Just a month after Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero unexpectedly announced his unlikely plans for a city casino, he is moving forward with plans that are still unlikely to come to fruition. Few expected the first announcement for the project, and even fewer expected him to move forward before receiving the necessary approvals. However, the casino still has a long way to go, and one vote doesn’t necessarily mean anything is going to be built anytime soon.
This week, Lansing City Council members consented to plans for a casino built as an attachment to the Lansing Center on Michigan Avenue. Despite the 7-1 vote, council members were questioning of the project’s validity, and Bernero still needs the proposal to be passed by the state Legislature, Gov. Rick Snyder and the Department of Interior. The proposal will have to jump through many hoops before ground can be broken, and it seems doubtful that Lansing citizens will ever see a casino in their city.
Now that Bernero has made multiple public announcements regarding the new casino and the support of the city council, the people of Lansing are going to expect it to be built. However, the approval of the city council probably was the easiest approval for Bernero to get. Gov. Snyder and Attorney General Bill Schuette have vowed to shoot down the project. Claiming victory prematurely does nothing but inspire false hope in the few residents who are pulling for the casino to be built.
Failure to complete the casino will reflect poorly on Bernero’s skills as a mayor and disappoint the Lansing residents looking forward to it. He is getting people’s hopes up for them only to be dashed.
Bernero’s intentions with the casino could be beneficial; he said he wants $6 million of the estimated $250 million annual revenue to go toward a Lansing Promise Scholarship, a four-year scholarship for Lansing School District graduates attending any Michigan public university.
He also said he thinks the casino will offer jobs for residents and hopefully boost the economy.
Of course, these projections are both goals that the city of Lansing should be working toward. The city’s economy is not in the best state, and any funding going toward students pursuing a higher education is likely a good investment. However, a casino might not be the most realistic way to go about achieving these goals.
A casino project is not a stepping stone toward a healthier economy. It will offer some temporary jobs, such as construction and development, and it is not a growing industry, by any means. Having a casino in Lansing will not attract many businesses into the area, nor will it make people want to move into the city. A casino might even compel some people to move out of Lansing.
Although the majority of citizens don’t want another casino, Bernero still insists on building one. A recent poll conducted on the behalf of Project MI Vote, a coalition representing various casinos across the state, shows 60 percent of voters are not in favor of more casinos in Michigan no matter where they are.
Bernero might have gotten the approval of city council, but he has much tougher critics to face in the future. The project faces a rough path before the city can even begin to build, and a casino likely will never stand in Lansing.
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