Cape Girardeau casino measure to appear on November ballot

Cape Girardeau residents will vote Nov. 2 on whether they want a casino.

The petition circulated by Quality of Life in Cape Girardeau needed 2,635 signatures to force a vote on the issue and the group turned in 3,080. Cape Girardeau County Clerk Kara Clark Summers reported to the city that there are enough signatures from registered voters to meet the goal, city clerk Gayle Conrad said Friday.

That vote will take place as the Missouri Gaming Commission is considering applications for the only available casino license under state law. The commission intends to select a community to house the boat by the end of the year.

Under state law, voters will be asked the following question: "Shall the City of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, allow the licensing of excursion gambling boats in the City?" The wording, unchanged since the first law implementing riverboat gambling was approved in 1992, refers to the original requirement that boats actually leave a dock and cruise on the river. New casinos are now allowed to be stationary and built within a manmade pond -- known as a "boat in a moat" -- but the gambling floor must be floating.

Quality of Life in Cape Girardeau was organized for the sole purpose of putting the question on the ballot, steering committee member Doug Austin said. It has served its purpose, he said. Because it spent no money on the petition drive, Austin said, it never formally filed any paperwork as a campaign committee.

"Our committee will disband as soon as official word is out we're on the ballot," Austin said.

The Cape Girardeau City Council will begin the process of formally putting the question on the ballot during Monday's council meeting. The process will be complete in two weeks when the ordinance receives final approval. The council has no choice about whether there will be a vote. Its only input on the issue is the date of the election.

"In our minds we always said that if we are going to have a vote, have it sooner rather than later," city manager Scott Meyer said. "In my opinion, it is better to have the vote during the time we are talking about."

The vote will be the third time the issue has been before city voters. In an April 1993 vote, gambling was defeated narrowly, then in November 1993 voters reversed the decision, also by a narrow margin. Attempts by Boyd Gaming to bring a casino to the city never bore fruit. Now two companies, Isle of Capri Casinos Inc. and St. Louis Capital Partners LLC, are vying to bring gambling.

The council had a chance to call a vote for Aug. 3 if it had heeded Austin's first request that the issue go before voters again. But the council felt comfortable with the authorization already enacted, Meyer said, and the petition drive was a good gauge of whether community sentiment was strong enough in favor of a new election.

"The feeling among the council members was that last election was the feeling of the community and they didn't feel compelled themselves to say we need to vote it again and incur those costs," Meyer said.

Five other casino companies are also competing for the lone license. Under a law approved in 2008, the commission may grant only 13 licenses, which equaled the number of casinos operating or under construction at the time of the vote. The President Casino in St. Louis closed last month, and its license is the one being pursued.

Cape Girardeau's chances are considered good to make the short list of sites that will be considered. A study by Ameristar Casinos, which is not seeking the available license, estimated that a Cape Girardeau casino would bring in the most new revenue for the state without drawing very many customers away from other gambling houses. That study estimated that the city could gain $2.6 million annually in new revenue once a casino began operating.

Austin would not say Friday whether he will be involved in a campaign to defeat gambling. Quality of Life in Cape Girardeau did not have a position on whether gambling should be allowed but instead focused only on whether a boat should be licensed here without voters having another chance to consider the issue.

"Once we disband, then I will make my position known," Austin said. "I'm not trying to be evasive, but we had only one thing in mind and we accomplished that. Once we get official word, then I will look at the new challenge, whatever shape that takes."

If a majority of "no" votes are cast on the issue, it would end the city's ability to compete for the casino.

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.