After two hours of emotional comments from opponents and supporters of a proposed $250 million casino near Slidell, Louisiana, council members voted down a resolution for a referendum in St. Tammany Parish. Supporters sought to reverse a 1996 parish vote prohibiting gambling.
The council decision isn’t binding and the attempt will continue to move the gaming license of Peninsula Pacific’s shuttered DiamondJacks Casino in Bossier City to Slidell.
Five votes were needed to pass the resolution. Two council members voted against it and four voted for it, but two of the nine council members were absent, so the issue failed.
Voting against the resolution, Council Member-at-Large Glynn Pichon noted the proposed casino is outside the city limits, and therefore beyond the council’s jurisdiction. He said, “I’m not in favor of kicking this can down the road. I refuse to gamble with Slidell’s future and our security.”
Councilman David Dunham voted for the resolution, stating, “What we’re deciding is just a symbolic measure. What’s more American than being able to vote for something?” Dunham’s comments stirred up angry comments, including, “What’s his name?” and “We’re never going to vote for you!” to which Dunham replied, “You can always run against me. I’m in District B.”
Some speakers, including attorney David Cougle, directed their ire against the parish’s legislative delegation. Cougle said he had gone to the state capitol in Baton Rouge two times to attend hearings on the proposed legislation allowing the gaming license move. He said the chairman of the
Senate Judiciary B Committee, state Senator Gary Smith, cast the tie-breaking vote for the bill, but the next day opponents learned the chairman’s wife, Katherine, was one of 19 lobbyists advocating for the casino. “Is this the kind of blatant corruption we want to bring into the Slidell area?” Cougle asked.
He said he returned to Baton Rouge a second time to testify against the bill at a scheduled hearing of the Senate Finance Committee. However, after he arrived, he learned that state Senator Sharon Hewitt, sponsor of the bill, cancelled the hearing because a committee member was ill. Under Hewitt’s bill, a parish-wide referendum would take place in October to possibly reverse a 1996 parish vote that rejected casino gambling.
Lobbyists for Penn National Gaming, owners of Boomtown Casino in Harvey and Hollywood Casino in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and Boyd Gaming, owners of Treasure Chest in Kenner and IP Casino Resort Spa in Biloxi and Caesars Entertainment, owners of Harrah’s New Orleans, have come out to oppose Peninsula Pacific’s proposal.
Brent Stevens, founder and chairman of Peninsula Pacific, said the Slidell casino would create hundreds of jobs and stop Louisiana gamblers from spending money at casinos on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
