Writing 102 Section 97
11 April 2013 Casinos: The Golden Nugget of the Gulf Coast It was all started in June of 1990 when the state of Mississippi legislature legalized dockside gambling along the Mississippi Gulf Coast with the Mississippi Gaming Control Act. Then, in late August of 1992, the Isle of Capri casino’s first riverboats docked at the east end of Biloxi Beach in Biloxi, Mississippi to take in passengers to gamble on shore and since then Gulf Coast has never looked back. However, not everyone in 1990 was in favor of the newly enacted Gaming Control Act especially along the Gulf Coast. Many of the coastal resident families and others living near these towns have been living there for generations and were not ready to see their “sleepy town” transformed into “the nation’s hottest new gambling hub” (Myerson). Many of these residents and public officials believed legalizing gaming would promote “crime, higher rates of divorce, and poverty from personal bankruptcy” from residents spending their life savings (Myerson). Now more than twenty years later the exact opposite of oppositionist’s future predictions have occurred and casinos have been the greatest thing to happen to the Mississippi Gulf Coast since the seafood industry began. The coastal casinos do countless great things such as lower property taxes, fund public school projects, give back millions of dollars to charity, greatly enhanced the tourism market, drives the economical activity, and much more for the Gulf Coast. With all of these great upsides casinos provide and very few downsides, I believe it is clear that the casinos are great for Mississippi and the Gulf Coast area. Before the major casino boom in the 1990’s, the Mississippi Gulf Coast was a very quiet, religious, and laid back area with the reputation of being the classic “ole country” community where everyone knows everyone and everyone is content with their life for the main part. It was also know for it’s major seafood industry and was not a hub for tourism. However, when out-of-staters and Mississippi officials began to notice the potential the beautiful twenty-six miles of man-made white beaches, major fishing spots, and year round warm weather had, many executives of casino companies began believing this was an area that could really prosper and grow into a great tourism and casino industry. Mississippi, an averagely poor state, also realized they could use the economic prosperity that other states have benefited from by legalizing gaming. This is when many started pushing for legislature to legalize gambling in the state of Mississippi. Then in 1990, sixty percent of the Gulf Coast community voted yes for the legalization of dockside gaming on the Gulf Coast.
When Mississippi decided to “enact some of the most liberal gambling laws, with unlimited licenses for dockside casinos, this side of Reno” many residents did not like the idea of their small fishing communities and classic “everyone knows everyone and everyone is family” mindset start to come to an end (Myerson). Many of the resident’s families had been living in the Biloxi/Gulf Coast area ever since people began moving to the coast for the prospering seafood industry and did not want their small seafood towns to become majorly populated and turned into a tourism location. These residents also believed that with more casinos only more personal bankruptcy, gambling and drinking problems among household, and rates of crime would rise. With any of these issues becoming a problem because of the casinos it could easily destroy a community. However, these issues never took place and from the very beginning the facts showed that the gaming industry was a positive for the community. One main issue thought by oppositionists that casinos would bring in 1990 would be poverty rising in the community. That question was quickly denounced, for in 1992 unemployment in Biloxi was 7.1 percent then in 1993, just one year later, unemployment had been lowered to 4.2 percent (Walters). That number only continues to decrease even in 2013. Reports show that the Gulf Coast gaming industry now has created 15,000 jobs and another 10,000 are created by vendors who sell produce, food, and beverages to the casinos (Monti).
Now twenty years of gaming later in 2013, other initial questions have been answered with reports issued by Biloxi officials addressing the issue of rising crime rates due to casinos have not risen since the emergence of casinos for now they have more money to invest in public safety because of the tax dollars the casinos bring in. Also the gaming commission is doing everything it can to prevent compulsive gambling and addiction. “Larry Gregory, head of the Mississippi Casino Operators Association, called compulsive gambling ‘the first and foremost social impact’ and said the industry works hard to ensure that people ‘are not out there throwing their savings away’” (Monti). “There are numerous programs to help combat the problem, and all casino employees receive training on spotting compulsive gamblers” (Monti). Larry Gregory also started a self-exclusion program to help gamers who realize they are addicted, or have a gambling problem and currently his program is at 1,200 voluntary members (Monti).
Providing free programs to help people with gambling problems is not the only way casinos give back to the community. The community benefits greatly from the billion-dollar-a-year industry by bringing in $4.26 billion dollars in direct economic activity (Monti). Casinos allow Biloxi to “invest tens of millions of dollars in public education and public safety, keep property taxes in check and generally reduce user fees for residents while expanding and enhancing their day-to-day city services” (Monti). “Biloxi also credits gambling with bringing more than six million dollars in construction” (Monti). I personally was affected and could see in my hometown, Biloxi, the casinos impact on the community. “Casino tax dollars have remodeled or rebuilt every public school in the two coastal counties with licensed casinos. City of Biloxi schools have received more than $90 million and Harrison County schools $45 million” (Maghan). My high school, Biloxi High School, was built in 2007 with tax dollars from the casinos, which includes a basketball arena, one of the top baseball field and facilities in the state, a football stadium, and softball stadium surrounding the school. Also, the City of Biloxi built a brand new little league baseball and softball complex in that same year, which includes eight fields and six public tennis courts. Little league baseball and softball players that play in Biloxi also do not have to pay for uniform or equipment fees like most other organizations have to because the casinos tax dollars pay for the fees. The gaming industry has also allowed for the Gulf Coast to become a booming tourism hub. They have “increasing visitors from one million to nine million annually and doubling the city’s hotel room inventory to 9,200” (Monti). Last year casinos brought in 15.6 million gamblers and seventy-five percent of those visitors were from out of state. There are now eleven full casino resorts overlooking the Gulf of Mexico and include spas, fine dining restaurants, and headline shows and concerts for visitors to take advantage of (Maghan). “Because of casino developments, the area now has nineteen championship golf courses by top course designers. Five of these courses are ranked among Golfweek’s magazine top fifty casino courses nationally” for visitors to play on (Maghan). Also, “there are close to three hundred festivals and special events each year, and new ecotourism segment is burgeoning” (Maghan). However, in August 2005 the worst natural disaster to ever hit the United States, Hurricane Katrina, hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast and destroyed everything in its path including all of the casinos. Casino buildings were found after the storm miles away from their original location and completely destroyed. At the time it looked as if all this booming gaming and tourism industry was going to come to a screeching halt and never be able come back to what it used to be before Hurricane Katrina. As soon as the storm was over “Jerry St. Pe, chairman of the Mississippi Gaming Commission, jumped on a plane to Las Vegas to meet with the corporate executives of the casinos that had been wiped out. At the same time, the Governor called a special session of the legislature to change the law that limited casinos in Mississippi to be built on water to allow them to rebuild on solid ground” (Maghan). In eight days legislature passed the bill and construction immediately began (Maghan). With the way the casinos responded to everything destroyed and the quickness and readiness they showed doing it, it became a symbol of hope to everyone who lived on the coast whether they received damage or not. Every time someone would drive down Highway 90, where most of the casinos are located, one would see workers trying their hardest to get them back up and running. It symbolized to the whole Gulf Coast in the way that it will be hard and tiring but the Gulf Coast would get back to the way it was before Hurricane Katrina. Then when a couple casinos began to open back up it just brought a new light to the Gulf Coast and everyone could feel that the Gulf Coast was slowly but surely going to be back better than ever. Also, the casinos provided free necessities and meals to people who stayed on the Gulf Coast and survived after the storm and also to workers who had come to help with the recovery effort. They were one of the key factors to the recovery effort to get the Gulf Coast eventually back to what it was before Hurricane Katrina. Now in 2013 the Gulf Coast is back and better than ever before with thirteen casinos and with another casino just getting approved four months ago to begin construction. The Gulf Coast looks better than it has ever looked before and the economy is back booming all thanks to casinos. If it was not for their help and leadership the Gulf Coast might still look like it did a few days after Hurricane Katrina hit. Now I think that the Gulf Coast will only continue to expand now that there is a law in place that casinos can now be built on land and not have to be built on the water. I expect to see many more casinos being built and making the Gulf Coast look even better. I would love to see the Gulf Coast become an even greater tourism spot than it is now because I feel it would never lose it’s “ole country” small town feeling even with a great tourism hub and many casinos because that is the beauty of the Gulf Coast. One will always feel at home there even with more tourism and gaming and I do not think that feeling will ever change. From casino tax dollars lowering many residential fees to being a leader in the recovery effort after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, everything the gaming industry has done for the Mississippi Gulf Coast is extraordinary. These casinos have prospered more than anyone could have ever imagined they would have when the Gaming Control Act was enacted in 1990. I understand the opposition many residents had before the casinos were built, but now it is very clear to see with all the benefits they offer for the Gulf Coast that these casinos are what defines and keeps the Gulf Coast running smoothly. This is why I believe the casinos are great for the Mississippi Gulf Coast and no one who lives there should have any opposition to them now after all they have done and still do for the Gulf Coast.