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Look at the dramatic swings in voting, county by county. Ohio voters firmly rejected a casino gambling proposal in 2008, as they had three previous times. On Tuesday, huge percentages of voters shifted from "no" to "yes" in the space of a year. In 38 counties, the variance amounted to 15 percentage points or more. Twelve counties experienced a swing of 20 percentage points or more: Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Erie, Geauga, Hamilton, Lake, Lorain, Lucas, Medina, Ottawa, Portage and Summit.
Note the geography, the dozen counties located near three of the proposed sites for the casinos, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Toledo. A fourth casino is slated for Columbus, where a strong majority of voters rejected the proposal.
Gilbert, the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers and chairman of Quicken Loans, deserves credit, along with his casino allies, for a smart campaign. They also benefited from the timing, Ohio suffering from the harsh recession, especially because the state never recovered from the downturn early in the decade.
The campaign issued a statement following the triumph of state Issue 3, declaring Ohioans "the winners" and pledging to keep the promises made in the campaign. The Ohio Jobs and Growth Committee (the slick name donned by supporters) expressed its eagerness to work with state lawmakers to implement the casino proposal.
The hope is, casino supporters will find enough lawmakers willing to scrutinize closely the arrangement. No matter how shrewd and fortunate the campaign, the outcome shouldn't obscure the hard truth uttered by opponents. This is a sweet deal for Gilbert and Penn National Gaming. For all the talk about jobs, development and public revenue, the riches flow largely to the house. More, gambling doesn't generate wealth in a substantial way. Consumer spending merely shifts from local bars, restaurants and businesses to the casinos. Then, there are the lives and families battered when addiction grips.
On Wednesday, state Rep. Clyde Evans leaped to push the idea of an amendment to the amendment, the casino plan having taken the form of a state constitutional amendment, making repeal or changes all the more difficult to achieve. The Rio Grande Republican has mind such steps as increasing the state's take from 33 percent to 60 percent, adding competitive bidding to the selection of casino managers, even suspending the locations of the casinos. Not surprisingly, he wants to redirect the public revenues from local governments (mostly) to state coffers.
You don't have to agree entirely with Evans on the details to recognize the value in his approach, lawmakers working to strike a better balance, asking voters for their approval next year. Yes, casino gambling now has a place in Ohio's future. That doesn't mean the state must play the chump.
To see more of the Akron Beacon Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.ohio.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
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