Know when to fold ’em

Building another casino is not smart development. The question isn’t whether the market could support another (which is doubtful), the question is do we want another casino in our community?

We should focus on bringing businesses that add to the net income of the community rather than deplete it.

If approved, the proposed casino would certainly lead to a large-scale expansion of gaming. The federal government generally outlaws off-reservation casinos. If they begin granting exceptions to tribes that already have casinos because they simply want better locations, where does it stop?

We don’t want casinos springing up in …

Building another casino is not smart development. The question isn’t whether the market could support another (which is doubtful), the question is do we want another casino in our community?

We should focus on bringing businesses that add to the net income of the community rather than deplete it.

If approved, the proposed casino would certainly lead to a large-scale expansion of gaming. The federal government generally outlaws off-reservation casinos. If they begin granting exceptions to tribes that already have casinos because they simply want better locations, where does it stop?

We don’t want casinos springing up in downtown Spokane, Spokane Valley or elsewhere in our community. It would threaten community economies, safety and culture.

The Spokane Tribe already has two casinos that they can invest in and more than 155,000 acres of reservation land where they could build another casino at any time.

Don’t let the Spokane Tribe’s unrealistic assertion of 3,800 jobs persuade you to believe STEP (Spokane Tribe Economic Project) is smart development. It’s a ruse to distract people from focusing on the tribe’s real desire to build their third casino closer to the Spokane population.

Irv Zakheim

Spokane