ROSSFORD — The City Council Monday night voted to support the construction of a casino on a Toledo site
adjacent to the city.
The construction of the casino is contingent on the passage of Issue 3 next week. That amendment to the
State Constitution would allow the construction of casinos in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus as well
as Toledo.
The council’s vote was 5-0. Councilman Leonard Michaels abstained because of a conflict of interest.
After the meeting he said he had real estate interest related to the project. Councilman Ken Hermes was
absent. Voting in favor were Larry Oberdorf, Caroline Eckel, Jim Richards, Chuck Duricek and Greg
Marquette.
The vote came after a presentation from Penn National Gaming, the company that would build the Toledo
casino.
Former state Supreme Court Justice Andy Douglas, representing the firm, spelled out the company’s claims
of the number of jobs the project would bring to the state — about 34,0000 with just shy of 19,000 in
construction and the rest at the casinos and related industries —
and the amount of revenues generated.
The casinos gross receipts would be taxed at a 33-percent rate with 51-percent of the taxes distributed
among the state’s counties, schools and municipalities.
Douglas said Wood County would get more than $36 million and the Rossford schools would get almost
$235,000 thousand a year from the casino.
The money for the schools would go directly to local schools and not be funneled through the state, and
would not affect how much state aid the districts receive.
Douglas also said that the casino would “unequivocally be built on this site” if Issue 3 passes.
Eric Schippers, a senior vice president for Penn National Gaming, assured council that the company wants
to be a good neighbor and would work with city officials to address its concerns.
The plan, however, was opposed by the Rev. Robert Ball, the pastor of the Rossford Methodist Church. He
characterized the construction jobs as temporary.
Later John Fye of Toledo, said he worked for 25 years as a carpenter doing such “temporary work,”
contrasting that with getting laid off from the Libbey-Owens-Ford.
Schippers said the Toledo casino would directly employ about 1,200 workers, and the average pay would be
$35,000 a year with benefits.
Ball later insisted that the use of the 34,000 jobs figure was “very deceptive.”
He also said studies showed that crime increases in the communities where casinos come in.
Schippers said that other studies show that crime goes down. “Crime goes down when you have
opportunities,” he said. He also encouraged people to look at the communities where its existing 19
gambling ventures are located.
Judy Sikorski, a native of the city, said the casino would be a half mile from her home,. . “I love this
town. I don’t want to see anything happen to this town.”
If the casino were to prove detrimental to Rossford, she said, the developers would have to answer to
her.
She concluded by saying she wasn’t sure how she would vote on the issue.
Photo caption: Exterior of Rossford Municipal Building. (Sentinel-Tribune photo)