Miami Beach reiterates anti-casino stance

If Las Vegas mogul Steve Wynn builds a casino resort in South Florida, chances are pretty good that it won’t be on South Beach. Miami Beach commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to oppose any expansion of gambling and urge the Florida legislature to reject a bill that would open up South Florida to destination casino resorts.

According to the resolution passed Wednesday, Miami Beach contends that gaming carries “severe and painful economic and social costs,” “promotes corruption of the governmental process,” and would “exacerbate traffic.”

The vote continues a series of anti-casino votes during the past three years by the Miami Beach commission. It would likely discourage casino operators from eyeing property in the city should the current destination casino resorts bill pass in Tallahassee, because the bill currently requires local approval before a gaming license can be issued.

That means Wynn, who reportedly offered to pay for the city’s ambitious Miami Beach Convention Center expansion project during meetings last month with city officials, would need to look elsewhere to build a casino.

The vote drew cheers from a standing-room only audience in the city’s commission chambers. Outside a group of two dozen protestors made it clear that they aren’t interested in casinos on Miami Beach or across the bay in Miami. People held various signs up, things like "Art Basel Yes, CasiNO!" and "What happens in Vegas should stay in Vegas."

Former State Senator Dan Gelber, a volunteer with No Casino and a Miami Beach resident, was at the protest to encourage the city to oppose the proposed casino. After the vote against an expansion of gambling, commissioners quickly turned their efforts toward stopping the destination casino resorts bill sponsored by Representative Erik Fresen and Senator Ellyn Bogdanoff.

Commissioner Jonah Wolfson proposed hiring a litigation team to fight the Genting Group’s proposed project at The Miami Herald site if the city believes it can find legal grounds to challenge the massive resort. City Attorney Jose Smith said he has been speaking with vocal anti-casino activist Norman Braman about a potential legal fight.
Commissioners also voted to pay for an economic impact study to prove that casino resorts would hurt business in the city. Bower said the city needs the study “to arm ourselves, to fight this.”

Concerns, however, remain if the bill passes and Miami Beach has to deal with a casino resort in downtown Miami.

Phil Goldfarb, president of the Fontainebleau Miami Beach, said the city needs to game plan in case they lose the fight. “The big ‘but’ is if something is going to happen across the bay from us in downtown somewhere, we as Miami Beach need to keep an open mind and keep our options open,” he said. “If something like this gets built across the bay here and we’re just sitting idly by we’re going to have big, big problems competing in this business.”