Backers want to put casino on fast track

Proposed measures would amend law to allow a nontribal casino to occupy site of former dog-racing park

By Jim Redden

The Portland Tribune, May 9, 2006, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Supporters of the first nontribal casino in the Portland area face a daunting challenge Ñ to collect 100,000-plus valid voter signatures before a July 7 deadline to qualify their three measures for the November election.

Bruce Studer and Matt Rossman, Lake Oswego neighbors who want to build a casino at the former Multnomah Greyhound Park in Wood Village, believe they can beat the deadline. They have formed a political action committee called Good for Oregon to place the measures on the ballot.

Although the Oregon Supreme Court has yet to consider the wording of their measures, Rossman said he believes the court will approve them before the end of the month, leaving enough time to collect the signatures.

“We’re confident we can do it in a month,” said Rossman, a lawyer, who said the paid petition signature gathering company they’ve retained will throw every worker into the task once the court approves the wording.

Other experienced signature gatherers think Studer and Rossman will run out of time, however.

“They have to pull off a virtual miracle, even with a lot of money,” said Jason Williams, director of Oregon Taxpayers United, who has worked on petition drives in the state for more than 10 years.

The Oregon Constitution currently prohibits nontribal casinos in the state. Last week the Oregon secretary of state’s office approved titles for the three ballot measures submitted by Studer and Rossman that would amend the Constitution and direct the Legislature to authorize a casino at the closed dog track.

Opponents have until May 16 to appeal the wording to the court, which has the option of quickly considering the case.

The measures would not authorize any other nontribal casinos.

If the measures make it to the ballot and are approved by voters, Studer estimates a casino in Wood Village could generate $200 million in new tax revenue for Oregon annually Ñ money he said would drift across the state line to a planned casino in Washington if the measures are rejected.

“It would be the third-largest source of income for the state, behind the income tax and behind the lottery but ahead of corporate income tax,” said Studer, a financial adviser.

The Cowlitz Tribe already is planning to open a casino in La Center, Wash., north of Portland on Interstate 5. Studer and Rossman said they believe Portland-area gamblers will go there to spend money if the Wood Village casino is not built.

The Klamath Tribe also is considering an off-reservation casino, to be built in the Wilsonville area. That project would have to be approved by the governor.

“It’s a battle for benefits,” Studer said. “Whoever establishes their facility first and starts getting the loyal customers is going to create what goes on there.”

Follow the money

Under Studer and Rossman’s plan, revenue from the Wood Village casino would be divided between education, parks, economic development, habitat improvement, problem gambling and drug abuse in the state’s general fund. Education gets the biggest chunk of that, with 65 percent ticketed for K-12 schools statewide.

In exchange for 25 percent of its proceeds, Oregon Gaming and Entertainment would get a single exception to the state’s ban on casinos.

The group aims to put up to 3,500 video lottery terminals and more than 150 table games in a mix with other entertainment on the site of the former greyhound track. At 175,000 square feet, the gaming area would be larger than the one in the MGM Grand in Las Vegas Ñ now the fourth-largest casino in the nation.

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