GAMBLING FORUM DRAWS HANDFUL OF PEOPLE

A forum on riverboat gambling held Sunday afternoon at the Show Me Center drew an audience of 15 people and a panel of three speakers who oppose gambling.

No one spoke in favor of riverboat gambling during the two-hour program, which was sponsored by the Cape Girardeau County branch of the conservative Christian American Family Association.

Voters will decide in June whether to allow riverboat gambling in the city. Last month, the Convention and Visitors Bureau backed out of a plan to sponsor informational meetings on the topic after critics challenged the CVB's use of city money for that purpose.

Donna Miller, the county AFA president and moderator of the forum, said she mailed out 300 infliers inviting people to the event, which was also publicized in the media.

"Either people aren't interested, they forgot or they don't want to know the facts," she said.

Miller apologized for the one-sidedness of the presentation, saying she invited the owners of two downtown business who support gambling, along with Pittsburgh, Pa.-based gambling boat operator John Connely, Gateway Cruises in St. Louis and a St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter who has covered the gambling issue at the state level.

One of the speakers criticized gambling proponents for not showing up. "I'm willing to sit down face-to-face. I want to know why they are not," said Kerry Messer, president of the Missouri Family Network, a lobbying organization.

Messer detailed the history of the state's gambling laws, saying the legislature has continually liberalized guarantees on both bingo games and the lottery since their passage.

He predicted a similar course for the restrictions being placed on riverboat gambling.

Quoting another commentator, Messer said, "(It) is a gamble to trust the Missouri legislature."

Also speaking against gambling was the Rev. Tom Shoger, pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church. Citing studies that say youths are three to four times more likely to become compulsive gamblers than are adults, Shoger warned that a riverboat would attract underage people just as R-rated movies do.

He called gambling "an alternative tax" governments are adopting, one primarily paid by the poor. "Gambling is a gutless way to face problems," he said.

A member of the Cape Girardeau Ministerial Alliance, he said the organization has voted unanimously to oppose riverboat gambling in the city.

The third speaker was Harold Hendrick, a St. Louisan who is chairman of the Coalition Against Organized Crime. Describing himself as a minister-at-large and talk show host, Hendrick charged that organized crime is buying up real estate in areas where gambling casinos are being legalized.

Pointing to a string of indictments against Atlantic City mayors on corruption charges since the city legalized casinos, he said, "I wouldn't be surprised if it's already happened in the state of Missouri."

All three speakers addressed the issue of economic stimulus that gambling supposedly brings. They claimed that out-of-state gambling operations drain money out of local economies, and that the gambling-subsidized businesses eventually force others out.

Rather than boost the economy, "It's going to hurt the businesses in Cape Girardeau," Hendrick said.

Messer also pointed to the gambling boats three in Iowa this year that have left towns for greener waters. "Once a boat decided it can make just $1 more profit somewhere else they pick up anchor and float it down to some other place," he said.