The Richmond, Virginia city council recently voted 8-1 to pursue another referendum on Urban One’s proposed $565 million One Casino and Resort, which voters narrowly defeated last November. Ahead of the vote, Mayor Levar Stoney announced a real estate tax cut as an incentive to get voters to support a second vote. The council vote authorizes the city to petition the circuit court to put the same question on the ballot this November.
Councilwoman Reva Trammell, the chief sponsor of the referendum legislation, said she and others have been collecting signatures for a petition drive hold a second referendum on the casino question.
The referendum failed 51 percent to 49 percent with a margin of just 1,500 votes. Opponents said they felt the project would create gambling addiction, poverty, criminal activity and other social issues.
Stoney and other casino supporters noted the election results showed majority white precincts voted 2-to-1 against the project; voters who live closest to the proposed South Richmond location voted overwhelmingly for it. The venue would have been the only Black-owned casino in the U.S.
The project would be similar as previously proposed, with a partnership between Urban One and Peninsula Pacific Entertainment, owner and operator of Rosie’s gaming emporiums and Colonial Downs racetrack, including a casino plus a 250-room hotel and 3,000-seat concert venue, located on property owned by Philip Morris USA. Again, the city would not provide any tax breaks or other incentives.
At the public meeting prior to the council vote, one of several residents who spoke against a re-vote was community activist Allan-Charles Chipman. He said a second vote would be “both an anti-democratic recall referendum and an act of voter suppression. The passage of this legislation would defy the expressed will of the people of Richmond. While double or nothing is an acceptable tool for someone who lost a bet in a casino, double or nothing is not an acceptable option for the members of this body who lost a bet on a casino.”
In response, Council President Cynthia Newbille said, “How many times have we taken legislation back, year after year, to try to get an improved outcome for our citizens and our city? I do hear the concerns, but I do in this instance absolutely support this opportunity.”
Urban One Chief Executive Officer Alfred Liggins also spoke and pointed out last year many voters told him they didn’t know how the project would benefit the city. Just prior to the meeting, the city issued a list of those impacts, including a commitment to a 2-cent reduction in the city real estate tax rate; $560 million in capital investment for Richmond public schools and city projects; $30 million in annual tax revenue; and 1,500 permanent jobs and 3,000 construction jobs. Urban One also had committed to pay the city $25 million upfront
Liggins said, “We needed to be more intentional and specific about that. The idea now that the administration and council is talking about proposing a real estate tax reduction, which will go across all nine council districts, is a big difference.”
Meanwhile, state Senator Joe Morrissey sponsored a bill in the Virginia General Assembly allowing Petersburg to hold its own casino referendum and prohibiting Richmond from holding another casino referendum for the next five years. Currently, state law allows one casino each in Richmond, Danville, Portsmouth, Norfolk and Bristol, if voters approve.
Morrissey supported the One Casino and Resort project, but lately said a revote in Richmond would be “undemocratic.” Urban One officials have not expressed support for one city over the other.
