Opinion: Share off-reservation casino in Oregon

Friday, March 20, 2009  

"Now is the perfect time for Portland to do something much bigger than a baseball stadium. Creating a shared tribal casino in Portland would help all the state's tribes. It would have the additional benefit of stopping the bidding war currently underway in which each tribe labors to get a casino site closer to Portland. This process is economically damaging and unfair to tribes that lose out in what's essentially a game of musical chairs with the closest casino being the winner.

If we had a shared tribal casino, Portland could get a share of the gaming revenue in exchange for providing a site that would generate far more revenue than locations outside of the city. That money could be used to improve Portland's schools and transportation system. It would also allow a convention center hotel to be built as part of the casino, and it would be done with only private funding -- not one dollar of taxpayer money would be needed. That's because casino backers would want lodging as part of the casino, and they know the synergy that comes from having a large hotel near the convention center.

Portland would also see increased tourism from the big-name entertainment that a casino would draw. The lodging and venue space would make the convention center a better fit for larger events. Since the casino would have easy access to mass transit, there would be very little environmental impact from traffic compared to the Cascade Locks site."

Get the Story:
Chris Carvalho: Forget the baseball stadium, build a casino (The Oregonian 3/19)