Kenyatta: Create Detroit lottery or city-owned casino to balance budget

**esteban** · September-04-09, 08:07 AM

I read with interest The Detroit News article, "Kenyatta: Create Detroit lottery or city-owned casino to balance budget".
Being an ardent supporter of the Belle Isle Aquarium - and if for no other reason - I applaud this idea.

The Aquarium is Michigan's ONLY, and America's OLDEST Aquarium.
It is just the right size for a public venue, and economically sustainable, as opposed to the budget swallowing super-aquariums that became so prevalent through the 80's and 90' s. To be sure, they serve a purpose, but the BIA is kid-friendly, educational and cost-effective at a mere $550,000/yr.

Contrast that to the resources the City lavished on former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. The BIA could have been sustained on that outlay for twenty years!

**Danny** · September-04-09, 08:40 AM

BAD IDEAL: Kwame Kenyatta!

I heard about this concept since the Coleman Young era of the mid 1970s. Creating a city based lottery system and caSINo requires sucking up with city tax dollars and repealling poltical loopholes. Detroit remains to the this day a mostly poor and low-income metropolis. We already have three caSINos this city can't afford any more. I don't want to see lots of Detroiters and suburbanities spending up their hard earn paychecks on the shot machines. While they are in financial debt. Lot's of people in Detroit are in forclosures, some of the residents don't have power, water or heat for the winter. Some of Detroit parents don't even provide food for their children so most of the kids are starving and going to bed hungry.

As for getting three caSINos into Detroit, lots of political loopholes had been dodged. Greektown CaSINo had to fight bankruptcy and several citizens died or leaving their kids in the car just to win a some junk change or lose it all. The same concept will effect Detroit city government if Kenyatta gets his way. If those proposal goes in the ballot vote HELL NO!

WORD FROM THE STREET PROPHET

Kenyatta, You said that you are for People of Detroit. Don't rob their hopes and their principles for Neda Soltani's sake.

**sumas** · September-04-09, 08:54 AM

Totally in agreement. The closure that hurt me most was the sale of the historic Moross house one of the oldest existing homes in Detroit and former home to the Detroit Garden Center. A good chunk of the house was designated a museum with original artifacts. The DGC functioned as free docents. The artifacts were transfered back to the Historical Museum. Hhum, wonder whose home they reside in now. The purported reason for the sale was the city wanted to invest more into historic Fort Wayne. Haven't seen that yet. Hopefully the new Charter Commission will make City Council a part time job with no frills. That would save the city tax payers bundles.

**sumas** · September-04-09, 09:05 AM

I was agreeing with Esteban not Danny in my previous post.

**cman710** · September-04-09, 09:05 AM

While creative, Kenyatta's idea would probably not work. There are already three casinos in the city. At least one of them [[the MGM) is run by one of the world's leading gaming companies. Given that the city cannot make streetlights work and keep people in the city safe, what is the likelihood it will be able to run a successful casino? And if the city gets a leading gaming company to run the casino, as Kenyatta mentioned, then how much profit will the arrangement really provide the city?

Finally, casinos are really just legal transfer payments from poor people to richer people [[or I guess in this case, the city). While I am not against all casinos, a city-owned casino would effectively be a tax on the people who used it, a fair number of who would inevitably be city residents. While a casino seems like an easy way out of the budgeting problems, I think its chances of success are not high enough to make the venture worth it.

Retroit · September-04-09, 09:20 AM

Isn't the city government already a gamble?:

You vote for someone. They may or may not do their job.
You pay taxes. They may or may not provide city services.
You call the police. They may or may not come.

**DetroitPlanner** · September-04-09, 09:25 AM

The casinos we have were supposed to fill the coffers. Where is all of that tax revenue? It sure didn't make my property taxes decrease.

Stosh · September-04-09, 09:33 AM

Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

The casinos we have were supposed to fill the coffers. Where is all of that tax revenue? It sure didn't make my property taxes decrease.

The city lived quite large on that initial windfall. They put off the hard decisions that needed to be made. Now that money is propping up what's left of the city's tax base.

A city owned casino is just insanity, in my opinion. Unless they were to buy out Greektown for a REAL bargain price, the whole setup cost would kill the potential for any immediate profit. Besides the fact that they would be bankrupt by the time they made any profit, if at all.

Pipe dreams are not what cities need to hang their hat on.

**mam2009** · September-04-09, 02:49 PM

I respect Mr. Kenyatta for trying to come up with ideas, but none of these ideas address the pressing situation that we're in right now. This City needs cash now -- and a lot of it. I want the City Council to focus its energy moreso on that.

**hudkina** · September-04-09, 05:27 PM

If you want to save the Aquarium, wouldn't the best solution be to charge admission to Belle Isle for autos? I'm sure the profit from the auto passes, plus the entrance fee to get into the aquarium would be more than enough.

**softailrider** · September-04-09, 08:42 PM

Around here people love to gamble. Put the 4th casino in an accessable area, surrounded by parking, everything on one floor I don't see how you could miss.

**Zacha341** · September-04-09, 09:35 PM

Ughh. Please no more casinos. I don't care who owns it or what spin of promises therein. The three we already have sucked enough out of Detroit, etc. MGM even now has a "coin star" machine now to get at even your last "change". NO MORE "BLOOD SUCKING" CASINO'S!

**Danny** · September-05-09, 09:43 AM

We just heard from recent reports that A West Bloomfield man just killed himself from the Greektown CaSINo. Detroit can't afford another caSINo are a lottery system. This city is already taken too many gambles to provide better services and promote regionalization, but ended up LOSERS!