Wisconsin citizens react to casino with prayer

Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2000 | 11:40 a.m.

The casino proposal that goes before voters next month wasn't on the agenda for Monday's meeting.

But the opponents, who came to City Hall after an interfaith prayer vigil at three local churches, waited for two hours to be heard.

They brought along a Wisconsin Policy Research Institute study on casinos and crime in other cities that supported their concerns over possible crime increases and a greater demand for social services.

The proposal by the Bad River and St. Croix bands of Chippewa calls for an entertainment complex that would include a 12-story hotel, water park, auto museum, 110,000 square foot outlet mall and several restaurants on a 75-acre site west of I-90.

"Casinos are economic development built on the losses of many and the exploitation of vulnerable people among us," Norm Starks, a member of Central Christian Church, read from a statement outside City Hall.

"The casino's large promises cannot be kept without the revenue from problem and pathological gambling and the human tragedy of bankruptcy and family devastation that such gambling leaves in its wake."

Costs for more social services could wipe out employment and tax benefits, said resident Tom Lang.

Council President Tom Ryan acknowledged the rift the proposal has caused in the community.

The proposal goes before voters as a referendum question Nov. 7.