Megacasino supporters: are they all hypocrites?

Isn’t it amazing that those who stand to directly benefit from the Cowlitz-Mohegan Megacasino seem to support it, no matter how much the rest of the community suffers?

In Tuesday’s installment, an individual claiming to be a neighbor of the upcoming community fabric-rendering leviathan came up with a mound of grade-A horse poop six miles in elevation.

So… we are routinely bombarded with praise for this project from tribal members (who stand to make a fortune) construction unions (who’ll even sell out their SEIU brethren) and those neighboring this monstrosity… BECAUSE WHAT THEY DON’T TELL YOU IS THEY ARE PLANNING ON CASINO EXPANSION AND THEY KNOW THEY STAND TO MAKE A FORTUNE IF THIS THING IS BUILT.

The rest of this letter is pure eyewash and falsity. It’s delusional to believe that these people give a damn about anyone but themselves. They hide behind tribal propaganda with no thought to the obvious and widespread damage this development will cause. They ARE going to hurt us… ALL of us… and they don’t give a damn.




Opinion - Local View: Neighbor welcomes Cowlitz casino

Tuesday, May 24, 2005
By Salvador Madrigal

Ed Lynch's May 15 local view, "Casino will damage our quality of life," misrepresented the basic issues related to the 152-acre Cowlitz-Mohegan casino project in our neighborhood west of the Interstate 5-Exit 16 interchange. This is understandable, given the aggressive misinformation campaign spearheaded by the La Center cardrooms, which quite naturally fear world-class competition, and a few of their well-paid East Coast lobbyists.

Well-meaning members of the community like Lynch cannot be blamed for being confused.

But a clear look at the facts will tell another story. The area along I-5 including the Cowlitz property has long been slated for development under various plans. It is at the northern end of the Port of Ridgefield's proposed Discovery Corridor. It is already zoned AG20-Urban Industrial Reserve and La Center has in the past attempted to annex the property for an industrial tax base. In short, this land was and is destined for development sooner or later. It will not remain rural.

The question is will it be a clean, architecturally integrated, non-industrial complex, built after mitigating all necessary real environmental concerns, or an eventual helter-skelter industrial development that would make our environment and quality of life worse. As a neighbor, I strongly prefer the first option.

More...

You "strongly prefer the first option" BECAUSE YOU'LL MAKE A PILE OFF OF THAT OPTION IF IT'S CHOSEN!

Do you expect us all to think that you intend to continue living next to this hotbed of crime, drugs, prostitution, higher taxes, traffic jams and overcrowded schools?

We're not nearly as stupid as you would like to have us believe.

We do not want this thing here. We will NEVER want this thing here... and, in the end, if you weren't going to make a pile of cash off this development, you wouldn't want it, either.

As for "mitigating all necessary real environmental concerns," are social costs included in the "real environment?" How about infrastructure? Schools? Needed increases in jail, fire and police protections? How about increased domestic violence costs?

When it came to NONTRIBAL gaming, we're told that it's "...a short term solution that will create a host of long term problems. It will bring gambling into local neighborhoods, increase the amount of gambling, encourage more people to gamble, and ultimately enrich a relative few."

In the world of Megacasino supporters, these effects are perfectly ok when THEY STAND TO BENEFIT.

And who tells us these effects? Why.... Rod Van Mechelen, Cowlitz Tribal Member who will stand to directly and materially benefit from the development of this Megacasino.

This project reeks of disregard for tens of thousands of Clark County citizens. And no amount of dress up by those who will make a buck off this thing can change that.