A judge ruled Monday that a casino measure can appear on the statewide ballot on Aug. 3. Cole County circuit Judge Richard Callahan rejected an attempt by opponents of a proposed Rockaway Beach casino to strike down the ballot measure as unconstitutional.
Callahan dismissed the lawsuit against Secretary of State Matt Blunt but that ruling is likely to be appealed to the state Supreme Court. Floyd Gilzow of Branson, the lead plaintiff, said his lawyers are reviewing Callahan's decision. Gilzow said no concrete decision has been reached on whether to appeal.
The proposal would amend the state constitution to allow a casino on the White River at Rockaway Beach, which is about 15 miles northeast of Branson. The constitution currently allows casinos only along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.
This is an issue that business owners throughout Taney County are watching closely. Many Branson-area business leaders oppose the casino because they fear it would destroy their family friendly atmosphere. Residents in Rockaway Beach hope it would revive their economy.
Reminders of yesteryear line the shelves and walls in the Prancing Pony antique shop in Forsyth. Owner Dwayne Fowler, a native of Taney County, wanted to sell collectibles in a town that he says still has classic values. Sharing a business on the same street, Darrel Schutt also shares the same view on this town.
“It's more like the small town I grew up in Colorado -- the hometown feel, the niceness of the people make it worth being here,” said Schutt, owner of Fox and Turtle restaurant.
Though they share one feeling about their town, they have two different views about how gambling would change it.
“I think, in the long run for the area, it would be a positive thing -- the jobs it would provide on a year round basis,” said Schutt.
“I'm in favor of economic growth in Rockaway Beach,” said Fowler. “I'd like to see the growth come from other means.”
Even though they have different views about gambling in Rockaway Beach, they feel it should be settled the American way -- with a vote.
“I'm not sure that group (people suing to try to stop it) is speaking for the entire county,” said Schutt.
“I would suspect there would be quite a few people opposed to it,” said Fowler, “but I’m also aware there are a significant amount of people in favor of it.”
The prospect of casino gambling in southwestern Missouri is also pitting people with long relationships and strong ties to the state Republican Party establishment against one another -- legally if not emotionally. Gilzow is a former top aide to U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt, who represents the 7th District in southwest Missouri. Gilzow and the other plaintiffs are represented by a former lieutenant of U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, Edward "Chip" Robertson, a former Missouri Supreme Court justice. The lawsuit is filed against Matt Blunt, Roy Blunt's son, the state's chief elections official and most Republicans' preferred candidate in the governor's race in November.
The casino, proposed for the 577-person town of Rockaway Beach, is heralded by supporters as a way to bring year-round jobs with high pay and good benefits to an economically depressed town. The well-connected people in neighboring towns who say they don't want a casino in their neck of the woods stick mainly to two ideas: gambling in Rockaway Beach will hurt the family-friendly resort town of Branson a dozen miles away, or casinos are just plain evil.
Before any work on the casino can begin, however, the state constitution must be amended to allow casinos off the Mississippi and Missouri rivers; in this case, to allow them along the White River in Rockaway Beach. The town's preferred developer, Southwest Casino and Hotel, secured enough petition signatures to get the question on a statewide ballot; the governor scheduled the vote for Aug. 3 at the same time as political parties' primary elections.
The opponents, while well-connected, say they are getting no help from Ashcroft or either of the Blunts, and don't expect to. Gilzow, who claims both Ashcroft and Roy Blunt among his friends, said he is concerned about violating the state constitution and using casinos to increase funding for schools. Gilzow believes the proposed amendment, if passed, would conflict with other parts of the constitution.
"I don't approve of gambling as a way to raise state revenues," Gilzow said. "I do not support gambling."
Here's how the political connections break down:
Gilzow was top administrative assistant to Roy Blunt when Blunt first entered Congress in 1997. When Blunt was Missouri secretary of state in the 1980s, he chose Gilzow as deputy secretary. Gilzow no longer works for Blunt, who is now the third-ranking Republican in the U.S. House.
While Ashcroft was Missouri attorney general in the 1970s and '80s, he named Robertson as an assistant attorney general and later as deputy attorney general. When Ashcroft was first elected governor in 1984, Robertson became his chief of staff. In 1985, Ashcroft named Robertson to the state Supreme Court, where he served until 1998, when he stepped down to enter private practice.
The plaintiffs are supported in their legal battle by Peter Herschend, whose family owns Branson's Silver Dollar City resort. Herschend, a wealthy philanthropist, has served on the State Board of Education since being appointed in 1991 by then-Gov. Ashcroft.
Matt Blunt said he knew Gilzow "very well" and had consulted him in the past about clean-water policies because Gilzow is executive director of the Upper White River Basin Foundation.
"I'm against the expansion of gambling in our state and always have been," said Matt Blunt, who insists he simply followed the law in putting the casino measure on the ballot.
"There's nothing in the suit that says Matt Blunt did anything wrong," Gilzow said. "State law says ... you have to file against the secretary of state."
However, in court on June 9, Robertson said he believed it was Blunt's duty "to protect the people from the initiative process by making sure that the legal ramifications of the initiative are (properly considered), or do not let it go on the ballot."
The lawsuit is only the latest effort to stop the Rockaway Beach casino. Opposition to the project was so high among power brokers from the Branson area that the Legislature considered several bills that would have required a countywide vote before any casino could be allowed. In the legislative session, House Speaker Catherine Hanaway, R-Warson Woods, said the bills were a priority. The Legislature adjourned last month, however, without voting on any of the bills.