Mayor urges Danville residents to back casino with Quinn
DANVILLE — Mayor Scott Eisenhauer is urging Danville residents who support a gaming facility to urge Gov. Pat Quinn to keep the city in the gaming-expansion bill.
Here's the state's website link to Quinn's office: http://www2.illinois.gov/gov/Pages/ContacttheGovernor.aspx and his phone number at Springfield is: 217-782-0244. His email address is governor@illinois.gov.
On Tuesday, the Illinois Senate passed the gaming expansion bill, which includes a riverboat casino for Danville as well as casinos in Chicago, Rockford, the south Chicago suburbs and Lake County. It also would allow gambling at Chicago's two airports and slot machines at six Illinois racetracks.
The bill now goes to Gov. Pat Quinn. But Quinn has said the bill is "too top heavy," and in a press conference Wednesday, he repeated that remark, adding that it's not an expansion of gaming the people of Illinois would support.
Eisenhauer said that's why it's so important for citizens here to reach out to the governor, either by letter, email or phone calls, and express their support for a casino in Danville.
"(Quinn) said multiple times (Wednesday) in his press conference that he doesn't believe that gaming is, as passed, what the people of Illinois want, so he will take into significant consideration what the people want in deciding what part of the gaming bill to sign," Eisenhauer said.
The mayor, who has traveled to Springfield numerous times this year, including this week, to lobby for Danville's inclusion in the bill, said he hopes to meet with Quinn "to discuss how important this bill is to the community."
In a news release Wednesday, Eisenhauer urged all residents in Danville, Vermilion County and East Central Illinois, who support gaming in Danville, to write a letter, an email or make a phone call to the governor's office, "imploring him to maintain Danville's presence in the bill and sign."
"This is critical to our community for job growth and retention," Eisenhauer said in the release, "as well as utilizing the additional tax revenue to support vital services to our residents."
Eisenhauer said he's trying to spread the word to residents about showing their support, and he knows a Facebook page has been started to get more support rolling.
The governor has 60 days to make a decision but could sign, veto or do an amendatory veto at any time, according to Eisenhauer.
"So that's why we want people to do it as quickly as possible," he said.
Eisenhauer said there's been no decision in regard to location, partly because earlier in the process it wasn't clear whether a casino in Danville would have to be land- or water-based. The bill as approved requires a water-based operation in Danville.
Eisenhauer said he did not want to speculate on locations.
"We want to get through this process then sit down and talk about options," he said.
MoreSounds like "Let's get this bill passed so we can find out what's in it" to me. The possible locations of this thing are not something to consider? The people of this area have allowed our so-called leaders to "lead" us down the path of poorly reasoned choices in regard to business locations for far too long. Drive up North Vermilion street and look at the locations that formerly were large National Chain restaurants and Stores,and are no longer there. Try to find another city that has taken pains to locate manufacturing and a prison on an Interstate highway, and new shopping and restaurants as far from that Interstate as possible.
Danville's "dog in the manger" attitude regarding this phenomenon is long-standing, but just because "that is the way we've always done it" is no excuse to continue such an idiotic stance. Anyone who thinks that a "glittering" new casino is going to magically wipe away a half -century of poor decisions is living on another planet.
Whose pockets is this "venture" going to fill? The unfortunate, illiterate unemployed and unemployable? The multi-generation- welfare-dependent among these? Not likely, legally anyway. Will the projected employment match the reality? Will the positive economic gains offset the negative impact of what gambling can do to families and the community as a whole? Unembellished facts and statistics aren't very promising .No band-aid-casino, please. We have enough squalor and misery now.
The governor has made it clear that he only wants a casino for Chicago and nowhere else. I am sick of everything being for Chicago and think that it is time for everything south of I 80 to break away and form a new, less corrupt state. If Chicago gets a casino and Danville doesn't, there should be court challenges, boycotts and a push to drive Quinn from office.
Danville needs the jobs. The nay sayers do not realize that retail and restaurant jobs do not provide enough pay to live on. As for it being too close to the U of I, consider how many colleges and universities there are in and around Chicago. If a student wants to gamble, they will do it online or go to Peoria.
As for the church people, they need to realize that this is everybody's America. People are tired of being dictated to by the minority. I don't see where they have any reason to complain when they pay no taxes or create any jobs. They operate as tax free industries, and badger their people to give give give. Let the people do as they wish. If they don't like it, then they don't have to visit the casino or any of the new businesses it will create. While they are at it, they can also refuse any services that are paid for with the taxes collected from the casino. Of course, you will never see that much devotion to their religion.
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