RELEASE: Toledo Police Patrolmen's Association Supports Issue 3

Release:

TOLEDO, Ohio, Sept. 2, 2009 – The Toledo Police Patrolmen’s Association announced [Wednesday] it will support State Issue 3 – the Ohio Jobs and Growth Plan – on the November statewide ballot.

“Casinos now surround Ohio. You can go to Michigan, Ontario, Indiana, Pennsylvania or West Virginia to gamble,” said Dan Wagner, president of the TPPA, at a news conference today. “Thousands of Ohioans do. The money they spend in these locations goes to the host city and the respective state. Ohio gets nothing.

“State Issue 3 would produce $332 million a year in casino tax revenues that could be used to help Toledo and other cities facing financial problems. We all know the city of Toledo continues to face serious financial pressures,” Wagner said.

“The money the City of Toledo would receive from State Issue 3 would allow the city to rehire laid-off police officers and add to a force that is overworked and understaffed and allow us to do an even better job of protecting the people of Toledo. It could also be used to provide other critical city services.”

Wagner said the TPPA would join the “Cops for Casinos” coalition, made up of law enforcement agency members throughout Ohio in support of Issue 3. Also included in the coalition are the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association, the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio and the FOP’s Columbus lodge.

Acknowledging the TPPA endorsement, Bob Tenenbaum, spokesperson for the Yes on Issue 3 campaign, said, “It is especially gratifying to win the support of the men and women who protect our cities.

“The TPPA – and other law enforcement and labor organizations that are backing Issue 3 – recognize that this proposal will create more than 34,000 jobs for Ohioans and create $11 billion in economic impact to our largest cities and to the state,” Tenenbaum said.

Here in the city of Toledo alone, the plan would generate $11.3 million a year in revenue directly to the city. That’s in addition to another $6.4 million that would go to Lucas County, and $8.7 million a year that would be divided among all of the public school districts in Lucas County.”

The Ohio Jobs and Growth Plan is a proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution that authorizes first-class casinos in the state’s four largest cities (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo). The plan would generate $11 billion in economic impact during construction and the first five years of casino operations. It would create 34,000 new jobs for Ohioans, and would provide an estimated $651 million in tax revenues each year for all of the state’s counties, its major cities and every public school district in the state, with projected annual tax revenues rising to $772 million by 2017.

Primary backers of the proposal are:

Penn National Gaming, Inc., a prominent operator of gaming facilities and horse racing tracks, including Raceway Park in Toledo; and Dan Gilbert, through his Rock Ventures partnership. Gilbert is majority owner of the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers and operator of Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland, Cleveland Clinic Courts, the Lake Erie Monsters, Veritix and Fathead, as well as Chairman and Founder of Quicken Loans, which operates a 350-person Internet web center in downtown Cleveland. Gilbert, who began investing in Ohio in 2005, employs more than 2,500 people throughout the state.

NOTE: WMD has not taken a stance on this issue at this time.