BOYD GROUP SPENDS $163,000 ON GAMBLING CAMPAIGN

The Las Vegas-based Boyd Group said earlier this summer that if riverboat gambling was approved by voters in Cape Girardeau, the gaming organization was willing to invest $37 million in the downtown area.

And in trying to win approval of the measure that would enable them to make that investment, officials of the company spared no expense, spending $163,059 in the campaign for the June 8 election. The campaign came up short, however, as voters rejected the local option for riverboat gambling by a margin of 5,506 to 4,940.

By comparison, Citizens Against Riverboat Gambling spent $6,333, according to campaign reports filed with the Cape Girardeau County Clerk's office for 30 days after the election.

For the time period covered by the 30-day report, which includes a period beginning about 10 days before the election, the opponents reported expenditures of $2,547; the proponents showed expenditures of $128,603.

The Boyd Group financed the entire campaign in favor of the issue, working through Southern Research Group headquartered in Jackson, Miss.

The largest expense item listed on the 30-day report is a payment of $79,125 to Southern Research Group on June 28 for "consulting, polling, tracking, mailers, and expenses."

The second largest expense was for television advertising on KFVS-TV, totaling $15,564.

Other itmes were: newspaper ads in the Southeast Missourian worth $6,459; $3,800 for television time and production to KBSI-TV; $2,251 to KZIM Radio for advertising; $1,127 to KGMO Radio for advertising; and $1,884 to Telemedia in Jackson, Miss. and $2,600 to Reid and O'Donahue of Montgomery, Ala., for commercial production.

Some of the other expenses outlined by the Boyd Group's report included: $3,240 to Holiday Inn for meals and hotel expenses; $3,326 to Delta Airlines for airfare; two payments totaling $2,000 to Evelyn Boardman as local liaison; and $3,118 for project fliers.

The single largest expense by Citizens Against Riverboat Gambling was $2,124 to the Southeast Missourian for newspaper ads.

Among the contributors to the opponents' committee during this reporting period were $324 from the Shawnee Hills Baptist Church in Jackson; $200 each from Matthew Coleman and Robert Perry of Cape Girardeau; and $150 each from J.W. Terry of Cape Girardeau, and Benny Wheeler of Scott City.

The opposition group also received $1,024 from contributors donating $100 or less.

The committee lists an ending balance of $543 and will likely be active again this fall. The City Council has approved first reading of an ordinance to put the riverboat gambling issue back on the ballot in November; petitions were submitted earlier this month asking that it be submitted to voters again.

On June 22 a new committee was formed to support riverboat gambling, known simply as the "Yes Group." Tom Mogelnicki is listed as the committee's treasurer and Boardman as its secretary.

Campaign finance disclosure reports for the November election are not due until 40 days before the vote.