GUEST EDITORIAL: Support the Rippling Waters Casino

Opinion

March 15, 2010

BY ROGER JONES Ottumwa Courier

OTTUMWA — I would like to set forth some concrete facts that demonstrate beyond any reasonable doubt that the establishment of the Rippling Waters Casino is an imperative step that must be taken in order for Ottumwa and Wapello County to move forward and return to a state of economic prosperity. I will also respond to the most prevalent objections to the casino project as they have been set forth in numerous letters to the editor of the Ottumwa Courier and elsewhere.

As Gov. Culver stated last week in his letter to the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, the unfavorable unemployment situation in Ottumwa and Wapello County, as well as in the other candidate locations, “has created an overriding interest in creating new jobs in tough times.” The governor and other state and local officials are aware that Ottumwa and the other three locations applying for a casino license would experience a huge positive economic and financial impact from the realization of their respective projects. This fact is of particular importance in Wapello County, where the unemployment rate is higher than in the other three candidate locations.

Benefits

The Rippling Waters Casino, when completed, will employ 367 individuals who will enjoy salary levels averaging at least 25 percent above the minimum wage, as well as benefits. The casino’s payroll in year one will be approximately $10 million. During the 12-to-14 months during which the casino complex is being constructed, it is expected that approximately another 800 ancillary jobs will be created.

Other benefits generated by the granting of a casino license to the River Hills Riverboat Authority would include the generation of annual tax revenue in the range of $1.2 million to $1.4 million paid by the casino to the city of Ottumwa and Wapello County and an amount in excess of $7 million to the state of Iowa. These revenues will not only decrease the tax burden on other businesses and individuals in our city and county, but would also help pay for an increase in local governmental services and the improvement of our local infrastructure, such as roads and sewers, which is so badly needed for continued growth and prosperity in our community.

We should also not forget that when a casino is built, new retail endeavors such as restaurants, hotels and privately owned businesses will be attracted to our area due to the inevitable considerable increase in the number of visitors and tourists that will flock to our city, not only from the surrounding region in Iowa and Missouri but from throughout the Midwest. Our existing retail establishments will prosper for the same reasons.

The fact that the casino project has broad support in our community and the endorsement of Gov. Culver, as well as officials of the City of Ottumwa and Wapello County, the Ottumwa Area Chamber of Commerce, the Ottumwa Economic Development Corporation, many local legislators and the Ottumwa Courier, would seem to indicate that supporting the Rippling Waters Casino is the right choice. The aforementioned groups and individuals all realize that direct expenditures by the casino management will generate approximately $50 million of local economic impact immediately and understand that such impact will grow steadily as the casino becomes established.

The most prevalent arguments against establishing a casino in Ottumwa are 1) that the crime rate in our city will increase; 2) that addictive or compulsive gamblers will lose all their money at the casino and thus their ability to support their families and that personal bankruptcies will increase; 3) that the casino will fail, leaving Ottumwa with another empty building; and 4) that gaming establishments are objectionable due to moral imperatives.

Answering critics

I will not respond to opinions based on moral or religious grounds. This is a free country, and the individuals that oppose gaming establishments for such reasons have a right to their opinions and beliefs. With regard to the first three major anti-casino arguments, I will cite statistics and studies made available by various groups, with no agenda to support the gaming industry, that prove those arguments to be specious and based on false assumptions. In each instance, although space does not allow me to enumerate the source of each statistic or conclusion I set forth, I am prepared, at the request of anyone, to reveal each and every authority I cite.

• 1) It has been shown that it is an extremely rare occurrence for the crime rate to increase in cities where casinos are built. In a number of instances, the crime rate actually decreases due to the presence of professional casino security and the fact that the tax revenue paid by the casino to local government allows an increase in the hiring level at law enforcement agencies and the enhancement in the training programs for those agencies. In the same vein, because the gaming industry is so heavily regulated, the “mob” does not infiltrate a new casino location. The sources supporting the forgoing statements are too numerous to all be included in this letter, so I will mention just two: a 2000 study funded by the National Institute of Justice, which stated “Casinos do not appear to have any general effect on crime ... “, and a Wichita Eagle series on gaming (published July 15-19, 2007) which found that “Despite all the talk of increased crime and social costs, most of the communities (studied) reported no rise in murders, theft or other major crimes.” Those communities included Altoona and the Quad Cities of Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa; St. Louis, St. Charles and East St. Louis in Missouri; and Alton, Moline and Rock Island in Illinois.

• 2) Those individuals who foresee the establishment of a casino in Ottumwa as being a factor in rising personal bankruptcies or as an enticement for pathological or problem gamblers living at or near the poverty level to risk and lose all their belongings at the casino are clearly mistaken. The incidence of pathological or problem gamblers, who have been shown to constitute about 1 percent of the population, does not increase when a casino is established in a city. For example, in 2008, a study published in the scholarly journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors found that current prevalence rates of pathological gambling are not higher near a casino than they are far away from it. Other reliable research shows no cause and effect relationship between the easy access to a neighborhood casino and personal bankruptcies. The Treasury Department in A Study of the Interaction of Gambling and Bankruptcy (1999), reported finding “no connection between state bankruptcy rates and either the extent or introduction of casino gambling.”

• 3) People who fear the casino will fail and leave the city and county with massive debt and another empty building are apparently basing their fears on the closing of casinos in Reno and similar venues due to the economic downturn. There is no basis for such comparisons. In Ottumwa, the Rippling Waters Casino would be the only such establishment in the local region and would be an integral element in an “entertainment district,” along with Bridge View Center, The International Video Game Hall of Fame, The Beach Ottumwa and other attractions, which will, I feel, make Ottumwa and Wapello County the premier tourist attraction in southeast Iowa, as well as one of the most significant travel destinations in Iowa and the Midwest.

Space prohibits me from proceeding in more details. As stated before, I am more than willing to speak to any individual or group regarding my sources or any of the statements I have made above. I can be reached at (641) 682-3465, (641) 799-1203 (m) or roger@ottumwaiowa.com.

In conclusion, I would ask members of the community to support the Rippling Waters Casino project and allow Ottumwa and Wapello County to make a triumphant return to the economic prosperity that we once enjoyed.