Archive for the '23 Is Enough' Category
23 is No Longer Enough
Grand Rapids’ favorite son, Ambassador Peter Secchia, now appears as though he has changed his mind. Formerly the chair of “23 is Enough,” an anti-Wayland casino group, Secchia now seems to believe that 25 is just right.
According to Sunday’s Grand Rapids Press, Secchia has resigned his position at 23 and is now campaigning for a new casino in downtown Grand Rapids. One wonders why the change of heart.
The idea is that the GR casino would be basically a funding mechanism for the government, paying for the local pools, museums, parks, etc. While the idea seems to be in the right place, we’re very skeptical of any government unit owning an running an enterprise that the private sector should. Each time one of these publically-owned enterprises comes into existence, it generally entails the creation of new bureaucracies and un-elected governance boards (such as the DDA, the money-losing Kent County Convention and Arena Authority, etc).
One is left to wonder, though, when Secchia makes a statement like this, “I’m talking about a casino like Detroit has, (but) owned by the city, county and local people who would share the profits…” Does Secchia plan to be one of the “local people” who shares the profits? Who would own the casino? Who would operate it? Will it be just another government boondoggle, like the current city-owned golf course?
Posted by: GRPundit on Wednesday, 28th Mar, 2007
Local Businesses Speak Out in Favor of Casino
An interesting article in today’s Grand Rapids Press says that there are several local businesses that are bucking the “official” line of the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce.
The Commerce folks oppose the casino in Wayland because they think it will sap business from Grand Rapids. Nevermind the fact that there are already people who drive all the way to Mt. Pleasant currently. Keeping those folks closer to GR apparently doesn’t enter into their minds.
But the important thing to note in this article is that there are some business owners in town that are afraid to speak out in favor of the casino out of fear of repercussions. Unbelieveable.
Posted by: GRPundit on Sunday, 1st May, 2005
Casino Closer to Opening
The federal government is in the process of approving the Gun Lake band of Pottawatomi Indians to open a “class 2″ casino in the Wayland area. A class two casino can only host gaming such as bingo and a few other electronic games. Once that is opened, the tribe can pursue a class three license with the state to allow everything else you normally see in a casino.
Of course, the powers that be are up in arms. A local group, mostly consisting of business folks in Grand Rapids, calling themselves “23 is Enough,” referring to the 23 casinos in Michigan, is fighting the decision.
But that very name is the picture of hubris. 23 is enough? Says who? Certainly not the marketplace. This type of rhetoric is coming from the business community. We’ve never seen them have a campaign against taxes, saying “40% is enough.” Perhaps they should concern themselves less with a job-creating enterprise than with the job-killing enterprise of excessive taxation.
We look forward to another local casino. The more the better.
Posted by: GRPundit on Wednesday, 20th Apr, 2005
