Mayor's Reversal on Casinos Both Wrong and Costly
Michael Nutter had it right when he was a candidate. He not only actively supported keeping casinos out of neighborhoods, he rightly stated that casinos are bad economic development and that he would not use their revenue for government services, no matter how worthy these services are.
Mayor Nutter prominently put support of the casino buffer zone on his campaign literature. Read more of his campaign promises.
As a candidate and in his first year as Mayor, Nutter was poised to become a champion, to stand up to the predatory gambling trade and the corrupt governor, senator, legislature and Supreme Court that has been pushing for years to make Philadelphia the largest US city to host casinos.
After a week of denying that is position had changed, Mayor Nutter finally admitted that it had.
In a Daily News article, Nutter's spokesperson stated that Nutter's "comments this week on his position on casinos were about his time as mayor, not when he was a candidate." Of course, it is a real problem that Nutter stated "yes" when asked whether he agreed with the statement, "As mayor I will attempt to keep casinos from being built within Philadelphia."
But the biggest problem here is not that the mayor's position changed but that he was wrong to change it.
The proposed casinsos will create a net economic loss for the city, potentially costing us more than $200 million dollars each year in law enforcement costs alone (see Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperative Authority report, 2007, PDF).
Mayor Nutter, by reversing his position on casinos, has put the city's long term economic future further in jeopardy in a perilous time. And by reversing his position he also threatens other important priorities such as reducing crime, government transparency — he has now had a number of secret meetings with both casino operators, developing a world-class, sustainable riverfront on the Delaware, and more.
Nutter is wrong to change his position and wrong to support this most regressive form of taxation. He should stand up against predatory gambling. Whether or not he chooses to do so, we will continue to build our Declaration from Independence campaign.
Take a moment to call Mayor Nutter today at (215) 686-2181. Let the mayor know that you will continue to be a barrier to the development of casinos in Philadelphia, even if he is not.
