Rhode Island pro-casino group won’t let issue die

Sunday, July 2, 2000 | 10:59 a.m.

West Warwick 2000 is demanding that the General Assembly call a special session before Sept. 11 to vote on a bill that would add the question to the ballot.

"I'm amazed at the phone calls I've been getting from around the state," Robert D'Uva, co-founder of the group, told The Providence Journal. "Even people opposed want this on the ballot right now."

The Narragansett Indian Tribe released plans more than a year ago to build a casino in the West Warwick Business Park. Many residents in the suburb embraced the promised tax relief, but the neighbors nearest the casino site lobbied against the project.

After three hearings before the House Finance Committee, the Indian tribe and its Las Vegas partner, Boyd Gaming Corp., failed to convince legislators that the $650 million casino was good for the state. On June 20, the committee voted to kill legislation that would have made the casino a ballot question in November.

Two days later, the House rejected an attempt by West Warwick Democrat Rep. Timothy A. Williamson to move the bill to the floor.

Now the pro-casino lobby is turning its attention to the public.

"You have now lost your right to vote," the petition reads. "We want to help you get it back."

The group wants 100,000 people - about one of every 10 Rhode Islanders - to sign the petition in the next nine weeks. The special session to vote on the measure must be held before the ballots are printed after the Sept. 12 primary, said tribal spokesman Guy Dufault.

To spread the word, West Warwick 2000 members are planning a rally this month, and petitioners are already going door to door.

Some 5,000 signatures were already collected at last weekend's Quonset Point air show, but members of the anti-casino group Casi NO! 200 are not particularly worried about the effort.

"The petition drive is 100 percent meaningless," said David Kenik, president of the group. "It is nothing more than a public-relations stunt and publicity for re-election campaigns. There is no voter initiative, so they can collect every signature in the state and not force the General Assembly to do anything."