THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 5, 1995 TAG: 9503030211
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 35 lines
Riverboat gambling is on the shelf but not dead in Portsmouth.
When City Council voted to direct the city manager to ``discontinue'' negotiations, it still left the door open for discussions should gambling be legalized in Virginia at some future date.
But by calling a halt to ongoing talks with the company that wants to put a gambling complex on the waterfront next to City Hall, council expects to free up staff and money to move on to other things.
As Mayor Gloria Webb commented Tuesday night, we need to put this to rest.
The discussions about riverboat gambling have consumed much of council's official meeting time as well as much city staff time. In addition, the city has been hiring a pricey Norfolk law firm to handle the negotiations.
We don't need to be spending all of that time and money on a project that is certainly is dead until the state legislature revives it.
This city has made good efforts on horse-racing and again on riverboat gambling. Now it needs to turn its staff and money toward projects that may be less glamourous than the big-money entities but also less controversial.
Portsmouth does not need to have its council torn apart, indeed almost shredded, by bickering that has accompanied the riverboat gambling discussions. Nor does it need to have a high-paid staff consumed by a project that may or may not come to fruition in this century. by CNB