How do we count the NO’s?


How do we count the NO’s?

Opponents of various tax levies that are defeated and placed back on the ballot again and again are fond of asking of school boards and townships, “What is it you don’t understand about no?”

The same question might be asked across the state, as residents may be required to go to the polls once again to say whether Ohio should open its doors to casino gambling. The last time Ohioans were asked to legalize casinos was in 2006. They said no, just as they had in 1990 and 1996.

Now another group, billing itself as “My Ohio” is back, saying that it has the proposal for legalizing casinos that will keep Ohio gamblers at home and funnel untold riches to each and every county in the state.

But this proposal, if it makes it to the ballot, should be the easiest of all to say no to. Once again, it would establish in the state’s Constitution an exclusive right for a small group of individuals to run a casino in Ohio. Constitutions are designed to protect important civil rights for all the people, not to memorialize the rights of a few to make hundreds of millions off the many.

Where do the jobs go?

For another, all those construction jobs and casino jobs and spinoff jobs that casino advocates promise their enterprises would bring to an area end up in one place under this proposal — a site in Wilmington, between Cincinnati and Columbus.

And for people in this region, the proposal can’t even promise to do what all the other proposals have promised, stop the flow of gambling dollars out of state. Gambling money will continue to flow from the Mahoning Valley to casinos in Pennsylvania and West Virginia as a matter of convenience. And in the time it would take a high roller to drive to Wilmington, he could fly to Las Vegas.

The outflow of gambling money from Ohio to other states is a concern. It is estimated as high as $1 billion a year.

But the bottom line is, some people like to gamble, and they’ll occasionally find ways of doing so. Some people love to gamble, and they’ll always find ways of doing so. But other people are content now to spend their entertainment dollars closer to home, at theaters, restaurants and sporting events. Virtually every entertainment dollar that goes to casino gambling is diverted from those attractions and businesses.

That’s just not a great deal for a community. And when the horrendous social cost of addicted gamblers is added in, it’s a terrible deal for a community.

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