at gambling establishments will lead to an increase in compulsive gambling and in an escalation of gambling by those individuals in the early throes of addiction.” Mr. Herschend either does not care about this inevitable increase or he doesn’t understand the Loss Limit. Let’s hope it’s the latter.

The other issue I would like to briefly address is the effort of Pinnacle Casinos to set up shop in South St. Louis County. If you live in the South County area you need to know the type of company you’re snuggling up to. Casino gambling is not the savior it is being made out to be, but the choice of Pinnacle is especially problematic. In 2002 Pinnacle was fined 2.26 million by the Indiana Gaming Commission for supplying prostitutes to some of their ‘high roller’ customers. A word of caution is appropriate here. Please note that if Mr. Herschend and our legislators are successful in negotiating away the Loss Limit this will allow Missouri to become a destination for gambling high rollers. We need to ask the question, “Could Missouri then expect Pinnacle to fly in prostitutes to downtown St. Louis and South County?” Does this sound like the kind of company we want doing business in the St. Louis area? Does this sound like the same ‘family friendly’ company that the Economic Commission is ready to stake South County’s future on? Just because they want to build a mall, a bowling alley and a soccer field doesn’t make them family friendly. In fact amenities designed to attract children should never be permitted near a casino.

South County residents, you need to let your voice be heard quickly if you don’t want your community to become a magnet for crime and broken homes. Write letters to the County Council, write letters to the papers, do what you can. It’s your community, but you need to speak out and get involved. Once the casino is built and you realize that the giant sucking sound you hear is money leaving the homes of your friends and neighbors it will be too late.

Sam Murrell is the new Executive Director of CasiNO Watch, Inc. which has been opposing the expansion of gambling for the health, welfare and safety of Missouri families since 1997. Those interested in learning more about or assisting CasiNO Watch in their efforts to stop the spread of gambling in Missouri are encouraged to visit their web site at www.casinowatch.org or write to CasiNO Watch, Inc., PO Box 169, Chesterfield, MO 63006.