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Critics: Waterloo Council Gaming Boat Vote Railroaded

WATERLOO, Iowa – As reported by the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier: "Isle of Capri casinos' proposed southeast Waterloo gambling boat will provide a rising tide that will float all boats economically, including downtown, the company's CEO said Wednesday.

"Downtown and National Cattle Congress boosters, however, aren't buying that.

"Company CEO Bernard Goldstein was pleased by the City Council's 5-2 vote to clear the way for his company to locate a gambling boat on a proposed man-made lake near Lost Island Adventurepark south of Crossroads Center.

"The concerns raised about the project --- about the proposed boat not being downtown, and public concerns about the exclusivity of a development agreement between the city and the nonprofit license holder working with Isle of Capri --- did not dissuade Goldstein and his company from pursuing their plans.

"`In fact, I think once we are successful, it will bring a lot more people into town. A lot of those people will find their way downtown,' Goldstein said. `And the downtown people can put a shuttle bus in.'

"…Goldstein's comments did not satisfy downtown merchants, and promoters of reviving a gaming operation at closed Waterloo Greyhound Park, owned by the National Cattle Congress.

"`I just feel we're not looking at the best interests of Waterloo,' downtown property owner Donna Nelson said. `Once again, it's just a few people who are deciding what happens in the community. Every good idea, we just put it on the edge of town and say we're revitalizing downtown.'

"Nelson and several others also said the matter was railroaded through the City Council, and complained about the short notice of the special Wednesday council meeting --- apparently scheduled at least in part to accommodate Isle of Capri officials' travel schedule.

"Council members themselves were only presented with a final draft of the proposed agreement they were to act on after the meeting began and it was not distributed to the general public until after the meeting. NCC steering committee co-chairman Wallace Sulentic's calls for a town meeting on the proposal were unheeded, and he suggested the council's swift action could alienate voters and doom the Oct. 7 referendum.

"…Nelson said she and a number of downtown merchants who helped gambling proponent Don Hoth with his petition calling for the Oct. 7 vote feel betrayed because he had urged them not to be site specific. During talks to civic clubs over the past month, though, Hoth had suggested a downtown site might not work on the shallow Cedar River with its low downtown bridges. Nelson responded that a gaming company could dredge the river as easily as build a lake…"

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