At a community meeting in Richmond, Virginia, Urban One Chief Executive Officer Alfred Liggins III and 8th District Councilwoman Reva Trammell recently made the case to local residents to approve the proposed ONE Casino + Resort in early voting and on November 2.
Liggins’ investor group would develop the multimillion-dollar facility on Richmond’s south side. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe and the Reverend Al Sharpton have endorsed the project, among other prominent figures. The Richmond city council selected the Urban One plan over two other finalists.
At the meeting, Liggins said a major reason Urban One’s plan was chosen was because of its location at a former Phillip Morris plant in an industrial area. He said the site is a “great place to put it where it’s not gonna get in anybody’s way,” adding the project would attract city services to the area, which has long been neglected.
Liggins noted a clause in the company’s agreement with Richmond would require at least 40 percent of construction contracts to be granted to “minority business enterprises.” Another requirement is that 60 percent of casino workers be Richmond residents. In fact, Liggins said, he’s so confident voters will approve the project, job and vendor fairs already are taking place.
Liggins warned the attendees, “If it doesn’t happen here it’ll end up somewhere else. The General Assembly will not let central Virginia go without a casino,” he said.
Trammell assured attendees, “If it’s not gonna cost the taxpayers one penny, I’m for it.” She said the casino proposal clearly states Richmond will “not provide any abatements, exemptions, subsidies, incentives, rebates, financing, financial waivers, or any other type of funding or tax relief” for the project.
Casino opponents include U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, who recently told reporters he voted against it on his early ballot. In May, Democratic candidate and community activist Richard Walker wrote on Facebook that the casino would “pull wealth from low-income communities, and provides political cover for legislators who don’t want to raise taxes on the wealthy.” Other prominent Black community leaders oppose the project. Recently, on a local radio show, former city council candidate Allan-Charles Chipman said the city passed over Southside when distributing American Rescue Plan funding, so the same thing could occur with casino revenue. “If people care about Southside in all of this, say it with your treasury chest,” he said.
Chipman added, “Research actually shows that casinos can lower property values up to 15 percent of what’s surrounding there as well. And so, when people were saying, ‘Build it over there,’ and all that other racist stuff you were seeing, the city actually decided to do that.”
