He also said the city will move to narrow Washington and Jefferson boulevards downtown.A local group opposed to casinos criticized Mayor Tom Henry on Thursday for what it saw as a lack of leadership on the issue and called on him to declare Fort Wayne a casino-free city.
The Coalition for a Better Fort Wayne, also known as CasiNo!, hosts a public lecture today by Earl Grinols, an economics professor at Baylor University, about the social costs of gambling. On Thursday, the group promoted the event while calling on city leadership to take action.
John Popp, group chairman, said he was concerned about the destructive effects of a casino and said the city should promote its family-friendly nature.
Tom Grey, field director for StopPredatoryGambling.org, said many communities have thrived after rejecting proposals for casinos. He criticized the mayor, whom he met last year, for failing to reject the idea of a casino in the city.
He said it would have been better had Henry embraced the idea – at least then the public would know where he stands and would be able to mount an effective campaign.
Instead, he said, Henry has allowed the issue to linger.
“That’s not leadership,” Grey said.
“He’s wasting an opportunity to sell the city.”
Henry could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Henry has publicly pushed for a local referendum on expanding gambling in Fort Wayne, but with just six days left in the legislative session, an effort to open a casino in Fort Wayne hasn’t started.
Earlier in the legislative session, there was talk of moving 500 electronic gaming machines to Fort Wayne, but the proposal died after legislators failed to get a clear direction from city leaders.
Even the seemingly innocuous move to have a referendum to allow residents to weigh in on the casino gambling question in Fort Wayne has stalled, with neither House nor Senate leaders willing to push the measure forward.
In recent days, rumors about moving one of two side-by-side riverboats in Gary have resurfaced, but the chances are slim with legislative leaders hesitant to make major changes to Indiana’s gaming policy this year.
The Rev. Greg Enstrom, part of the anti-casino effort, said that just because there seems to be no momentum for a local casino doesn’t mean it’s a dead issue.
“There is a history of things happening at the last minute ... that are unanticipated,” he said of the legislature.
