Everyone was prepared. AP Roundtable had spend some time on radio stations encouraging people to call due to the potential impact of Lima giving away its land to a foreign sovereign nation with the “future hope” of an Indian Casino.
LIMA — Casinos may not have been on the agenda for Monday’s City Council meeting, but it was certainly on everybody’s mind.
Despite rumors and an e-mail campaign suggesting City Council would be voting on an intergovernmental agreement between the city and the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma at Monday’s meeting, the issue did not show up on the agenda. But two speakers made sure the subject made it to the floor…
Council President John Nixon said the council has not requested an official study into the issue, but individual councilors have looked into the subject.
“No formal study has been commissioned, but lots of study has been done by individual councilmembers,†Nixon said.
Nixon also discussed accusations he said he had heard that the council was planning to rush the issue onto the agenda before the public could comment. Last month, Jennifer Beck, wife of Sheriff Dan Beck and an outspoken critic of the casino plan, sent an e-mail to supporters telling them the council would vote on the intergovernmental agreement Monday.
 Nixon has not (to my knowledge) spoken out against the great land giveaway. Yet the Mayor and appointed City Council President seem bent on getting this accomplished. It was suspected that the agenda would be added last minute but it didn’t materialize. Of all the casino options out there (if it becomes legal in Ohio) the casino being run by a sovereign nation is the least desirable of all bad choices. Once the land is gone it cannot be recovered and the local government won’t benefit due to there are no taxes. If it goes through… the upside? Cheap gas if they sell it… can you say no taxes on their gas. Very nice. Hope you don’t own a gas station too nearby.
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