A bad roll

Casino troubles get more complicated

“We believe the very integrity of the Arkansas Racing Commission is at stake in this matter.”

— Letter from two state representatives on award of a Pope County casino license

Integrity. That’s not the first word that comes to mind when Arkansans consider the processes that, as of last week, resulted in the award of a state-issued license to a company wanting to operate a casino in Pope County.

Has it really only been 19 months since Arkansas voters granted authority for the Ar- kansas Racing Commission to license four — and only four — casinos in the state? Two were at horse- or dog-racing tracks everyone assumed would eventually transition to full-scale casinos. A third, in Pine Bluff, drew the interest of only one contender, the Quapaw Nation of Oklahoma, and is under construction.

But Pope County’s journey has been a mess, born partially of the fact a significant number of residents and political leaders really didn’t want a casino in their midst. There are those who believe in the casino’s potential benefits for the Russellville area, but the process to license one has been marred by secretive local meetings and proposed agreements, rulings of unconstitutional measures, competing companies aggressively trying to woo local support, and a state evaluation process that’s been bumpier than an old pickup traveling down Interstate 40.

And now, even as the Racing Commission finally selected Gulfside Casino Partnership of Mississippi to build and operate Pope County’s casino, the way it reached that decision was clouded by the unusual scoring delivered by a single commissioner.

Late last week the commissioners scored competing applications from Gulfside and Cherokee Nation Businesses. Gulfside won with a score of 637 compared to the Cherokee Nation’s 572. But Commissioner Butch Rice’s lopsided scoring drew immediate criticism. He gave Gulfside 100 points while allowing the Cherokee proposal just 29 points, a much wider gap than any of the other commissioners and enough to sway the vote toward Gulfside.

It’s important to note nobody has any evidence anyone did anything wrong or illegal. Indeed, other lawmakers offered high praise for Commissioner Rice’s judgment and integrity. It’s just a situation not unlike a poker player who continually beats everyone else at the table. Maybe he’s better or luckier and that’s all there is to it. But it wouldn’t be unusual at all for the other players to wonder what’s going on.

In a letter Saturday to the Racing Commission chairman, state Reps. Stan Berry of Dover and Keith Slape of Compton said the people of Pope County and Arkansas “are owed a thorough, fair and unbiased scoring and selection process. Sadly, it appears, this did not occur on June 18.”

So, what’s to come of the casino license? The drama and conflict will continue and the entire matter will end up in court, unless something miraculous happens. Cheerleaders for the Cherokee want Rice’s score thrown out and the other six commissioners’ scores tallied. That would give the Cherokees the license. Naturally, Gulfside officials say there’s no authority for such a move.

On Monday, the other six commissioners declared Rice’s scoring as biased but didn’t come up with a different scoring approach. Rice rejected the allegations and abstained. And now, it appears the commission isn’t quite sure what to do.

Meanwhile, the group Fair Play Arkansas continues its effort to collect signatures to place a new constitutional amendment on the Nov. 3 ballot. That amendment would remove Pope County as a casino location. It may be a tall order for the group to get 89,151 signatures needed, but all this trouble sure raises the very real question of whether any casino is a good fit for Pope County.