LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: WE DON'T NEED GAMBLING

To the Editor:Citizens Against Riverboat Gambling are excited about the present and future of our city. Cape Girardeau is the leading community in southeast Missouri, a vibrant, growing, and progressive community. We are pleased to do our small part to insure that continued growth and vitality. Symbolic of our commitments, our campaign slogan in this election is "we love Cape".As we enter this second and hopefully last election on riverboat gambling, we urge the voters to keep their eyes open to the issues before us, and not be swept away by the media tidal wave already sweeping the city. We would direct voters' attention to FOUR key issues in this election: choice, entertainment, economic prosperity, and quality of life.

The proponents of riverboat gambling argue that everyone should be FREE TO CHOOSE if he or she wants to gamble. We would remind the gambling interests that Cape Girardeau has already made its choice. Last spring 54 of the voters exercised their right to CHOOSE, and 53 said their choice was NO TO RIVERBOAT GAMBLING. This was no fluke. There were public debates, lots of media discussion, and over $163,000 spent by a Nevada gambling company. The YES votes cast cost over $30 a piece. And the answer was NO.How many times will the citizens of Cape Girardeau have to vote on this issue.

The proponents of riverboat gambling promise new ENTERTAINMENT - "Las Vegas style" entertainment. What are they talking about? The heart of casino entertainment is a room crowded with hundreds of video poker machines and slot machines. Persons play the games individually. Even an average player can lose in five seconds. That' s entertainment.

The casino is supposed to be a RIVERBOAT casino, offering excursion cruises. Due to the high water this year, area casino boats already in operation have all too rarely ventured forth on to the river. Given the competition for mooring rights in St Louis, the gambling interests are also working hard to DROP the cruising provision altogether - and to secure 24 hour operations as well. All of which suggests that if WE approve Riverboat gambling, we are really voting to have dockside, round-the clock gambling.

We don't think Cape Girardeau wants or needs that kind of "entertainment".A pervasive theme of this issue is ECONOMIC PROSPERITY. The proponents of gambling are prophets of doom and gloom, lamenting recent job losses and business closings. There have been closings, and persons HAVE lost their jobs. The rising and falling tide of our country's and our region's economy effects us all. BUT, sales tax revenue in Cape is UP on a monthly, seasonal, and annual basis. Both commercial and residential construction is vigorous. New businesses continue to locate in Cape. There have been 131 business licenses granted so far this year. All of us want to see Cape grow more and more. But we are on a roll already - and we would hate to see our thriving city falter because of the introduction of gambling.

The proponents of gambling promise jobs and an economic boom for Cape Girardeau. But this simply has not happened in other communities that have become gambling centers.

The experiences in Alton, Illinois are illustrative. The Alton Belle came to Alton with much fanfare and the promise of a revival of the Alton downtown riverfront. The big splash has hardly been a ripple. The downtown merchants report they have seen no significant economic increase, despite the increase in traffic and persons on the street. Riverboat gambling has not saved Alton's downtown - or boosted the economic activity of any city that already has a strong economic base.

We wonder if even the proponents of casino gambling have finally gotten the message on economic impact. This time 'round we have heard no proposals for a downtown casino development. Perhaps now that the Boyd Corporation is officially in the campaign, the public will learn the specifics on the site being proposed. For now, we don't know.

What we do know is that of the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent so far on the gambling campaigns, very, very little has come from citizens of Cape Girardeau. If gambling is such a promising economic opportunity, why haven't we seen any local investors stepping up and putting their money down.

In short, Cape Girardeau already has a vigorous economic outlook. We don't see the economic prosperity promised by the gloomy gambling interests.

What we do see is a QUALITY OF LIFE issue. Cape has low unemployment. Cape county continues to register steady (if slow) population growth in a region that is losing population. We have a fine regional state university and excellent public and private schools. We have outstanding medical facilities. We have shopping opportunities that draw hundreds of thousands of persons from throughout our region. We have a low crime rate. We have a strong sense of neighborliness, and a deep sense of community, where people care about each other and their city. How did we achieve this.

Through hard work. High community standards. Through dedicated business and community leaders who have put the public good above private gain. And we have done all of this WITH NO GAMBLING.We don't need it. The citizens of Cape Girardeau have already said we don't want it. And Citizens Against Riverboat Gambling urge the voters insure that and we won't have it.

R. Charles Grant Citizens Against Riverboat Gambling