The following letter was sent by Harford County Councilman Dion Guthrie to John Morton, III, chairman of the Maryland Stadium Authority. A copy was provided to The Dagger for publication:
Dear Chairman Morton and Honorable Members of the Work Group:
As a lifelong Democrat serving my third term on the Harford County Council, also elected to the Democratic Convention in Denver Colorado in 2008, I am writing to show my support and seek your support for putting a floating casino in Harford County. In addition I am asking that you join me in considering granting Harford County a gaming license.
The attached documents from the City of Lawrenceburg, shows Indiana is able to support such a venture by financing the following; Local Parks, a Fire Station, Police Station, Medical Building, City Hall, Fairgrounds, Sewage Treatment Plant, IVY Tech College, Water Treatment plant, Roads, and several other projects, through tax revenue from two floating casinos, Argosy and Grand Victoria. The Casinos increased the revenue for the City of Lawrenceburg, Indiana, 70 million dollars and the crime rate has not increased any more than the average increase in other cities throughout the state. Counting revenue to the state, county, and city, the Lawrenceburg Conservancy District and neighboring communities, Argosy has poured $469 million into the community since 1996. Combined, Argosy and Grand Victoria have paid nearly $200 million in local direct taxes, and another $344 million in state taxes, according to an Indiana University study. This revenue would be able to make up for the losses and increased costs that we are experiencing in Harford County.
In addition, Argosy and Grand Victoria, floating casinos, have provided nearly 4,000 jobs overall. These employees reinvest in the city itself. Much of the money earned by the casino is distributed through the state as shown on page 10 & 11 of the Lawrenceburg Indiana Report to the Community. The “Build Indiana Fund” finances projects including Internet access in classrooms, pensions for police officers and firefighters, the state’s 21st Century Research and Technology Fund, and a pool to help public-television stations with the pricey conversion to digital equipment. In Lawrenceburg, gaming money has helped put security cameras in local schools and build a $1.8 million tunnel underneath U.S. 50, protecting students at Lawrenceburg High School from crossing against heavy traffic. That’s in addition to a handful of huge infrastructure projects in the last four years, including a $5 million new home for Ivy Tech State College and an $11 million wastewater treatment plant expansion.
I understand the concern of not wanting to saturate the market with gaming facilities, which is why the riverboat casino is a desirable option that Harford County would like to explore. Indiana has 11 floating gaming destinations and the surrounding states have several other gaming facilities. Lawrenceburg has two gaming facilities within walking distance of one another. In fact, in 2004, Argosy Gaming Co. worked out an expansion package of its Lawrenceburg casino, following the Southeast Indiana city’s approval of a 10-year tax credit worth up to $50 million. The Casino has more business than it can handle.
This is an extremely advantageous avenue for Harford County. It will benefit the community at large by adding not only local revenue but State tax dollars and improving the community image as a whole. I urge you to consider Harford County for gaming expansion.
Thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
Councilman Dion F. Guthrie
Harford County Council District A
18 Office Street
Bel Air, Md. 21014
410-638-3343
dfguthrie@harfordcountymd.gov
c/c: Matthew D. Gallagher
Joseph C. Bryce
Jeanne D. Hitchcock
T. Eloise Foster
Sen. Edward J. Kasemeyer
Sen. Richard S. Madaleno
Sen. Nathaniel J. McFadden
Del. Peter A. Hammen
Del. Sheila E. Hixson
Del. Frank S. Turner
Sen. Douglas J. J. Peters
Sen. George Edwards
Sen. Robert Garagiola
Del. Dereck Davis
Del. Robert Costa
Del. Eric Luedtke
Stacy Mayer
The Honorable Martin O’Malley
The Honorable Thomas V. Miller
The Honorable Michael E. Busch
Harford County Executive David Craig
Harford County Council
Ripe with grammatical errors and misuse of punctuation; just as we would expect from Councilman Guthrie.
I believe the word you’re looking for is “Rife,” not “Ripe.” Look it up.
-GPAC. Correcting the correctors since 2006.
Touche.
Once again Dion demonstrates what a lame politician he really is. And for those that are making a big deal out of his efforts against the waste transfer station you shouldn’t as he was late to the show there as well. If he really was doing the job for his constituents he would not have been for the proposal before he was against it.
Dems want more tax dollars with which to continue purchasing votes from the entitlement class. They have never been responsible custodians of our money. Why would they start now? Lottery money…an arm and leg to cross the two Democrat memorial bridges spanning the Susquehanna River between Cecil and Harford…welcome home illegal aliens…blah, blah, blah
Grump grump grump grump. Asphalt spawns cars. Damn those illegals taking jobs from hard loafing Americans who want high pay for the menial little jobs other Americans outsource to their undocumented employees. grump grump grump. You kids get off my damn lawn.
Go, Guthrie!! Great effort is needed to bring to light FORWARD thinking on this issue. Appreciate your attempt to support and promote THE RIVERBOAT!!
riverboat gambling….hmmmmmm havre de grace and along the water….geeeee what a bad idea……looks like everyone wants to get more money from gamblers….way to go politicians……cant give county workers raises but want to spend money on pork..
Our Leader Craig should have done the Riverboat Casino 7 years ago and not wait until Perryville Casino and Arundel Live where build.Perryville is already loosing money.It does not take a Genius to figure out that this is not going to work.
please no riverboat casino… harford county is already white trash enough, lets not make it worse
“A” the casino would add revenue to provide raises. Havre de Grace was once a major gambling location with The Graw. A riverboat is a great and original idea by Exec. Craig. Thank you to Mr. Guthrie for supporting the Executives idea!
I wonder how many underpaid teachers will hit the riverboat on the weekend??? LOL
If they have poker, I’ll try my hand when I can afford it. We are teachers not nuns…
Remember I was the only one on the Council to support the Teachers pay increase, by being to only one to vote against the budget for that reasion. If you read all the material I provided, you will see that there was substantal amount of money provided from this Riverboat to fund Teacher pay.
There is absolutely no surprise there Dion. You have always been proud to be known as a union hack and will pander to any group that seems to be able to blindly vote for the dem.
I am as conservative as they come, but voted for Mr. Guthrie because he gets results. In numerous dealings with the county for my neighborhood, Mr. Guthrie was the only one who responded to our issues. You can call the man a hack, but he is effective and doing his job. I will vote for him again when i have the chance.
You also supported the County Executive and Council member Lisanti in their attempt to put a new Havre de Grace High School at the top of the list. This was actually a vote against the constituents of your district because doing so would push the replacement of William Paca Old Post Road Elementary School further down the already established priority list for new school construction. Fortunately the rest of the council thought better. You put Party above your constituents. Hopefully the voters of your district will remember that come the next election.