Dear Mr. Lieblong, Mr. Lamberth, Mr. Rice, Mr. East, Mr. Post, Mr. Hunter, and Mr. Landers,
The Racing Commission has a constitutional mandate under Amendment 100 to “award a casino license to a casino applicant for a casino to be located in Pope County.” However, without valid letters or resolutions of support from Pope County officials, none of the applications submitted during the May 2019 application period could be approved and the constitutional mandate could not be satisfied.
Under the Arkansas Casino Gaming Rules, as they currently stand, the Commission is not allowed to accept applications “after the thirty (30) period” established in the rules, “except for good cause shown” or if there had been no application for the casino license. The Rules are silent, though, for what actually transpired — five license applications submitted, but none approved.
With the Racing Commission’s constitutional mandate to award a Pope County casino license unfulfilled, there was “good cause shown” when the Commission was presented with a valid resolution of support by the Pope County Quorum Court for Cherokee Nations Businesses (CNB). The Commission’s subsequent acceptance of CNB’s application was legal per Rule 2.13.4(b):
“Applications for a casino license will be accepted by the Commission for a period of thirty (30) days, beginning on the date established by the Commission and published as a legal notice by the Commission. No application will be accepted after the thirty (30) day period, except for good cause shown.”
Since there is a legal basis for accepting CNB’s application, there is no need to amend the Casino Gaming Rules to authorize an additional application period. Pursuing this would unnecessarily delay awarding the casino license. It would further postpone the payment of funds specified in the Economic Development Agreement between Pope County and CNB. It will also unnecessarily prolong the wait for casino tax revenue to flow to the coffers of the local and state government. This includes the significant percentage of the tax on casino gaming receipts that will go towards purses for Oaklawn thoroughbred racing.
Cherokee Nation Businesses is proving to be a good community partner. They have demonstrated that they want to be here. Before a license is issued and ground broken for the casino, CNB’s Legends Resort and Casino Arkansas has shown they are a good fit. Without public fanfare, they are stepping up, participating in food drives, the county fair, the state fair, Russelville Fall Festival, and numerous other events and programs.
Citizens For A Better Pope County styles itself in their newest lawsuit as a “Local Option Ballot Question Committee.” That ballot question was made moot when Pope County repealed local Ordinance 2018-O-42, which unconstitutionally called for a local election before county officials could fulfill their constitutionally assigned options for providing a letter or resolution of support for a casino operator. This group has no more standing in this case than any other group of Pope County citizens.
During a local video on January 6, Pope County JP Doug Skelton stated that, as citizens have learned more about the casino resort and its economic benefits, opinions have shifted to where the majority of Pope County residents are now in favor of it. He estimated that somewhere between 60 to 70 percent favored it.
Pope County Majority is a grassroots Facebook group with around 7,150 members. Our group is representative of a much larger group of local people who favor the construction of the casino and resort. I have talked to a number of people who are not members of our Facebook group. Some are not active on Facebook, some are reluctant to join our group because of possible repercussions at work, and other reasons, and some seldom or never use a computer. Virtually all have been either supportive of the casino or not opposed to it. Also, while some of the members of our Pope County Majority group do not live in Pope County, most do live here and, of those who don’t, most have ties to Pope County or live in neighboring counties.
Pope County wants Legends Resort and Casino Arkansas. It will be a catalyst for change in the River Valley and a boost for the economic health and viability of the entire area.
I respectfully urge you to issue the casino license to Cherokee Nation Businesses so that construction can begin on Legends Resort and Casino Arkansas.
Thank you,
Michael Goad
Dover, Arkansas
