SHAWNEE CASINO Could 1 project trigger another?

A casino official wants to visit Youngstown.
YOUNGSTOWN -- If the state somehow approves Las Vegas-style casino gambling, the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma isn't the only entity interested in coming to the Mahoning Valley.
Officials with Foxwoods Development Co., created by the Indian tribe that operates Foxwoods Resort in Connecticut, plan to visit Youngstown to explore gambling opportunities.
Gary D. Armentrout, Foxwoods Development's chief development officer, sent a letter to Patrick Mackondy of Beaver Township, a longtime advocate for casino gambling in Ohio.
Armentrout wrote that he is planning a visit to meet with Mackondy and others in the Youngstown area "in the near future to explore ways that we can work together to make gaming in Youngstown a reality."
In the letter, Armentrout wrote that his company is monitoring gambling developments in Ohio.
Political opposition
Legalizing Class 3 casinos -- like those in Las Vegas and which feature blackjack, roulette, craps and slot machines -- in Ohio could prove to be an uphill struggle.
Gov. Bob Taft and the three prominent Republicans planning to run for the gubernatorial seat in 2006 oppose legalizing Class 3 casinos.
It would take a constitutional amendment to approve Class 3 gambling in the state. Ohioans rejected ballot issues in 1990 and 1996 for casino gambling.
The Eastern Shawnees want to build Class 3 casinos in Ohio, including a site in Lordstown and Jackson Township.
But without a constitutional amendment or an agreement with the state's governor -- and Taft said he has no interest in signing a pact with any tribe -- it can't happen.
Gerry Austin, Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell's political adviser, and others are interested in placing a constitutional amendment in front of voters, as early as November, to legalize Class 3 gambling under certain circumstances.
Conditions for vote
The proposal would allow cities of at least 50,000 people or counties that can show an active tourism industry -- meaning 1 million visitors annually -- to permit its voters to decide if a Vegas-style casino could be opened in their cities and/or counties. Youngstown is the only city in Mahoning County with a population of more than 50,000 people.
While Foxwoods is operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, the tribe's development company wants to expand elsewhere as either tribal or nontribal casinos, according to its Web site.
Mackondy and his organization, Casinos for Ohio, have unsuccessfully tried to establish a casino in the Mahoning Valley for the past four years.
Over the years, Mackondy contacted numerous companies that operate casinos. But Ohio made Class 3 casinos illegal, so the effort has been wasted.
Because other Ohio communities are jumping on the casino bandwagon, Mackondy said now is the ideal time to legalize Class 3 casinos through a state constitutional amendment. If that happens, Youngstown will be ready to move ahead immediately.
Armentrout couldn't be reached Monday to comment.
Terry Casey, an Eastern Shawnee spokesman, said there is no ballot issue right now.
"It's a big 'if' to get one on the ballot," he said. "Ohio needs to look at the best package put together or a number of areas of the state. We're ready to go. It's no surprise that organizations want to come into Ohio if a change in the state constitution is made."