La Crosse Tribune: casino gamble: Jackson County official: Casino brought jobs, self-sufficiency, Th

LACK RIVER FALLS, Wis. - After nearly a decade of casino gambling, Jackson County leaders believe that on balance it has been good for their community.

Unemployment is down. Crime is down. And the people of the Ho-Chunk Nation, who for so many years were economically depressed, have become more selfsufficient.

"The casino employs a lot of our people," said Jackson County Board Chairman Steve Dickinsen.

"But the big thing that it's done ... the Native American people have been empowered by this. And unfortunately our society gives high regard to those people with money in their pocket. So I think they finally have got that.

"Would Gov. Thompson be meeting with those people if they didn't have money to be gotten?"

Dickinsen said. "Would we be talking about it now if it wasn't over money?"

"The Ho-Chunk Nation and its business enterprises realize the importance of creating partnerships in the communities where the nation has a presence," said Libby Fairchild, a spokeswoman for the nation. "We are proud of the accomplishments we have made as a nation and continue to look to the future in a positive manner."

The Ho-Chunk Nation (then known as the Wisconsin Winnebago tribe) began offering bingo games on its land four miles east of Black River Falls in June 1987. After some skirmishes with state officials over the legality of Las Vegasstyle gambling in the early 1990s, the tribe closed its operation and negotiated a compact with Gov. Tommy Thompson before reopening as Majestic Pines Bingo & Casino in July 1992. The casino had 125 video gambling machines and six blackjack tables to start with.

In 1996, the Ho-Chunk Nation opened a new, much larger casino and hotel complex on the same site offering "600 slot machines, 12 Blackjack tables, a 500 seat Bingo Hall, a full service lounge , live entertainment, monthly promotions, two snack bars and a first class all-you-care-to-eat buffet," according to the nation's Web site.

Unlike voters in La Crosse County, where the nation wants to open a fourth casino, Jackson County voters and officials were not involved in approving the creation or expansion of the casino because it was done on tribal lands. If approved in La Crosse County, the nation would need to buy land and have it put in trust with the federal government before it could operate a casino.

And unlike the $4 million a year that the nation has promised the city and county of La Crosse if a casino opens, Jackson County doesn't get a dime of direct revenue from the casino. What money the community gets comes from wages earned and spent, as well as charitable donations. In 1998, the most recent year available, the nation gave $79,341 in charitable contributions to Jackson County groups.

That disparity doesn't bother Dickinsen.

"I have never approached the Native Americans and said, 'Hey, you owe me something, you owe government" " he said. "I think if they're able to, they ought to pay for any services the best they can, being that they don't pay property taxes."

Dickinsen said that when the Ho-Chunk negotiated their compact with the state, they believed that some of the millions they pay to Wisconsin would be coming back to Jackson County. But the state is keeping all the money, he said.

"Look at it this way. If they weren't there, where would we be? We could make a real negative thing out of it. We could say, 'They've got money. Why don't they give it to Jackson County?' Instead, we should say, 'Look what benefit we have got out of this. There's nothing they've done that has been illegal or wrong. They contribute to the EMTs, the fire department, the Red Cross, United Way. "

Because the nation has money from the casinos, "now we go to them. They don't need to come to us for anything," Dickinsen said. "In fact, oftentimes when we need something, we go to them and say can you help us? So I'm proud of them for that. I think that their people have a new sense of being. They feel more comfortable in the community. They don't have to drive through town and think somebody thinks less of them."

Gene Radcliffe, president of Black River Country Bank, said the casinos the community has been "both good and bad."

"On balance it's been a positive for the community. It's not entirely the casino. We are the headquarters for the HoChunk Nation, and there are a lot of jobs in administration, health care and legal services. A lot of the positives are from the three-quarters of Ho-Chunk employees probably not related to the casino.

"We've seen an increase in wealth among members of the tribe and employees of the tribe," Radcliffe said.

"We've seen a few consumer bankruptcies relative to gambling debts," Radcliffe said. "We've also seen a number of deposits as a result of the tribe's sharing of proceeds with its members. There's been some creation of wealth. Unemployment has gone down."

"I would be in total denial if I thought that nobody out here had a gambling problem, a gambling addiction," Dickinsen said. "I'm sure that occurs, but I know ... we have not seen an escalation in problems from social issues arrests, thievery and thefts, drunkenness or anything like that. Our record would indicate there has not been a huge escalation in those problems any more than there was when Jackson Correctional moved up here."

People told us "we were going to bring in all these bad people were going to move here because they wanted to live next to a prison spouse. Well, that hasn't happened," Dickinsen said.

Jackson County Sheriff Richard Young said the incidence of crime associated with the casino has been "very minor."

"I can't say anything bad crime-wise about it. I'm probably of the opinion that it has reduced crime," Young said.

"I think that we now have a lot more employment than we used to have in our community, and I think it's a well-known fact that unemployment is a contributor to crime. So therefore, by now providing employment opportunities to so many people, how much has that reduced crime? My guess is that we're on the positive side of this equation."

Fairchild said the lives the nation touches every day "not only include the nation's 6,100 enrolled tribal members, but fully 72 percent of our workforce are nontribal members. Their families, as well as the businesses and organizations in the community, are supported by the contributions of the nation and the importance of that support is a responsibility that the nation takes seriously."

Not everyone, however, is enthusiastic about the casino in Black River Falls. While the casino is bringing a lot more

people to Black River Falls, it's clear that many of them are not spending money downtown.

"As for bringing people downtown, I don't hear there's much overflow," said Steve Sollien, manager of Black River Falls Downtown Mainstreet organization. "They can get most of what they need out at the casino. Some merchants drive past their parking lot and wonder why there's no one in the stores.

"Most people that go to the casino are focused on why they're coming," Sollien said. "For a fairly substantial percentage of local people, that's their entertainment once a week. If they have $75 to $100, they go to the casino instead of eating out or buying something for the house. They run a seniors night, and it's surprising how many go out and spin the wheel."

Donald Carr, owner of the Antique Center in downtown Black River Falls, said the casino has hurt his business. "When the casino opened, because it's people's entertainment, our business dropped quite a bit."

Carr said he doesn't feel the casino helps bring potential customers into town. "We get some people who look around to kill time, but I'll hear the husband say to the wife, 'Save it for the casino.' The casino is a sales stopper."

"I've seen it change people. A friend of mine is a cranberry farmer, and he always had time to talk to me until he got hooked on the casino. Now he's always on the run - to the casino," Carr said.

"I'm sure there's plenty of critics in the community concerning the casino," Dickinsen said. "I think you've gotta look at the upside. The big thing in my mind is what it's done for their people. The status they've had. The standard of living they now have. I'm proud of that for them.

"They now are more active in facets of government," Dickinsen continued. "Many of them are serving on committees and boards, the human services department, this trade commission. All these things have come out of that casino."

Carr agrees. "The people seem to carry themselves higher. It has provided a lot of jobs for them. I think it's kind of poetry. The people who started this country took their land away. Now those same people's relative are financing them buying most of it back," he said.

La Crosse might have different effect

BLACK RIVER FALLS, Wis. - Ho-Chunk casino gambling has been good to this community, but Jackson County Board Chairman Steve Dickinsen isn't sure how La Crosse County would fare.

"I can't believe La Crosse would have the same net effect," Dickinsen said. "Their net effect has gotta be negotiating some direct dollars back to offset" property taxes.

Dickinsen is also concerned about the proliferation of casinos.

"The other part of it is how thin do you get? Do you do like the farmers have done and just keep producing till you get so good that you hurt yourself? How many casinos can we have in Wisconsin? Are they really going to build one in La Crosse if it passes? I've heard stories that not the whole nation is sold on the idea."

Dickinsen said Jackson County has nothing to lose if the Ho-Chunk Nation opens a casino in La Crosse because the money will come back to Black River Falls.

"Each resident of La Crosse has to decide whether that's a benefit to their county. I don't want people to think that because of what has been so good for the most part for Jackson County ... you've got a whole different set of dynamics in La Crosse County," he said. "We didn't have motels, we didn't have Wal-mart before this. Nothing was here other than we had the wilderness to build on. The biggest thing is that we have a large population of Ho-Chunk, and because they're better off we're all better off.

"But I don't know how that can happen in La Crosse. If it is successful in La Crosse, Jackson County can be better off because our people will be better off. So it can't hurt us any, but I'm not sure how it can help La Crosse."

If the city and county of La Crosse get $4 million from a new casino in lieu of property taxes, Dickinsen believes "that could help every citizen in La Crosse County. The question will be, does that just increase spending or does it really offset taxes? Politicians are not very good about reducing taxes when we have a new source of revenue. ... (Is) it just another pool of money to spend?"