I sifted through six months of published arguments and the misnamed Web site, savelakewood.com, that attempt to convince Lakewood voters they should feel good by voting to ban minicasino gambling.

The arguments don’t work beyond the fear factor. And if you do get a moral, feel-good flash from voting for Lakewood’s Proposition 1, it’s akin to a rush you’d get from sneaking to the fridge at 2 a.m. to binge on a pint of Hagen Dazs chocolate chip cookie dough – it’s temporary, and you’ll feel bad about it later.

Let’s debunk the primary anti-minicasino arguments one by one.

If we don’t ban minicasinos now, gambling will expand.

Gambling expand? Not likely. Why? Minicasinos operate like any other business – in tight competition with each other and other forms of entertainment. No new minicasino will open unless its owners think their venture can gain market share away from existing establishments.

That’s the main reason no Washington cities that allow minicasinos have more than four now. And it’s the reason Lakewood’s Happy Days Casino closed in January and Bowlero, the bowling alley, closed its minicasino in August 2007.

Also note: In March 2005, when the deadline loomed for a minicasino ban in Tacoma, Lakewood’s anti-gambling crusaders publicly warned that Tacoma’s ban meant on oncoming wave of new minicasinos in Lakewood. It didn’t happen.

Because state law doesn’t allow cities to control where minicasinos locate, we will have them in our neighborhoods.

This amounts to a wild scare tactic with no foundation in reality. Think about it. Where do all the minicasinos exist in Lakewood and other cities? Where do all the Indian tribes put their casinos? They put them as close to Interstate 5 or the most traveled highways. Obviously, like most entertainment businesses, minicasinos want easy access, high visibility and convenient locations to draw customers. A minicasino would never get that in or near residential neighborhoods. It won’t happen.

Our political leaders have failed us by allowing City Hall to become addicted to the tax revenue of the gambling industry.

Lakewood gets tax revenue from a wide variety of sources, including your property tax and the sales tax on things you buy at Towne Center stores. Is the city addicted to those revenue sources, too? Only if by “addicted” you mean that taking away those revenues will mean painful cuts in the services the city provides its citizens.

The fact remains that Lakewood, as a community, has benefited from its $2.85 million a year paid by the minicasinos – to no ill civic effects. But what happens if you vote to give up that money? Nothing more or less than if you rolled back your property taxes by the same amount.

The city budget prepared in case voters ban minicasinos means the loss of 25 jobs at City Hall, including 11 full-time police officers and $540,000 the city grants to local human services agencies, among other lost services.

Gambling taints Lakewood’s image due to the negative social consequences, such as increased crime.

Before Tacoma banned minicasinos, I analyzed years of Police Department data that showed absolutely no correlations between an increased crime rate and minicasinos. Lakewood Police report the same lack of correlation.

Think about Lakewood today versus the day of incorporation 12 years ago. Is Lakewood a much better place to live, with noticeably less crime, with an improving Highway 99 business corridor, with commuter rail on the way, with a revived Towne Center shopping district, with the pending revival of two historic eyesores in Tillicum and American Lake Gardens? Didn’t Lakewood win recognition as one of America’s best cities to raise kids?

Yes and yes. All while minicasinos operated. Lakewood doesn’t suffer from a tainted image. If anything, other cities look at Lakewood as a model.

If we ban minicasinos, we will prevent the 3.9 percent of adult gamblers who get addicted to the point of ruining their lives.

For the sake of this argument by savelakewood.com, let’s assume the 3.9 percent statistic it cites is a real number. This argument would sound convincing if the Great Wall of China surrounded Lakewood so no one gets in or out.

Yes, some people sadly get addicted to gambling like they do to smoking, eating, video games, pornography, television sports and alcohol. But banning minicasinos in Lakewood would help addicted gamblers as much as moving your vodka stash from the cabinet over the fridge to the closet in the basement will keep your teenagers out of it.

Why? Because the fractional few who become addicted gamblers will still have a wealth of other gambling opportunities within easy reach.

If Chips Casino closes, the addicted gambler can drive 4.9 miles farther to the Puyallup Tribe of Indians’ Emerald Queen Casino or 5.7 miles to Freddie’s Club Casino in Fife. If the Great American Casino closes, it’s just 14.9 miles to the Hawk’s Prairie Casino in Lacey. If you think of gambling as an evil inside Pandora’s box, our state already has opened the box by allowing for vast expansions of tribal casinos. Consequently, gambling addiction won’t go away. We’d be better off focusing our energy on getting effective help for problem gamblers than thinking they’ll disappear if Lakewood outlaws minicasinos.

Finally, if you think of your vote on Proposition 1 as a vote of compassion, don’t think of its as compassion for the few who find themselves addicted to gambling. A vote against minicasinos won’t help them. Think of it as compassion for the 600-plus casino workers and their families who – having found jobs on which they depend – won’t have to stand in the unemployment line come next Wednesday.

Dan Voelpel: 253-597-8785

dan.voelpel@thenewstribune.com

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