St. Louis County Citizens Mobilize
To Put Casino Expansion to a Vote

Commentary by Jim Day

 

    On June 29, 2004, the St. Louis County Council voted 5-2 in favor of entering into an agreement with Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. to build and operate a new 300 million dollar casino in Lemay, MO – without voter approval!

    On Wednesday, July 7th, some 1,500 signatures were delivered to the St. Louis County Council by Mark Andrews, founder of Casino Watch, which put the Council's agreement on temporary hold. The purpose of that hold, is to allow Casino Watch, in accordance with county statutes, time to gather signatures to put a

proposal on the November 2004 General Election Ballot, that will allow the citizens of St. Louis County to decide whether or not they want yet another casino in the St. Louis area. In essence, the question that will be on the November ballot – provided enough petition signatures are obtained -- will say, "Shall a new casino be allowed in South St. Louis County?"

    However, to even allow voters the opportunity to answer this question, a minimum of 25,000 signatures must be gathered proportionately from all seven St. Louis County districts and those signatures must be certified as registered voters in St. Louis County. Casino Watch, along with several other organizations that will be helping in this effort, need some 49,000 signatures to assure acceptance of the initiative as a safe guard against possible errors such as illegible signatures, unregistered voters, etc.   The signed petitions must be in the hands of the organizations NOT LATER THAN THURSDAY, AUGUST 12TH to be filed with the St. Louis County Board of Elections.

    Organizations presently (and there will be others) joining Casino Watch in collecting signatures include: South County First, Rally Against Gambling Expansion, Clergy Against Gambling Expansion, Kids First, St. Louis Christian Chinese

Community Service Center, and the National Coalition Against Gambling Expansion.

    We cannot allow the St. Louis County Council, the Missouri Gaming Commission and Pinnacle Entertainment to ram-rod another economic and life destroying casino down the throats of citizens of St. Louis County. We are supposed to be living in a country where the people decide what's best for their communities – not a bunch of bureaucrats and certainly not a ”business” rooted in crime and corruption. There are already five casinos in the area (which is five too many) and I (as well as many others) certainly believe we do not need a sixth!  I encourage every reader of the MetroVoice to obtain a copy of the petition, make more copies of it, and get as many signatures as possible – as soon as possible.

    Please join in this effort to give the citizens of St. Louis County, especially those in the Lemay area, the opportunity to decide whether or not St. Louis needs another casino.

    Here's what you can do: Call or e-mail Casino Watch's Executive Director, Sam Murrell or any of the organizations listed below about obtaining a petition. Encourage your friends, neighbors, family members, coworkers – whoever – to sign the petition and/or give them a petition and have them gather signatures as well. Talk to your pastor and ask him to encourage your congregation to get involved and hold a petition signing drive in your church. Working together we can put this initiative on the November ballot and let the citizens of St. Louis County decide for themselves if they want another casino in St. Louis. Remember – United we stand, divided…we let the bureaucrats and gambling industry decide for us! Organizations you can contact to get involved are as follows.

    Casino Watch: Sam Murrell (636-399-4428) E-mail: gamblinghurts1@earthlink.net.

    South County First: Kay Cannon (314-892-0000 Ext. 0)

    Rally Against Gambling Expansion: Denny Hettenhausen (314-487-3552)

    Clergy Against Gambling Expansion: Rev. Tim Richards (314-846-8511)

    National Coalition Against Gambling Expansion: Bonnie King (636-227-0941)

    St. Louis Christian Chinese Community Service Center: Rev. Ying Wong (636-394-9391)

    Kids First: Debbie Wirtel (314-892-4487)