NATIONAL PANEL TO DISCUSS RIVERBOATS

A group of mayors representing cities and towns that are home to riverboat casinos in the Midwest have gathered in Chicago this week to recognize some positive impacts legalized gambling has had on their communities.

The occasion is the meeting of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission, which was founded by Congress in 1995 to evaluate the social and economic issues surrounding the $50-billion-a-year gambling industry.

When riverboat gambling was introduced to Caruthersville, which is in Missouri's Bootheel, the realities of the operation weren't based on moral issues but on economic concerns, said Diane Sayre, Caruthersville mayor.

"At the time elections were being held for the passage of legalized riverboat gaming, the Brown Shoe Factory was closing, with more than 500 people losing their jobs," she said. "The Caruthersville Shipyard was closing, eliminating another 400 jobs."

The vision of more than 400 good-paying jobs, revenue for Caruthersville and economic growth was a driving force for the passage of riverboat gambling in Caruthersville.

Sayre was mayor of the 7,500-population community when the initial proceedings were going on. She helped prepare the initial agreements with Aztar Casino, which eventually opened along the Mississippi River in the downtown area.

Sayre is back as Caruthersville mayor after losing the 1994 election. She served two terms as mayor before that. She won the election last month to regain the mayor's post.

Sayre is one of 10 mayors who will appear on the two-day program by the national gambling commission being held at the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago.

Sayre is a member of the Coalition of Midwestern River Towns. The mayors are scheduled to make presentations at the conference. The mayors will provide information on how gambling has brought new jobs and increased economic expansion, along with new tax revenues that have been reinvested in infrastructure, economic development, public safety and social services.

Some people called gambling in the Midwest an experiment back in 1990," said Alton, Ill., Mayor Donald Sandidge. "Our communities were the laboratory for the experience, and we're here to declare that experiment a success."

Tom Padgett, mayor of Sioux City, Iowa, said that none of the dire predictions -- especially those of rampant crime -- have come true.

"In fact, tax dollars generated have allowed us to make significant investment in law enforcement that are helping reduce crime," said Aurora, Ill., Mayor David Slover, the town's former police chief."

Not all testimony will be positive at the conference, being held today and Thursday

Opponents to gambling during the session will point to increased bankruptcy filings in areas that host casinos.

Paul Scianna, executive director of the Missouri Family Policy Center in Kansas City, is scheduled to testify at the Chicago meeting. He will serve on a panel focused on the social consequences caused by riverboat casinos.

"Riverboat gambling is a trouble issue facing Missouri families today," said Scianna. "Divorce, bankruptcy, suicide and crime have all increased since the casinos moved in."

Scianna said bankruptcies in 1997 were double those of three years ago in Missouri.

"I plan to send a message to Congress and the nation that legalized gambling is destroying untold numbers of Missouri families. Other family advocates from Midwest states -- including Michigan, Illinois, Iowa and Indiana -- will join Scianna to provide a regional picture of the negative impacts of riverboat casinos.