Monday, July 07, 2008
Gambling on some excitement at tonight's council meeting
Unless some surprises surface, surely one of the most interesting events tonight will be discussion about the proposed initiative to ban minicasinos. The News Tribune story has background, and you can see comments posted about the story here.
One sentence in the story caught my eye: "Churches generally are opposed to gambling and view it as a vice that can lead to addiction, debt and broken families." I guess I should say again, for the record, that if I thought this petition would do anything about gambling addiction, my position might be different. But I continue to think government cannot ban gambling addiction any more than it can ban alcoholism, smoking, adultery, obesity and a bunch of other vices and problems. Despite what some have suggested, the petition is not about gambling. It's about government forcibly closing businesses that are presently operating legally. And some of us just don't think government should close businesses that are operating legally.
A ban on minicasinos would simply drive folks to easily available alternatives like the Internet and nearby Native American-managed casinos. And that may be why churches may be only partly involved in the petition drive. I have never been in a church where someone said it was an element of their faith that government should close down legally operating businesses.
But I digress ...
Presumably the proponents of the ban will make remarks at the council meeting. On the one hand, it's exciting that we finally had an initiative drive in our town. So the participants have every right to be proud and pleased with themselves. Some of us fought long and hard to give Lakewood citizens the right to participate in initiative and referendum.
But on the other hand, if I worked hard to gather signatures and felt like I was behind my goals, I would be personally disappointed. So it will be interesting to hear what folks have to say. I'm hoping no one launches any personal attacks on those of us who did not sign the petition ... I'll keep you posted.
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One sentence in the story caught my eye: "Churches generally are opposed to gambling and view it as a vice that can lead to addiction, debt and broken families." I guess I should say again, for the record, that if I thought this petition would do anything about gambling addiction, my position might be different. But I continue to think government cannot ban gambling addiction any more than it can ban alcoholism, smoking, adultery, obesity and a bunch of other vices and problems. Despite what some have suggested, the petition is not about gambling. It's about government forcibly closing businesses that are presently operating legally. And some of us just don't think government should close businesses that are operating legally.
A ban on minicasinos would simply drive folks to easily available alternatives like the Internet and nearby Native American-managed casinos. And that may be why churches may be only partly involved in the petition drive. I have never been in a church where someone said it was an element of their faith that government should close down legally operating businesses.
But I digress ...
Presumably the proponents of the ban will make remarks at the council meeting. On the one hand, it's exciting that we finally had an initiative drive in our town. So the participants have every right to be proud and pleased with themselves. Some of us fought long and hard to give Lakewood citizens the right to participate in initiative and referendum.
But on the other hand, if I worked hard to gather signatures and felt like I was behind my goals, I would be personally disappointed. So it will be interesting to hear what folks have to say. I'm hoping no one launches any personal attacks on those of us who did not sign the petition ... I'll keep you posted.
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Walter, please read through the list of citizens who have signed petitions to date- you were given that tonight. Lots of those are the kind of folks from whom you would like to receive campaign funding or have on your side the next time you try to run for office. They want an election. So if you choose to not help your citizens in that effort, we will gather the signatures to put this issue before the voters, either this round or another- makes no difference, we will succeed eventually. But please remember us, the next time you try to run for office again. And gambling is not the same as any legally licensed business in your City- it is predatory, damaging, and offers little of value to anyone. Why do so many Washington municipalities with intelligence ban it? As citizens, it is our right to seek a vote, with or without your assistance.
# posted by 
: 10:12 PM
: 10:12 PM
>As citizens, it is our right to seek a vote, with or without your assistance.
I'm actually pretty proud that I provided that assistance already ... by being one of the council members who approved giving everyone in Lakewood the right of initiative and referendum. It's because the council voted to support initiative that the whole signature drive started. And if the end result of a long chain of events is that I get voted out of office for voting based on my beliefs .. well, that's a right of the people too. I'm fine with that!
When people in Lakewood decide who to support for council, they can take anything they want into consideration. You may be against a candidate because he would not close minicasinos. You might be against a candidate because he would not close bars or restaurants that serve liquor to alcoholics. You might be against a candidate because he would not close the grocery stores where they sell beer and wine to alcoholics. When people gather signatures and vote in local elections, democracy wins, whoever is sitting on the dais. If my beliefs lead to me being voted out of office ... well, that's the way it's supposed to work.
But hey .. thanks for posting to this blog!! It's good to see a blog used. Discussion is always good. I'd love to think people can agree to disagree on issues and not question each others' motives.
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I'm actually pretty proud that I provided that assistance already ... by being one of the council members who approved giving everyone in Lakewood the right of initiative and referendum. It's because the council voted to support initiative that the whole signature drive started. And if the end result of a long chain of events is that I get voted out of office for voting based on my beliefs .. well, that's a right of the people too. I'm fine with that!
When people in Lakewood decide who to support for council, they can take anything they want into consideration. You may be against a candidate because he would not close minicasinos. You might be against a candidate because he would not close bars or restaurants that serve liquor to alcoholics. You might be against a candidate because he would not close the grocery stores where they sell beer and wine to alcoholics. When people gather signatures and vote in local elections, democracy wins, whoever is sitting on the dais. If my beliefs lead to me being voted out of office ... well, that's the way it's supposed to work.
But hey .. thanks for posting to this blog!! It's good to see a blog used. Discussion is always good. I'd love to think people can agree to disagree on issues and not question each others' motives.
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