Casino still faces hurdles if voters approve Amendment 1

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- In the campaign ads, grandmotherly Virginia Ferguson of Rockaway Beach taps on the television screen to get voters' attention and tells them that if they ratify Amendment 1, it will provide a new economic life for her hometown and about $50 million in revenue for the state without a tax increase.

Maybe. Maybe not.

Although passage of Amendment 1 would provide the necessary constitutional authorization for a casino to be built at the White River town, it doesn't guarantee the facility will ever become a reality.

Consider the case of pari-mutuel wagering.

In 1986, voters ratified a constitutional amendment granting the legislature the power to authorize betting on horse races in Missouri. Eighteen years later, there still isn't a single horse track in the state.

Cynthia McCafferty of Fleishmann-Hillard, the public relations firm that is handling the media campaign for the pro-Amendment 1 group Missourians for Economic Opportunity, conceded a successful statewide vote on Aug. 3 is just one of many hurdles, and not necessarily the easiest one, that must be jumped to bring a casino to Rockaway Beach, a small town near the popular tourist destination of Branson.

"There are a lot of steps that still remain, but I don't think it would be fair to say any one is the easy part," McCafferty said.

At present, the state constitution allows casinos only along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. If ratified, Amendment 1 would expand potential gaming sites to the White River but only within the Rockaway Beach city limits.

Rockaway Beach leaders have selected the Minnesota-based Southwest Casino and Hotel Corp. to spearhead a $100 million casino and downtown redevelopment project. Robert Low, owner and president of the Springfield-based trucking company Prime Inc., would be a major investor in the project. Low also owns the Palace Casino Resort at Biloxi, Miss.

Only 11 licenses in state

However, the Missouri Gaming Commission has the final say on who, if anyone, gets a casino license. The panel traditionally has been stingy with issuing such permits, currently allowing just 11 casinos to operate in the state.

Commission executive director Kevin Mullally noted the panel has been actively pursuing another casino for the St. Louis market for nearly a decade but still isn't close to issuing a license. Applications for proposed casinos in several other parts of the state, including Ste. Genevieve, have been pending for years without serious consideration.

If all went smoothly with a Rockaway Beach application, Mullally said the process would still be lengthy.

"I cannot foresee any scenario in which this would happen quickly, say, in a matter of years," Mullally said.

In general, Mullally said, the commission weighs permit applications on "whatever is in the best interests of the state." More specifically, the commission considers the economic feasibility of a particular proposal and the level of community support. Mullally said a casino has never been approved in a community where that support wasn't widespread.

Plan B prepared

Although 84 percent of Rockaway Beach voters endorsed the casino plan during a local February election, Mullally said the commission views "community" as the overall region that would be affected by a casino.

"We haven't limited that to boundaries on a map," Mullally said. "We don't necessarily define 'community' as a political subdivision."

Peter Herschend, a leader of the anti-Amendment 1 group Show Me You Care, said if the ballot proposal is ratified, plan B for opponents will be to take the fight to the gaming commission.

"You can be assured there will be voices, formally and informally, lifted long and loud in opposition to a license," Herschend said.

Herschend's family owns the Silver Dollar City and Celebration City amusement parks and other Branson businesses. He and other Branson leaders are concerned that having a casino nearby would tarnish the city's family-friendly image.

The visible public opposition notwithstanding, McCafferty said others in the Taney County tourist industry welcome the casino as an economic booster.

"There is certainly a vocal minority speaking out against this, but we've seen a great deal of support," McCafferty said.

The opposition's plan C, which could move on a parallel track with lobbying efforts before the commission, would be to challenge the expansion of gambling in court. Amendment 1 foes were unsuccessful in convincing a judge to keep the proposal off the ballot, but Herschend said new legal strategies are being developed if a post-election lawsuit is necessary.

"It is important enough that we are not just going to say, 'Oh, well, it's too bad' and go away," Herschend said.

mpowers@semissourian.com

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