Yes, the parking lot will be a daycare facility.

He he! I remember when Paulson and Mazziotti were telling the people in Lents not to worry -- the parking lot that was going to take over the neighborhood park was going to be paved with "eco-bricks." You can't make this stuff up.

For the kids they say?

One of gambling’s most vocal opponents in Canada, is problem gambling specialist Jeff Derevensky of McGill University's International Centre for Youth Gambling and High Risk Behaviours

He is quoted as follows; "More kids today gamble than are involved with drugs, smoking or drinking. Today's 10-year-old will spend their entire life in a world in which gambling is sanctioned and owned by the government"

To make matters worse, Derevensky has found that the addiction rate among youths is two to four times that of the population at large.

I'll gladly throw my money away at the casino if I can get there by streetcar.

Gamblers -- Oregon's new favorite renewable resource.

Oh my - legalized gambling with taxes actually going to the state for a change. And the Tibal Casinos are actually trying to make an arguement that they're worried this might lower the take from the State Lottery? Please!
The tribes are pooping in their pants; because they KNOW if this casino gets built their take will drop like a rock. Think about it; if you're a gambler would you rather take a 20 minute drive out to Fairview or kill an hour going to the middle of nowhere to visit Grande Ronde?

Great idea, but wrong location.

It should be on the site of Pioneer Square or across the street from it. The key is being at the center of a mass transportation system (especially when the automobile & oil disappear).

Also, the idea is overly modest and austere.

If the legislature would legalize pot, crack, meth, heroin, prostitution and euthanasia, even just within a little "permissive zone", we could be reimbursed (by profit or taxation) for the cost of social altruism (schools, social service agencies, prisons) and even get prison inmates and other 'unemployables' back into the job market doing something that can be taxed.

The licensing-taxation infra-structure is already in place: OLCC, DMV, even Fish & Wildlife, they all seem is ready to go.

Our leaders simply need to do more thinking outside the box.

Metro will never go for this. Look how far north that site is from the MAX line! They won't be able to claim it as a Transportation-oriented Development.

Wait, they probably still will, even though it would be a flat-out lie.

Jack Abramoff's prison release is scheduled for December. I'm sensing new lobbying opportunities coming down the pike as cash-strapped states, one after the other, balance their budgets by teaming up with one-armed bandits to reach into the purses of little old ladies. It's nice to see employment opportunities opening up for ex-cons.

Oh, and what about the rise in crime that this will bring with it? The gambling addict assistance? They going to put a welfare card accepting ATM in the front lobby?

They told the public the same thing before they decided to build casinos in Atlantic City. Within four years a third of the retail businesses surrounding the casinos closed, and the crime rate soared.

Good point, Fred. California's Governator recently made a ruling about those casinos down there accepting welfare cards. Funny how the state 'overlooked' that for so long, until someone blew the whistle. They turned a blind eye because they need the revenue so bad!

"goin' to the dogs"...again!
Look for the same old inhabitants of the Arlington Club to be in on the construction too!

Oh yes....and "Oregon loves Dreamers"...isn't that the new state slogan? So I guess a casino fits right in to the grand plan.

Whatever the merits of private casinos, Oregon voters should NEVER establish a private monopoly in the state's Constitution.

The folks who are proposing this want the voters to guarantee them a lucrative annual income.

Hopefully, the state can then move to legalizing/taxing marijuana and prostitution.

Because as sad as it is, this is probably the only way to grow Oregon's economy.

I wonder if anybody at the O realizes that a Casino isn't just printing money out of thin air. All of those taxes and wages (not to mention fixed costs and profit) will come out of the wallets of middle class citizens who could have spent the money on something much more productive.

Also left out of the story are the impacts on families, especially for those gambling addicts that will lose homes, marriages, and self esteem.

It is kind of sad we have to rely on addicted gamblers and working poor to pay for our state revenues. Sure, that is a small slice of the casino population, but believe me they are there. And temptation is hard to avoid when there's video lottery on every corner.

I don't think Casinos add a social value to any community. But, they do provide activity for the arithmetically challenged.

Six words: Memorial Coliseum Jump City Gambling Pavilion

Good point, Mr. Tee,

On a related note, here's what Florence anticipated before it's casino went in:

http://www.pactoregon.org/research-pact-taxes.html

bob

Oregon should tax pornography, or better yet child pornography. We'd be the leader of all states, progressive, and could then have public officials selling the concept to other states for a fee. A double whammy.

This proposal is thinking small. Why not condemn Portland Meadows instead and give it to the casino developers? In addition to all the goody-two-shoes stuff promised at the old dog track, a casino at the old horse track would be Vancouver bait, offering not only an incentive to start (and complete) the I-5/Columbia bridge but also a pretext to push light rail into the nethermost portion of the Evergreen State. If they slap a toll on that bad boy (I mean the bridge), it'll get paid off years sooner if a casino is waiting on the south end.

I still want to know what ownership group is behind this thing. A couple guys from Portland are fronting it, but they sure as heck aren't financing it. I'm guessing most of the profit goes out of state.

If one does the "jobs math" (as opposed to the "getting-jobbed" math, the 2500 jobs average $35,000 a year. However, I'm guessing that it will really be about 50-100 managers/top brass making six figures, and the remaining jobs about $10/hour, so 21K per year for 2000 plus employees. Not a living wage in Portland.

I wonder if the state is going to be really sucking eggs if and when private untaxed internet gambling fully replaces the lottery.