The Columbus, Georgia city council recently voted 7-2 for a resolution supporting legislation that would allow voters statewide to approve a constitutional amendment legalizing casino gambling in Georgia. If gambling legislation passes, it would have to be approved by the legislature and the governor. But if those steps happen, entrepreneur Robert Wright of Columbus said he will develop a 0 million casino resort in south Columbus.
“They just voted to allow the people the right to vote on it and support the legislative delegation in the right. If it passes the state, then they want to have a local referendum, which I think is the right thing to do,” Wright said. City Attorney Clifton Fay clarified, “Further, if any such constitutional amendment is adopted, this council requests a local referendum be established for approval of any such casino gaming in Muscogee County.” Casino gambling revenue would fund the HOPE Scholarship.
Fay said the referendum on gambling most likely would not be ready for Georgia voters for at least two to three years. “We are a long way from it,” Wright added. There are no casino gambling bills under consideration in the Georgia legislature, which will resume in January. During the 2016 session, the legislature did not allow a vote on any of the dozen casino gambling bills in the House or Senate.
Wright noted, “South Columbus needs to be a part of Columbus and economically right now it’s not and if we can bring 500 to 1,000 jobs in South Columbus to support that economy, that’s what I’m for.”
Wright, an optometrist, was elected to the Columbus city council in 1970. In 1985 he founded Dimensions International in Alexandria, Virginia, which he sold it to Honeywell in 2007. Wright has a home in Columbus and was a major donor to Columbus Technical College for the Robert L. Wright Health Sciences Center.
The Chamber of Commerce in Savannah has also brought up the subject of hosting a casino. Senator Lester Jackson III, from Chatham County, addressed a breakfast meeting of the chamber about casinos.
“Now, the big ones would want to go to the greater Atlanta area because of more traffic, but Savannah and cities like Savannah, are prime spots for what I call the second tier casinos,” he said.
Officials with the chamber say Savannah must consider hosting a casino to remain competitive with surrounding regions.
