Proposed mega casinos would bring billions of dollars of investment and revenue to South Florida. But Tuesday night, it brought fireworks among friends jabbing each other on stage at a forum on whether to allow multi-billion dollar casinos.
The forum sponsored by the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce and Mayor Matti Bower featured four panelists. But sparks flew among friends Dan Gelber, the former State Senator and former corruption prosecutor, and State Representative Erik Fresen who wrote the mega casino bill.
"Philosophically, I am against gambling," Bower said, before turning over the discussion to Gelber and Fresen.
"They literally corrupt the governmental processes because they could make hundreds of millions or billions for just a slight investment in the political future of a few elected officials," Gelber said.
"We have casinos here already. They're here already. And we also have a $2 billion private financing opportunity knocking on our door," Fresen countered. "It's very simple to fearmonger and say that somehow these companies come in and they corrupt."
Gelber said that regardless of what was in the bill, it would change South Florida.
"They are going to tell you precisely what they think you want to hear right now to help you and make you and convince you to take a suckers bet with our future," Gelber told the forum audience. "They're here to soak as much money as they can from our community. And if we let them here, they will cannibalize other industries, they will end up saturating us with this kind of business that define us. And right now, we are not defined that way and we will be."
Panelist Russell Galbut, a highrise developer, said the gambling bill is about Miami Beach keeping up with the surrounding areas.
"Downtown Miami, with their hotels, their restaurants, their 24-hour lifestyle, will compete with the City of Miami Beach," Galbut said. "It's as simple as that. We cannot allow ourselves to fall behind."
Meanwhile, Fresen said you won't be able to compare Miami Beach with other gambling towns.
"Miami is not Atlantic City. Miami is not Las Vegas," Fresen said. "And one or two high-end, 5-star destination resorts will never make it Atlantic City or Las Vegas."
