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Cleveland Mayor Casino Call was Planned

CLEVELAND, Ohio – As reported by the Plain Dealer: "Mayor Jane Campbell's call for a casino in Cleveland was a carefully plotted move, coming after months of meetings on the topic.

"'This is not something I just hatched,' Campbell said of her announcement last week to seek a statewide initiative allowing cities to vote on whether they wanted casino gambling within their borders.

"In the last four months, Campbell met a half-dozen times with Cuyahoga County Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones, Joe Roman of the Greater Cleveland Partnership and Ernie Novak, board chairman of the Convention and Visitors Bureau of Greater Cleveland, to discuss a downtown casino.

"Ohio allows bingo, wagering on horse races and a state-sponsored lottery but forbids casino gambling. Gov. Bob Taft opposes casinos, and two previous ballot issues to legalize casinos in Ohio were handily defeated.

"…The key to her proposal for an issue on the November 2005 ballot is to let cities decide whether they want casinos, rather than a strict up- or-down vote to legalize gambling in Ohio.

"…And Campbell, with a re-election battle looming next year, said she has no intention of running the casino campaign.

"…To get a statewide proposal on the ballot, supporters must gather more than 330,000 signatures from registered voters. Those signatures must include 5 percent of the registered voters in half of Ohio's 88 counties.

"Campbell isn't worried. Supporters can get signatures from people across the state by targeting regional entertainment venues, such as the House of Blues in Cleveland or Ohio State University sporting events, she said…"

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