Plans for a brand new on line casino referendum in Richmond, Va., are transferring forward, and metropolis leaders who assist the mission are optimistic that voters will in the end aspect with them in November.
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, seen in a press convention, above. Stoney and the Metropolis Council are transferring ahead with a brand new on line casino referendum. (Picture: Richmond Occasions-Dispatch)
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and Metropolis Council leaders started the formal technique of placing a brand new referendum on this yr’s poll final week. Voters narrowly rejected a on line casino in 2021.
Town council’s Organizational Growth Standing Committee is scheduled to fulfill at this time to take the primary formal step within the course of when it votes on a decision to endorse the proposed $500 million on line casino on town’s south aspect. The complete metropolis council is scheduled to vote on the measure every week later.
Including to proponents’ optimism is the participation of Churchill Downs, the famed dwelling of the Kentucky Derby, which is dedicated to partnering with Black-focused media conglomerate City One to develop the on line casino. Churchill Downs, in February, took over on line casino and resort property from Peninsula Pacific Leisure’s (P2E), the preliminary companion of City One within the mission.
“I don’t care who you might be, everybody is aware of the Kentucky Derby,” Jones mentioned, calling Churchill Downs’ involvement a “main change.”
‘Jobs, Jobs, Jobs’
Metropolis Councilwoman Reva Trammel, one other mission champion, advised On line casino.org she plans to carry a neighborhood assembly on Thursday with Stoney, City One CEO Alfred Liggins, and different neighborhood representatives to debate the mission’s advantages.
It’ll be jobs, jobs, jobs,” Trammel advised On line casino.org.
Metropolis officers estimate the mission will create 1,300 jobs.
Hurdles Stay
Assuming the council backs the plan, there are nonetheless some hurdles to clear, together with evaluation by native courts, and opponents are holding out hope that the state legislature could once more block the referendum, because it did final yr.
However choices seem like skinny. State Sen. Joe Morrissey (D), who has sought to dam the Richmond vote with a view to ease the trail for a on line casino in Petersburg, Va., about 25 miles to the south, did not get language included within the state funds earlier this yr. He is holding out hope that the legislature can reconvene earlier than its session expires on July 1 to behave on the difficulty.
“There seems to be a consensus,” Morrissey told Axios this week.
Morrissey blamed the funds delay on political issues by members of the state legislature forward of the June 20 major elections. Nonetheless, he mentioned he anticipated the legislature would reconvene and cross a funds after the first and earlier than the July 1 deadline to finish the session.
He acknowledged the legislature is in “a little bit of uncharted territory” however mentioned there was ample assist block Richmond from holding up one other on line casino vote and that the funds delay had extra to do with bigger disagreements round points corresponding to taxes.
If the legislature is ready to cross a funds this month, “we’ll be proper again the place we had been final yr,” Morrissey advised On line casino.org.
He additionally mentioned he anticipated to have further assist in subsequent yr’s legislative session to cross new laws permitting Petersburg to carry its personal referendum to host Virginia’s fifth on line casino as a substitute of Richmond.
New Sunhead
However Richmond officers seem unperturbed by Morrissey’s ongoing opposition.
Whenever you have a look at the Joe Morrissey playbook, that is kinda anticipated,” Metropolis Council President Michael Jones advised On line casino.org in an interview. “We simply need one thing totally different than what he’s proposing. … We need to be allowed to train what was given to us.”
Whereas critics say it might be unfair to offer Richmond one other crack at a on line casino referendum, following the 2021 vote through which 51% of voters mentioned no to the plan, Jones mentioned it’s not unusual for referendums to exit greater than as soon as.
Final time there was a whole lot of misinformation,” Jones advised On line casino.org, blaming “NIMBYism” for a lot of the opposition to the mission.
Jones famous that almost all of Black precincts south of the James River, nearer to the proposed on line casino web site, had been extra prone to vote in favor of the measure final time round. He was hopeful that voters all through town could be extra apt to vote sure this yr.
Jones lamented that the vote was so sharply divided alongside racial traces and mentioned supporters could be “going to the white communities, sharing why the Black communities need it.”
