MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING IN SCOTT CITY

Among the Missouri cities and counties left in a quandary by last week's rejection of a riverboat gambling amendment are 20 political subdivisions that held elections to allow floating casinos simultaneous to the statewide vote. Since the local issues were written to coincide with the amendment, it seems certain affirmative votes (attained in 16 of those elections) lack legal standing, though anything appears possible these days in the topsy-turvy climate of Missouri gambling laws. Scott City, having voted last Tuesday to exercise its local option in approving gambling, is one of those municipalities caught in this dilemma. Having gotten to this point with no small measure of controversy and no boundary touching the Mississippi River, that community might see this as an opportune time to regroup its efforts and put together a package that finds agreement among a broader range of concerns.

Foremost among the concerns to be pacified is the government of Cape Girardeau County, which jointly governs the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority with Scott County. In pursuing riverboat gambling, officials in Scott City saw the adjoining port authority facility as a reasonable site and pondered its annexation. Officials in Cape Girardeau County demurred at such an arrangement, insisting the interests of one municipality could not override the mission of the port. Some in Scott City, in the best tradition of "us-against-them" pre-election demagoguery, accused Cape Girardeau County of meddling in community affairs. The threat of lawsuits arose.

Ultimately, Scott City voters got to express themselves at the polls, a majority saying they wanted riverboat gambling for their town. Unfortunately, it was on a day most voters throughout Missouri turned down an amendment that would have cleared up all questions about gambling boats' viability statewide.

Contrary to the bunker mentality that formed among some officials in Scott City, including the now non-communicative mayor, this newspaper has no designs on stalling that town's pursuit of a riverboat gambling enterprise. We favor free enterprise, and we favor competition. What this newspaper has steadfastly objected to is the employment of the port authority facility at Gray's Point as a site for a floating casino. Our reasoning is simple: Taxpayers were sold on the port's development as a location for industrial expansion. Its use as a gambling venue would be wrong-headed and deceitful to citizens in Cape Girardeau and Scott counties who have bankrolled this endeavor.

If Scott City wants to find another river location for a gambling boat and jump in the competition for a license from the State Gaming Commission, more power to the community. Our support of riverboat gambling stems from the economic opportunities it will generate, and Scott City's pursuit of these opportunities is reasonable and will, if successful, benefit the region.

However, there are questions that must be resolved for Scott City's next steps to be taken. One, obviously, is the status of the local question approved last Tuesday given the legal uncertainty statewide. Even if the community believes the local outcome is sound, a gambling company might not be anxious to make an investment given the tenuous circumstances. Also, some questions might be properly asked about Scott City's standing in voting for riverboat gambling without being currently contiguous with the river. Finally, assuming Scott City continues with plans to annex land that will give the community access to a docking location for a riverboat, will citizens go along with funding the necessary extension of services (roads, police protection, fire protection, trash collection, and so on) to the affected property?

For all the controversy it generated, last week's election in Scott City, thanks to the statewide developments, proved to be much ado about nothing. The gambling issue remains in limbo. For Scott City, this provides an opportunity to refine its thinking about how riverboat gambling might take shape in that community.