THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 22, 1995 TAG: 9501190332
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J1 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: IN THE CITIES
SOURCE: BY ALEX MARSHALL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
The city councils appear eager indeed to have riverboats cruise up the estuaries of the Chesapeake Bay, lower their gangplanks, and bring casino gambling to Hampton Roads.
In Portsmouth, the City Council is negotiating with Eldorado Hotels and Casinos, a company with several power brokers, including a judge, as local investors.
The Norfolk City Council has ap proved a deal with Spirit Cruises Inc., which operates the Spirit of Norfolk dinner cruise ship, to put two gambling boats off Waterside and Nauticus.
On the other side of the water, Hampton and Newport News have struck deals with two separate casino companies.
As it stands now, most of the cities where the gambling boats would dock have already approved deals or are close to it.
Meanwhile, the public has hardly gnawed at the choice of whether to allow slot machines, roulette wheels and blackjack tables into their communities, along with all the other things that gambling brings.
Are the local councils putting the horse before the cart in approving contracts with gambling companies before their communities have thoroughly discussed and debated the issue?
It's clear that successful casino gambling can generate huge sums of money. That is both its lure and its danger. All that cash, critics contend, may attract unsavory elements.
At the least, it can drastically change a city's economy and possibly its character.
``This is like a hidden dinosaur, in term of what it means,'' said Norfolk Councilman W. Randy Wright, who favors riverboat gambling. ``But no one is talking about it, or writing about it.
``I'd like to see a town hall meeting on the subject.''
Most of the talking that has gone on has been behind behind closed doors.Because the councils have been discussing contractual negotiations, state law has permitted them to exclude the public.
So citizens have not heard council members air their concerns or dreams about having casino gambling in their communities.
Some details that have raised concern, such as Portsmouth officials investing in one casino company, have emerged only when a few council members chose to publically discuss facts they could have kept secret.
Many council members say that contractual matters have to be handled behind closed doors, and that now is not the time to involve the public. They say they must grab a place in line in front of neighboring cities. Even some opponents of gambling have voted for specific contracts out of fear of losing money.
``I certainly don't want to see the revenue going to Hampton or Portsmouth, when it could come here and help us with our problems,'' said Councilman Wright.
A lot has to happen before the cherries and sevens start spinning in riverboat slot machines. Most of the 140 legislators in the General Assembly have to approve a bill. The legislature will take up the issue in coming weeks. Then, depending on the specifics of the legislation, voters either across the state and/or in the local cities would still have to approve gambling in a referendum.
That's when the public will have its say, many gambling advocates contend.
But people would be voting for and against gambling after their local city councils have already approved it. Would that affect the legitimacy of such a debate?
Here are two issues that have surfaced about riverboat gambling:
Will gambling suck money away from other businesses? Norfolk Councilman G. Conoly Phillips, a staunch gambling opponent, said car dealers in Mississippi have turned against riverboat gambling because, now that it is there, people are spending less on cars.
``They are talking about one boat pulling in $200 million,'' said Phillips, who owns Conoly Phillips Lincoln-Mercury. ``That's cars, that's suits, that's restaurants.''
The city and the state hope to take in piles of money off gambling, but from whose pockets?
``In my opinion, it is a transfer of money from poor people - who can ill afford it - to the city government,'' said Portsmouth Councilman Cameron C. Pitts, one of two members to vote against gambling in his city. Since the vote, Mayor Gloria O. Webb has backed away from riverboats.
``It is a way of taxing poor people that government has never had before,'' Pitts said. by CNB