ISSUE RAISES LOCAL CONCERN ABOUT BOYCOTT

The battle over riverboat gambling has ignited concern among some downtown merchants over a possible boycott of merchants who support the proposed casino development.

Several downtown merchants said Thursday they don't believe there's any organized effort under way to boycott businesses. They said it appears to be more of an isolated threat from some church members who oppose riverboat gambling.

The Cape Girardeau Downtown Merchants Association has endorsed the riverboat gaming issue. Voters June 8 will decide whether to allow riverboat gambling in Cape Girardeau.

Church leaders have voiced opposition to riverboat gambling. But two of the local ministers opposed it the Rev. John Owen of the First Baptist Church and the Rev. R. Charles Grant of the First Presbyterian Church said they are not aware of any boycott of pro-gambling businesses.

Owen said he's "not aware of any organized boycott, even by individuals." But, he said, "I suspect that some individuals, based on their own convictions, will decide where to shop on the basis of this issue.

"I would also say that it would be unfortunate if the downtown merchants were blamed by the churches should this referendum pass," he said.

Grant, one of the leaders of Citizens Against Riverboat Gambling, said, "I am not aware of any organized or unorganized (boycott) effort."

"Citizens Against Riverboat Gambling has not engaged in such a practice and has no intention of that," he said.

A number of downtown business leaders said some of the merchants are concerned that their stores will be boycotted by some individuals opposed to riverboat gambling.

C.P. McGinty Jr., who operates a Main Street jewelry store and is a proponent of the casino development, said he has not been threatened with a boycott. But he said a couple of downtown merchants have felt the threat of a boycott.

"The threat is in the sense of a warning that those particular merchants better not show favoritism in a positive way toward the issue," he said. McGinty declined to name the merchants.

He and Kent Zickfield, another downtown jeweler and casino supporter, expressed frustration over the idea that anyone would threaten to boycott a business over the election issue.

Said McGinty: "It boils down to this: If the majority of voters don't want riverboat gambling, fine; if the majority of voters do want it, that's fine, too. But I don't think anyone should be shoving their opinion down somebody else's throat."

There already is an economic slowdown, he said, and any boycott would only make matters worse.

Zickfield said merchants should not be threatened with a boycott because of their beliefs. "We ought to have a right to our opinion on an issue that has two sides," he said.

But, he said: "I am not trying to make anybody mad. I don't want to lose customers over this."

Zickfield said he doesn't view the boycott issue as a major concern. "I think it is more a few isolated threats than it is a great concern overall of business people.

"I think that a couple of merchants down here have had a little pressure from members of their church," he said.

But Zickfield said, "It is not the churches as an organization that are doing this; it is just a few people.

"When people get heated up, they say things sometimes that they really don't mean," he said.

Downtown merchants, said Zickfield, are not trying to hurt the community.

He said the merchants association had delayed making a public stand until it had all the facts and figures. "The facts are there to indicate this would be a wonderful economic boost to the city of Cape Girardeau," said Zickfield.

McGinty said any threat of a boycott would be short-lived, as it was in 1984 when voters repealed the Sunday Blue Law.

"A year from now, no matter what the decision is, I don't think anyone will even remember it," he said. "Live and let live is pretty well the philosophy and morality of Cape Girardeau."

McGinty said he and other merchants support the gambling venture "because business needs to improve all over town. We are not in favor of it because we like to gamble."

He said opposition from church leaders should come as no surprise. "It's the job of the heads of the churches to be opposed to this type of an issue," he said. "I honor that position and respect what they have to do.

"Conversely, it is every citizen's job and every businessman's job to keep an eye on the long-range economic situation within their community."

But McGinty said that in many cases, "the businessman being in a very delicate, fragile situation cannot afford the luxury of saying what he feels."