Oregon casino backers drop campaign as cards come up empty
By
on October 16, 2012
Jeff Parr, an executive with Clairvest, the Canadian investors who want to develop a casino in Wood Village, shows an artist's rendering of what it would look like.
It looks like snake eyes again for supporters trying to develop a privately run casino near Portland.
Backers have called it quits on their campaign, acknowledging they don't have the votes to pass two ballot measures that would allow the state's first nontribal casino and site it at a former greyhound racetrack in Wood Village.
"In the last few weeks it appears to the campaign team that not enough Oregon voters are ready to add a private casino to the state's gaming options," supporters said in a news release Tuesday afternoon. "Despite this, we continue to strongly believe a tax-paying casino would benefit Oregon's economy and schools." [Where have we heard that before?]
The surprise announcement to suspend the effort behind Measures 82 and 83 came as state elections officials prepared to mail out statewide ballots later this week for the Nov. 6 election. Nevertheless, the measures will remain on the ballot and voters will still have their say on the matter.
The release said the campaign would no longer work to pass the measures and will not run any more paid advertisements. According to the latest state reports, supporters have raised and spent more than $5 million on the campaign. Backers also spent more than $1 million getting the measures on the ballot.
The effort was bankrolled by two Canadian firms with other casino interests, Great Canadian Gaming Corp., of Vancouver, B.C., and Clairvest, of Toronto. They touted plans for a family-friendly entertainment complex, which they called "The Grange." Ads focused on the jobs that would be created and the 25 percent of revenues that would go to public schools and other state programs.
Measure 82 seeks to amend the state constitution to allow private casinos in Oregon. Measure 83 specifically sites one at the old Multnomah Kennel Club, former home of greyhound races. Without an active campaign, the measures stand little chance of passing.
"I don't know that anything went wrong," said campaign manager Stacey Dycus. "We gave it a try, tried to have a good hearing and tell people what we wanted to do. That's all we can do in a campaign."
Tuesday's announcement came only days after The Oregonian reported that casinos connected to the two financial backers paid a significantly higher percentage of revenues to state and local governments than the 25 percent The Grange would pay. It also follows high-profile opposition from Gov. John Kitzhaber and three former Oregon governors.
Opponents of the measures said they would continue their campaign, just in case.
"We still think it's really important to educate voters about the reality of these measures," said Cynara Lilly, spokeswoman for the It's Still a Bad Idea Committee.
Opponents have spent a little more than $1 million, so far. Most of the money has come from the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, which run Spirit Mountain Casino outside Salem.
Tribal officials say a casino near Portland would cut deeply into their revenues.
"We think we need to keep having that conversation all the way up to Election Day," Lilly said.
The decision to suspend the campaign marks the second time that an initiative effort to build a casino at Wood Village got under way only to fold mid-stream. Two years ago, a similar effort failed to get one of the two measures on the ballot. That was followed by a campaign with only minimal funding, and the measure failed.
It also marks the second campaign to pull the plug with a measure still on the ballot. Supporters of a proposed gill-net ban on the Columbia River dropped their campaign for Measure 81 after Kitzhaber offered an alternative plan.
-- Harry Esteve
http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/10/oregon_casino_backers_drop_cam.html
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