Poker Writer
Residents of Fort Wayne raised their voices at an Allen County Council open forum this week to debate a new Indiana casino in a new region of the Hoosier State. The meeting was for public discourse, as the council has not taken an official position and does not have a vote on the matter. The council members emphasized that they care about what residents have to say and want the decision to be for the people, not “just a few people in a back room.”
It was also important for the council to host a forum outside Indianapolis, in the state’s second-largest city so that they did not have to drive to the state capital to make their voices heard.
Opportunity ‘Too Big to Pass Up’
Fort Wayne Mayor Sharon Tucker said that the opportunity to bring a casino to the area is “too big to pass up” during testimony in December. The casino would reportedly create over 1,000 jobs and recapture $50 million in revenue that currently leaves Indiana.
But she eventually clarified that the casino issue is ultimately out of her hands, and her top priority is housing for the homeless population in Allen County.
Arguments For and Against New Casino
The public forum created a back and forth with the majority being against a new casino in Allen County. But there were compelling arguments on both sides. Representatives and citizens alike shared their views:
In Favor
- Bring a lot of economic growth to the city and the county
- “Strengthen our hospitality ecosystem and elevate Allen County’s profile as a place to visit, invest, and grow.”
- Keep Indiana residents in state rather than having to go north to Michigan for a casino.
Opposed
- Increase gambling addiction
- Could bring human trafficking and predatory gambling
- One resident outlined the negatives: “increased mental health problems, increased drug problems, increased hospitalization, increased child neglect, all of those things, pick any one of them that should allow us to say no to a casino. They just stack on top of each other, and when we see dollar signs more than human suffering, it is just a tragedy for our community.”
How Many Casinos are in Indiana?
There are currently thirteen casinos in the Hoosier State. Six riverboats, five land-based, and two racinos.
The majority of Indiana casinos are in counties that border neighboring states. The proposed casino in Allen would be the first one in the northeast region of the state and serve a new area of Indiana citizens. As one of the forum members said, the new casino may stop Northeast Indiana citizens from going to nearby Michigan.
Image Credit: MistyckMoon / Pixabay
