Friday, October 12, 2001
One Web site voter said the governor is ignoring the Youngstown area.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Vindicator Web poll voters would rather see nothing than something when it comes to a downtown arena.
More voters said they prefer no arena be built than either of the two ideas floating around now, one a mostly privately financed project and the other mostly publicly funded.
The unscientific poll of 239 votes taken on the newspaper's Web site from Oct. 4-8 shows that 38 percent, or 92 voters, prefer no arena.
Thirty-six percent, or 87 voters, said they favor a mostly privately build arena. The remaining 25 percent, or 60 votes, were for sticking with the plan that subsidizes an arena with federal money secured by U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. of Poland, D-17th.
A casino is the reason, based on posted comments.
Six of the 18 comments centered on the desire for a casino downtown, not an arena.
Feeling ignored: "What we need is for that arena to be a casino," said one. "Unfortunately, we have a governor who continues to ignore the cries of Youngstown folk. Pitiful, saddening, this area continues to wither away."
Several people said the money should be poured into casino-related development. Any other use would be a waste, they said.
"Anything built downtown other than a casino will be like crushing diamonds into sand," one comment said.
Legalized gambling for Youngstown, however, faces long odds in Columbus.
Taken aback: One voter certainly was taken aback by the positions of the others.
"What are the people who vote 'no arena should be built in Youngstown' thinking? Do you want nothing good for this area?" the person said.