Dear Pope County Quorum Court JPs,
It appears that some of you may misunderstand the provisions of Amendment 100, the Arkansas Casino Gaming Rules, and the Economic Development Agreement (EDA) between Pope County and Cherokee Nation Businesses. I hope that you read this and give it your full attention, though I suspect that some will not. I have published this on my blog and shared it elsewhere as an open letter to the Quorum Court.
Last Thursday, the quorum court passed a resolution that included,
Whereas, by rescinding his letter of support for the sole remaining applicant, Judge Cross has the power to end current litigation and offer conclusion to the embarrassing process that has plagued Pope County and its citizens for the past three years;
Now therefore, be it resolved by the Quorum Court of Pope County that Judge Cross should immediately rescind his letter of support for Legends Resort and Casino, LCC
In 2020, Judge Cross’s letter of support was submitted to the Racing Commission as part of a casino application from Cherokee Nation Businesses (CNB) and Legends Resort & Casino, LLC. That application was accepted on April 15, 2020, for “good cause shown.” The application process was closed by the Racing Commission on July 21, 2020.
Judge Cross could write a letter to the Racing Commission rescinding his letter of support. However, it would be a futile effort. The judge’s letter of support is part of an application that has been accepted. To rescind that letter, that application would have to be amended. Judge Cross rescinding the letter would not change the application and would have no impact on current litigation, most of which is moot and will end soon because of the Supreme Court ruling.
Neither CNB nor the Racing Commission will be likely to want to amend the application. CNB would certainly oppose such a move.
There is nothing in the Casino Gaming Rules that provides for amending, revising, or changing applications that have been submitted by the applicant nor for those that have been accepted by the Racing Commission. Amending, revising, or changing an already accepted application would require a rule change, a process that I doubt the Racing Commission has any motivation to pursue.
Whether or not Judge Cross rescinds his letter – and we already know he will not – the resolution was futile and moot from the onset because it would not bear the fruit that was desired. We all knew he would not rescind the letter before the resolution was even brought up in the meeting and, even if he did, it would have no impact on an already accepted license application.
On October 21, 2021, Cherokee Nation Businesses CEO, Chuck Garrett, said, “We also look forward to delivering on the $38.8M Economic Development Agreement executed with Pope County, which will allow communities to invest in police, fire, and other infrastructure projects while the casino resort is under development.”
In an email response to a county resident, one JP referred to one part of the EDA and wrote, “A license was issued. It looks like the EDA is null at this point.”
The part of the EDA that was referred to is “6.3 – Termination.” One of the occurrences it cites as grounds of termination is a license being awarded to someone else. That section also says, “…, this Agreement shall terminate upon the occurrence of any of the following, and upon notification of such occurrence by Operator to County.” The operator, of course, is CNB, who has never viewed the Gulfside license as valid and who has always intended to honor their commitments to Pope County in the EDA and otherwise. CNB, obviously, has not notified the county of the issuance of a license to Gulfside nor have they used that license as grounds to “get out of the EDA.” They have higher standards than that.
Without a support document from Judge Cross and, earlier, the resolution from the quorum court, CNB would not have been in a position to appeal the first Gulfside judgments in Judge Tim Fox’s court on March 24, 2020. Since the Racing Commission did not appeal that case and they didn’t care about a local county ordinance (2018-O-42), Gulfside would have been issued a license in late Spring 2020. The construction of the first phase of their casino would probably be nearing completion.
If Judge Cross were to rescind his letter, it would have zero impact on the status of the pending issuance of a casino license to Legends Resort and Casino Arkansas, LLC and Cherokee Nation Businesses. It would, however, likely constitute a breach of contract, abrogating the county’s contractual obligations under the EDA. It could expose the county to litigation from CNB, while CNB would have the casino license and could build the casino without having to honor the commitments of the EDA. That would result in a hostile environment between CNB and local officials that no one should welcome, though I recognize some would.
We keep getting reminded that the people of Pope County are against the casino. Ironically, I have had few conversations with anyone adamantly against the casino. I have talked to more people who are in favor of Legends Resort & Casino Arkansas. I have also talked to a number of people who voted against the amendment in 2018, some because we were not given a choice about being one of the four locations, but who are now for the casino.
Ordinance 2018-O-42 passed by 68.07% to 37.93% but was subsequently repealed by the quorum court and ruled unconstitutional the day after that repeal. On the same day that the ordinance was passed, Amendment 100 was passed by a statewide vote of 54% to 46%. Pope County voted against it 61% to 39%. I believe I voted for both measures, though, like many, I certainly did not understand the measure for poorly written ordinance 2018-O-42.
That was a one-day legal snapshot of public opinion. Even though it is used so, that does NOT mean that the people of Pope County are against the casino today. There have been several unofficial surveys and polls that indicate the opposite, though I, personally, place little faith in surveys and polls.
A poll on Sass & The Bear currently has 154 votes: 93 say Legends Casino (CNB); 35 voted Hard pass. No casino; No preference / Undecided got 21 votes; Gulfside got 5.
The reliance on a snapshot of a 2018 election is worse than most reliance on polls and surveys. Today, that would be like relying on a poll from 2018 for a primary election in 2022.
I’m not a casino person. I’ve never been to a show in a casino. I drink rarely and haven’t been in a casino in over three years. At that time we were in Las Vegas and stopped at one casino. We ate in the buffet, did some shopping and I lost $25 in the slots. My actual interest in the casino is the positive impact it will have for our region.
I believe that the casino will be the catalyst for significant positive change for our area. We will see new businesses, new opportunities, and new investments in the area. As I said in a recent TV news interview, “We won’t be like Northwest Arkansas, but we also won’t be like the Pope County of today.”
For those who have read this far and considered what I have to say, thank you.
Mike Goad
(I am not a lawyer and what I have written here is my layman’s understanding of conditions and circumstances.)
