Proposals for Flint area casinos fall flat, will not be on November ballot

Flint Journal

GENESEE COUNTY, Michigan — Two separate efforts to bring casinos to the Flint area hit a wall this week when organizers failed to get enough signatures to put the issue on the November ballot.


The group Michigan Is Yours wanted to allow casinos in Flint and six other areas around the state, while the group Racing to Save Michigan wanted eight new casinos, including one at Sports Creek Raceway in Swartz Creek.


Both groups failed to get the required 380,000 signatures before Monday’s deadline.


Sports Creek General Manager Chris Locking said he was disappointed that enough signatures weren’t collected.


“We’re hurting and could have used the added revenue,” said Locking, adding the horse racing has been on decline as more casinos have popped up around the state.


Swartz Creek City Manager Paul Bueche wasn’t surprised the effort came up short.


“The state is already saturated with casinos,” said Bueche.


Organizers with Racing to Save Michigan could not be reached for comment.

The Michigan Is Yours campaign wanted to allow casinos in Flint, Benton Harbor, Detroit, Lansing, Muskegon and Romulus, along with Detroit Metropolitan Airport.


Flint Mayor Dayne Walling said he would not speculate on something that is not going to happen now.


“For me, I’m going to continue to focus on jobs and economic development in fast-growing sectors like health care, alternative energy and advanced manufacturing,” Walling said.


But if another gambling referendum request for a Flint casino arose, Walling said he would remain open-minded about the idea.


Walling said casinos can have a positive economic effect, depending on how they are regulated and developed.


The Journal could not reach anyone with the Michigan Is Yours campaign for comment.


Casino efforts weren’t the only ballot efforts to come up short this week.


A campaign to ask Michigan voters if they wanted the option not to participate in the health care reform passed by Congress in March also failed to collect enough signatures, as well as efforts to roll back auto insurance rates and restrict certain forms of mining.


The failure of the grass-roots efforts leaves only two proposals on the November ballot, pending further action by the Michigan Legislature.


Voters will decide whether to hold a convention to rewrite Michigan’s Constitution, a proposal that is automatically placed on the statewide ballot every 16 years.


The other proposal, placed on the ballot by the state Legislature, would ban public officials convicted of felonies related to their jobs from holding office for 20 years. It comes less than two years after Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick resigned as part of pleas in two criminal cases after he lied on the witness stand about an affair with his top aide. He’s now in prison on a probation violation.