Historic effort by opponents seeks Lakewood minicasino ban
A citizen drive to rid Lakewood of minicasinos is the first initiative campaign in the city and probably the first anti-minicasino initiative statewide.
The Lakewood campaign, announced by neighborhood community leader David Anderson on March 17, must gather at least 3,707 valid signatures as the first step to making the ballot.
It’s the first initiative filed in Lakewood since the City Council voted to allow initiatives and referendums in 2006, after an advisory election showed that voters wanted them.
The state Gambling Commission doesn’t recall any citizen-led effort to ban minicasinos anywhere in Washington. Commission spokeswoman Amy Hunter said the only thing that comes to mind is the election in Tacoma two years ago when voters defeated a measure that would have kept minicasinos open.
Meanwhile, representatives on both sides of the debate are starting to work on their talking points.
The Rev. Benjamin Park of Bible Baptist Church of Tacoma, located in Lakewood, says he wants minicasinos banned.
“I have seen families destroyed” by casino gambling, Park said. “People lost their money, their job, their family. It creates a serious problem for the community.”
Greg Bakamis, a regional manager for Great American Casino, said banning minicasinos could create serious problems for the families of 600 workers in the city who enjoy family-wage jobs with benefits.
He said the four remaining minicasinos in Lakewood have invested millions of dollars in buildings and facilities.
“This is serious. We’ve got a lot at stake,” Bakamis said. “Our employees have a lot at stake.”
The anti-minicasino campaign held an organizational meeting for campaign coordinators last week. About eight people attended.
Mandy Candler, a Lakewood resident who hosted the meeting, said funding the campaign hasn’t yet been discussed in depth.
“We know it’s not free,” she said. “We don’t have any big expenses yet. This is grass-roots. We’ll see how it goes.”
The campaign’s Web site is up. Members want to put a petition form online at
www.savelakewood.com as soon as possible. That way supporters could download the form and help gather signatures, she said.
In the best case, Anderson said, the signatures could be gathered in a month.
Minicasinos, or house-banked card rooms, are the primary form of gambling in the city. That’s why Anderson targeted them instead of raffles, punch cards, pull tabs or other forms, he said.
He cited the negative social impacts of minicasino gambling, including broken homes, drug abuse and addiction. He said he’s especially concerned about the effects on young people.
Bakamis counters that gambling is an individual choice. He said it doesn’t seem fair that Anderson singled out a legal business just because he and others don’t like what it’s selling.
He said Great American Casino in Lakewood devotes more square footage to food and beverage services (more than 20,000) than gambling (10,000).
The City Council is on record as wanting to maintain minicasinos, with the exception of Councilman Ron Cronk, who has spoken against gambling.
It voted to lift a moratorium on new minicasinos effective Tuesday.
If the ban goes to the ballot and voters approve, Councilman Walter Neary said, it will be hard to maintain police protection at current levels.
“It would put us in a tough spot,” he said. “But the main focus should be, ‘How do you feel about gambling in Lakewood?’”
If voters don’t want minicasinos, the city will adjust and survive, he said.
Until recently, the council had a moratorium on new minicasinos and had extended it every six months since November 2005.
The city’s planning advisory board recommended that the council open up Lakewood to new minicasinos, as long as they weren’t allowed in neighborhoods and the central business district. The advisory board said there was no public outcry to ban gambling outright.
The council agreed.
Anderson said an advisory board study was “a smokescreen” to keep minicasinos open because they supply so much tax revenue to the 12-year-old city.
If they were closed, the city would lose most of its gambling tax revenues, which totalled $2.8 million last year.
City services that might be pared back in that event include police, parks, planning, building code enforcement and inspections, and clerical areas, officials said.
Even if the anti-gambling forces get the signatures, their battle may continue if there are legal challenges.
Pat Mason, an attorney who consults with Municipal Research and Services of Washington, said he’s not certain that banning minicasinos is an issue that can be addressed by initiative.
He said he couldn’t be sure without a comprehensive legal analysis, which can’t be done yet. That analysis likely will be left to the Lakewood city attorney or a judge if the necessary signatures are gathered.
“This may become an issue later,” he said. “My initial take is that it is subject to initiative.”
Citizen ballot measures aren’t allowed for some issues, depending on the intent of the state Legislature. For instance, initiatives cannot impair existing contracts or change the name of a street.
They cannot address annexations, zoning code amendments and some rezones. They also can’t deal with cities taking over water and sewer districts, and other specific areas listed in law.
Gambling and minicasinos aren’t addressed specifically.
Anti-gambling advocates say they are sure voters will reject minicasinos if they get the chance.
“I believe that when our initiative asks voters to choose the kind of community they want to build,” Candler said, “they will choose a city without gambling.”
Bakamis said his business cooperates with police, contributes to local charities and supports military men and women.
“We want to be good corporate citizens,” he said.
Rob Tucker: 253-597-8374
The initiative process • A group filing an initiative must gather signatures amounting to 15 percent of the Lakewood voters registered for the last general election. This year, that means a group needs 3,707 signatures.
• Petitions containing the signatures must be filed with the city. The Pierce County Auditor’s Office will check signatures for validity and for the adequate number.
• If the petitions don’t contain enough valid signatures, the petitioners have 10 days to gather more. If there’s still not enough, the petition is returned to the campaign group. No further processing occurs.
• If the petition signatures are valid and adequate, the City Council either must pass an ordinance doing what the petitioners want within 20 days or submit the proposed measure, unaltered, to a citywide vote.
• The election must be held not less than 45 days after the petitions are certified by the County Auditor’s Office.
• The election can occur only on specified days in February, March, April, May, or during a primary election. The election could be held during a general election if the general election happened to be scheduled within 90 days of the auditor’s certification.
• The measure will pass if a simple majority – 50 percent plus one voter – favors it.
• The City Council cannot amend or repeal the voter-approved measure. The council would have to submit such proposals to a vote of the people.
What: Public meeting for people interested in an anti-minicasino initiative in Lakewood.
When: 7 to 8:30 p.m. today
Where: In the meeting room at Lakewood’s county branch library, 6300 Wildaire Road S.W.
