FeedsMayor: Casino vote to come
Romulus officials reveled in the news that the House bill that would allow an Indian casino to open in Romulus likely will face a vote in June.
Mayor Alan Lambert said city officials met with U.S. Rep. John Dingell (D-Dearborn), who informed them that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi will send the House bill onto the full House for a vote sometime in June.
For city leaders, the progress of the bill is good news, though obstacles to approval remain.
“I think the issue will be getting it through the Senate, Lambert said. “But we feel it ultimately will be approved, and we can move forward.”
After a slew of bad news on the corporate front, the city is banking on the casino to bring in new revenue, and jobs, Lambert said.
“We’ve lost two manufacturers, and combined, about 700 people lost jobs,” he said. “I know for a fact that many of those people live in Romulus. The bottom line right now is that we badly need the jobs.”
Approval of the bill would settle a long-standing land claim by bands of the Chippewa Indians to build casinos in Port Huron and Romulus.
The process of building a casino in Romulus progressed earlier this year when the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee advanced a bill that would allow the land claim by the Indian tribe to build a casino on land not deemed a reservation.
A delegation of Romulus casino supporters testified about the economic development aspects of a casino Feb. 5 in front of the House Natural Resources Committee.
Several speakers, including Lambert, testified about the casinos as a spur for economic growth in Michigan. Supporters who back the plan include Dingell, who spoke at the hearing, and several others who sent letters up support, including Sen. Carl Levin and Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
Officials from Detroit, including Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-Detroit), testified against the measure because they believe a casino 17 miles outside of the city will cut into the dedicated revenue stream Detroit currently received from three casinos.
A casino development would bring at least one 200-room hotel and an additional restaurant and service businesses to cater to gamblers and travelers on site at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
Estimates indicate such a project would bring about 3,000 jobs to Wayne County and would provide a dedicated revenue stream of $4 to $10 million annually.
The most important piece of the puzzle is job creation, Lambert said.
“We want to get started as soon as possible,” he said. “We need to get people back to work.”
Lambert said the city would fast-track the development through the planning commission as soon as the approval is secured, if the measure makes it through the Senate.
Voters approved the pursuit of a city casino after a special election in December 2003.
