PUBLIC FORUM ON 'BOATS IN MOATS' AMENDMENT SET TONIGHT AT SIKESTON

Whether they get a response from the gaming industry, members of the United Methodist Church in Missouri intend to hold a forum tonight to discuss Amendment 9.

The public is invited to the meeting at the Sikeston United Methodist Church, 1307 N. Main St., from 7-9:30 p.m.

The church and other denominations in the state have joined together for a grass-roots campaign in opposition to the constitutional amendment that could allow boats in moats.

On Nov. 3 voters will decide whether to allow slot machines on riverboat casinos on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Slot machines are allowed on the rivers now, but not on boats in moats.

No one from the casino industry or its political action committee has agreed to attend, but a debate format is still planned.

Frank Oppenheim, president and founder of AFFIRM, a political action committee made up of casino industry workers, said his group wasn't invited.

"We were never asked to come to the debate," he said.

AFFIRM wasn't invited because it isn't directly involved in the campaign, said Peggy Eshelman, a spokesperson for the UMC in Missouri.

Others in the gambling industry were invited but refused to respond to the debate, she said. "They said it would be too much with what they were already doing, and that they felt like it wasn't the best way."

But the forum is one of the few ways that the religious community has found to get its message to the public.

Several denominations, including Missouri Baptists and Presbyterians, have joined in the opposition to boats in moats. At least one meeting with clergy and church leaders has been held in Cape Girardeau.

Yet, Oppenheim doesn't see those people as his opponents.

"Our opposition is apathy and ignorance of facts," he said. When people are educated about the facts, then the majority is in favor of passing the amendment, he said.

He cited polls taken in the St. Louis area where his organization is based.

The issue isn't about gambling but jobs, Oppenheim said. "It's not just the casinos but the families fighting for their jobs. We were formed prior to Amendment 9, and we'll be around after Amendment 9."

Despite all the efforts at informing Missourians, neither group thinks they've done all they can.

Eshelman said that voters can't get enough information from commercials and flyers alone. That's why the forum is important.

"A 30-second commercial is not enough time to make an informed decision," she said. If someone attends the forum, they can ask questions and see both sides of the issue through commercials from the casino industry and information from their PAC Web site.

The Revs. Tom Grey, president of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling and John Stein of the United Methodist Church will be speaking at the Sikeston church.

AFFIRM plans to counter its opposition with advertising commercials and flyers closer to Election Day.