Amid deluge of TV ads, early voting on controversial St. Tammany casino begins Saturday
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The Dec. 11 ballot in St. Tammany Parish contains just one issue. But you’d never know it from the outsized attention it’s getting on airwaves across the region.
Voters are being asked if they want to allow a casino and hotel at a site in eastern St. Tammany, near the foot of the Interstate 10 twin span bridges in the Slidell area. The referendum seeks to undo, in part, voters' 1996 vote to ban casinos in the parish.
But this early-voting period comes with a large dose of political intrigue. A effort to scuttle the vote is winding through the parish court system and faces a critical hearing Tuesday before Judge John Keller of the 22nd Judicial District Court.
As the early-voting period has gotten closer, St. Tammany voters -- and everyone else in the region -- have been deluged with TV commercials, mailers and billboards. Depending on which side you believe, the proposed casino will either bring jobs, well-heeled visitors and much-needed tax revenue to St. Tammany Parish – or increased crime, decreased property values and a spate of other ills.
Early voting begins Saturday and runs through Dec. 4. Voting locations in the parish include the St. Tammany Justice Center parking garage, 601 N. Jefferson Ave. in Covington; the Towers Building at at 520 Old Spanish Trail in Slidell; and the St. Tammany Parish Council Chambers at 21490 Koop Drive in Mandeville.
Voting hours are 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m. There is no voting on Sunday, Nov. 28.
Peninsula Pacific Entertainment, a Los Angeles company, proposes a $325 million casino and hotel resort, Camellia Bay, at the site. If voters approve the measure, the company would move its current license for a gambling operation in Bossier City – the shuttered DiamondJacks Casino and Resort – to the Slidell area.
When the company’s plans became public early this year, it appeared as though they would enjoy the support of a wide net of elected officials. But as a bill to put the gambling vote on a public ballot made its way through the Legislature, opposition began to organize and has since grown to include a number of elected officials, including St. Tammany Sheriff Randy Smith and Slidell Police Chief Randy Fandal.
The casino developers have also worked to build support, opening relief sites after Hurricane Ida, promising money for infrastructure projects and a state-of-the-art sports complex, and, in recent weeks, trotting out support from celebrities such as Drew Brees and Chef John Folse.
Meanwhile, it's not a given that the referendum will make it to voters Dec. 11. Keller has scheduled a trial on Dec. 3 for a lawsuit against St. Tammany Parish government that challenges the casino referendum on constitutional grounds. And attorneys for both sides have filed motions for summary judgement in the case that Keller will hear on Tuesday.
