A Casino in Mercer County Makes No Sense

During last year’s Trenton mayoral election, I was surprised and mystified when candidate Walker Worthy, seemingly out of nowhere, proposed bringing a casino to the city to jump start development here. I thought it was a horrible idea for the City, and wrote two pieces in March 2014 criticizing it. This morning, Worthy’s campaign proposal seems less mysterious as we read that Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes, too, reveals himself as a fan of putting a casino in our neighborhood.

I can imagine the conversation between Brian Hughes and Walker Worthy last year going something like this:

HUGHES:  “Walker, you need a Big Idea to distinguish yourself from the other candidates. A Big Idea that will catch fire. A Big Idea that will bring jobs and revenues to the City. A Win-Win for everyone.”

WORTHY: “Terrific plan! How about a Hotel?”

HUGHES: “No, it’s been done. Didn’t work.”

WORTHY: “How about a stadium? Or an Arena?”

HUGHES: “No. No.”

WORTHY: “I have it! A monorail!!!”

HUGHES: “No, none of those. Listen to me. Trenton needs… A CASINO!!!

It’s still a horrible idea.

My objections to Walker Worthy’s proposal last year were two-fold: first, I thought that the oversaturation of gaming establishments in the Northeast over the previous few years suggested that one more casino might not be successful as a business. Second, I highlighted the conclusions of a group of scholars who had studied the social, economic and health impact of casinos on the communities in which they are located, and their citizens. Among the 31 conclusions made in this 2013 paper:

Some states are propping up failing casinos.

Over time, casino expansion within a state and in nearby states can create a downward economic spiral of market saturation, sluggish state revenues, and failing casinos, marked by an ever-growing competition in which each state tries to lure other states’ citizens into its casinos.

State sponsorship of casinos is a policy contributing to patterns of inequality in America.

Over the last year, we in New Jersey have only seen more evidence of casino failure. Governor Chris Christie’s nearly quarter-billion dollar state investment (thankfully not all spent) in the Revel casino itself failed to keep the place open. And three other Atlantic City casinos also closed their doors in the last year. AC has lost one-third of its casino industry in the blink of an eye. And the other eight are struggling.

Despite this disaster, there are efforts afoot to open more casinos elsewhere in New Jersey, possibly in Jersey City and/or the Meadowlands. And NJ isn’t alone, as Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Maryland are also getting in on the action. What are their prospects? One New Jersey State Senator quoted by the Associated Press in an article on the industry just last week offered his opinion:

“We’re at a point where we’re just moving money around,” said Chris Brown, a New Jersey state senator from near Atlantic City, who opposes a plan to extend casino gambling to other parts of the state. “All you’re doing is cannibalizing the market you already have.”

It was apparent last year, during the mayoral election, that proposing a casino for Trenton was a non-starter. One year along, it’s even more obvious. That’s why it is so disappointing to read Mercer County Exec Hughes saying things like,

It’s too early to tell whether a casino would make sense for Mercer County. But something that could be a revenue generator and job creator is worth taking a look at. The Capital County should be included in the conversation…

If casinos are going to be permitted in areas of New Jersey outside of Atlantic City, why not consider Mercer too? For example, we know from our ballpark how appealing a waterfront location can be and there’s waterfront real estate in the Capital City that’s ripe for development.

Mr. Hughes, it’s NOT too early to tell. A casino in Mercer County makes no sense. If you stop talking for a while, and listen, you will hear the only people in New Jersey and much of the rest of the Northeast talking about opening new casinos are politicians such as yourself, and the developers whose contributions support your campaigns, blinded by illusory prospects of “new jobs” and “tax revenues.”

The folks who are actually in the gambling business, such as Ed Sutor, the Delaware Downs casino president quoted in last week’s AP article, are saying that an expansion plan being discussed by politicians in his state “makes no sense:”

New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland — the entire market is down. That is, friends, saturation. You’re just moving money around. You bring in a new operator and the money just moves around and the entire market doesn’t go up.

Listen to the man! Talking about more casinos in New Jersey makes no sense!

Talking about a Mercer County casino MAKES NO SENSE, Mr. Hughes!!

It’s ironic to read an article such as today’s Times piece today. It’s Primary Election Day in New Jersey today, which I’ve already written about over the last few days. Today. Brian Hughes is running unopposed for re-nomination as the Democratic candidate for County Executive this November. If Mr. Hughes has any more development plans or re-election promises to offer as pointless as a Mercer casino, voters may come to regret that he ran for re-election with no primary opposition.