Column: Seminole Class III gaming here to stay

Monday, October 26, 2009  

"Contradiction has colored Florida gambling policy since the 1940s, when scores of South Florida casinos openly flouted state law.

Slots jangled. Blackjack flourished. Floozies hung on arms of big bettors. Local cops moonlighted as casino security guards. (``Illegal gambling'' had a nuanced definition.)

After the governor from God-fearing Bartow removed Broward Sheriff Walter Clark from office in 1942 for allowing a mob-run gambling mecca to thrive in Hallandale (home to 26 casinos), the Florida Senate put Clark back in office. With back pay.

The lawmakers abhorred casino gambling. But they loved the casino money that flowed their way.

Conflicted attitudes lingered into the next next millennium. (Legislators abhorred casino gambling but protected the casino boat industry.) Lately, our anti-gambling Legislature seems flummoxed by the Seminoles, who're running slots and blackjack in a legal netherworld. The Indians negotiated two compacts with the governor. The legislature rejected the first $100 million-a-year deal and has essentially ignored the second, despite a $50 million sweetener. Yet, Indian slots jangle. Blackjack flourishes. (Floozies, lately, are just as apt to be big bettors.)

Just this week, House Speaker Larry Cretul fired off a letter to the National Indian Gaming Commission demanding that the feds shut down the Seminole blackjack tables and Vegas-style slots. ``The disadvantages to the state in attempting to negotiate a compact under the present circumstances are clear.''

Nothing about the present circumstances are clear. Not even with whom the Indians are supposed to be negotiating. ``I have no idea,'' said Barry Richard, the tribe's lawyer in Tallahassee. ``Nobody in the Legislature has talked to the tribe. It's a peculiar negotiation.''"

Get the Story:
Fred Grimm: Lawmakers trapped by gambling love, hate (The Miami Herald 10/25)

More Opinions:
Editorial: Seminole Compact: Keep Agenda Limited (The Lakeland Ledger 10/26)
Michael Peltier: Hudson says blackjack must stay at Immokalee casino (The Naples News 10/25)
Editorial: Get Indian casino pact, but make it a good one (The Fort Myers News-Press 10/23)