ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, October 29, 1996 TAG: 9610290057
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: MANASSAS PARK
SOURCE: Associated Press
SUPPORTERS of an off-track betting parlor in Manassas Park hope Nov. 5's answer will be yes.
Backers of off-track gambling in Northern Virginia are betting against the odds that the small city of Manassas Park will give them their lucky break at the polls Nov. 5.
Voters in five other Northern Virginia jurisdictions already have rejected the idea.
But supporters are optimistic that this time the referendum will pass because of the city's small size and its desperate need for school funding.
Colonial Downs, the company that wants to build a fancy restaurant-bar-betting parlor in the area, has launched a campaign targeting each of the city's 8,000 residents.
``It is a more focused and identifiable population to get out to the polls to vote,'' said Colonial Downs consultant Mike Mulvihill. The company had to gather just 105 signatures to get the referendum on the ballot.
A survey by Colonial Downs showed that residents were evenly split on the issue, the company said, and that was before it spent about $40,000 on its promotional efforts - about $20 a voter.
The company has promised to raise $500,000 a year in taxes, money Manassas Park needs to rebuild the outdated wooden modular classrooms constructed hastily when the city voted for independence in 1975.
That alone has convinced many voters, including the city's mayor, police chief, school superintendent and School Board.
``It's not that we love off-track betting, but we have no options,'' said School Superintendent Thomas DeBolt.
Those opposed to the proposal predict the gambling center would be the community's downfall.
The area's congressman, Republican Frank Wolf, compared Colonial Downs to a drug pusher trying to hook a potential addict. Gambling ``brings crime. It brings corruption. It cannibalizes existing businesses,'' he said.
Mulvihill said the facility Colonial Downs hopes to build in Manassas Park would have no detrimental effect on area businesses and would not increase crime.
LENGTH: Short : 50 lines KEYWORDS: HORSE RACINGby CNB