Sunday, September 17, 2006

Backers of a proposal that would permit slot machines in Ohio might ante up
millions of dollars for the city of Cincinnati to coax that city's leaders
to look favorably on the plan. Charles Ruma, who owns Beulah Park racetrack
and who is the chairman of the Ohio Learn and Earn Committee, said yesterday
that a charitable foundation could be set up by casino owners to earmark
certain gambling money for Cincinnati and Hamilton County. No precise dollar
figure has been determined, Ruma said, but he added that the foundation
could be funded with up to 1 percent of Ohio slots revenue, which is
projected to be $2.5 billion. That would send an additional $25 million to
southwestern Ohio. "It's something we talked about with the Cincinnati
Business Committee," Ruma said, referring to the group of some of the Queen
City's top business leaders. Opponents of the plan likened it to a payoff.
"If elected officials tried the very same tactics, it would be called
bribery, and people would go to jail," said Daniel Zanotti, president of the
conservative, anti-gambling Ohio Roundtable. "They are buying votes and
influence." Cincinnati Business Committee officials couldn't be reached
yesterday for comment.

Comparable business organizations in central and northeastern Ohio have
taken opposing positions on Learn and Earn, which is vying for a spot on the
Nov. 7 ballot.

The Columbus Partnership came out last week against the proposal, saying
that tourism and entertainment money would be sent away from Columbus and to
other parts of the state.

The Cleveland Partnership favors the plan, saying it would be an economic
boost for that region.

Learn and Earn would devote 30 percent of gambling revenues to scholarships
for highschool graduates, a total approaching $1 billion a year, according
to backers of the proposal.

Millions more would go to economic development, they say, including about
$25 million to central Ohio and $23 million to the Cincinnati area.

Ruma, who also owns homebuilder Virginia Homes, met last month with Columbus
Partnership President Robert H. Milbourne to present the benefits of Learn
and Earn and ask the group to take a neutral position.

Milbourne presented Ruma's position to the Partnership's board.

"In the end, there was overwhelming consensus that we should oppose,"
Milbourne wrote in an e-mail.

There might be more support, however, in Cincinnati, which is about a
half-hour away from the Argosy riverboat casino in Lawrenceburg, Ind. About
70 percent of Argosy's customers are from Ohio.

Members of the Cincinnati Business Committee had joined last year with the
Cleveland Partnership to sponsor studies on the possible impact of Ohio
casino gambling.

The studies said slots could raise $4 billion in revenue in the state and
create 85,000 jobs, but also would create an additional 109,000 Ohio problem
gamblers.

The study considered putting downtown casinos in the state's biggest cities
as well as Ohio's seven horse tracks, including Beulah Park in Grove City
and Scioto Downs on the South Side.

The proposed constitutional amendment seeks approval for slots only at the
tracks and two sites in downtown Cleveland.

Downtown Cincinnati was dumped as a potential casino site as part of an
agreement with Penn National Gaming Inc., which owns a Toledo racetrack and
the profitable Argosy casino.

Cincinnati leaders "feel they got a raw deal, and frankly, we agree," Ruma
said. "We're trying to see what we can do to help."

Although Learn and Earn came up 8,700 short of the valid signatures needed
to get on the ballot, the campaign was given an additional 10 days to meet
the threshold.

Since then, the group has submitted 44,000 more signatures, and Ruma said
yesterday 17,000 have been validated.