ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, August 29, 1996 TAG: 9608290038
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A14 EDITION: METRO
WHEN VIRGINIA voters approved parimutuel betting eight years ago, they hadn't a clue that off-track betting parlors and casino-style slot machines were in the offing. About this, state Sen. Mark Earley of Portsmouth is right.
Perhaps voters thought they'd be getting something like the glamour and class of the Kentucky Derby of years past. What they may end up getting is less well-bred.
Colonial Downs, the yet-to-open horse-racing facility in New Kent County, seems to be galloping toward gambling sleaze, and trying to drag the state along with it. In response, as well as in search of a campaign issue, Earley suggests that repeal of parimutuel betting is the only way to stop the outcome.
But whoa! Earley's got the cart before the proverbial horse. Before the General Assembly overturns the results of a public referendum, it ought to overturn the legislation that it passed in 1992 to permit off-track betting halls. That action, not the voters, gave sleaze the fast track.
Out-of-state investors and promoters claimed in '92 that OTB satellites were necessary to ensure ``profitability'' of Colonial Downs. The legislature said OK to six such storefront operations; one has opened in Chesapeake, Earley's hometown, and another is planned in Richmond. Even Roanoke has been proposed as a site.
Now Jeffrey Jacobs of Cleveland, the new principal owner of Colonial Downs, says he'd like 12 OTB sites. He says he'll also request legislative approval to introduce ``video poker'' slots at Colonial Downs. All, it's contended, are needed to make the race track financially viable.
Earley is seeking the Republican nomination for attorney general next year. So is another Colonial Downs critic, Virginia Beach Sen. Kenneth Stolle. Forget for the moment that both may be trying for political hay from the issue. But remember this:
The General Assembly is not obliged to guarantee the facility's financial success for owners and investors. By opening the gate for OTB, lawmakers set themselves up as ninnies who might go along with who-knows-what other gambling gimmicks that greed requires.
Maybe the facility is a long shot to succeed without more off-track betting sites and casino-type gambling inducements, for which there will be no end to demands. Without those inducements, though, the owners might try harder to make a go of it for its original purpose - horse racing.
Repeal the OTB law, and let's find out. Meantime, forget about trying to overturn a public referendum.
LENGTH: Medium: 51 linesby CNB