(Columbus,Ohio/10/23/08)- My Ohio Now PAC and Blue Water Joint Venture, LLC
have filed a Complaint in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas alleging
that the "No On 6 Committee" made false and defamatory statements in its
advertising campaign to defeat Issue 6 at the polls on November 4.
The Complaint names as defendants both the No On 6 Committee and its funding
source, Penn National Gaming, Inc., the parent company of the Argosy family
of casinos, which are located throughout the Midwest. The complaint states
that Penn National Gaming has a direct and significant financial interest in
defeating Issue 6 at the polls.
Stating claims for defamation, deceptive trade practices, and false
advertising, the Complaint identifies numerous false and misleading statements used
by "No On 6" to deceive voters, including false claims that hundreds of
millions of dollars in profits will leave Ohio each year, that the proposed casino
may pay no taxes at all, that Issue 6 permits the casino to employ criminals,
and that Lyle Berman's business history is littered with wrongdoing. An
award, including for punitive damages, is being sought against both the "No On 6
Committee" and Penn National for their shared role in publishing the false
and misleading statements in an effort to prevent competition for the Argosy
casinos.
The lawsuit follows the positive decision by a panel of the Ohio Election
Commission (“OEC”) who found in favor of the MYOHIONOW/ISSUE 6 complaint of
false advertising by the Vote No On 6 PAC. The OEC panel found probable cause
that the Vote No On 6 PAC violated election laws by making false statements in
numerous advertisements. A full hearing is scheduled for on Monday.
The OEC complaint dealt directly with the false, misleading and deceptive
ads that have been broadcast to the Ohio voters for the last several weeks as
part of a reported $40 million dollar campaign financed by Penn
National/Argosy Casino. The passage of the Issue 6 measure would legalize a $600 million
resort/casino in Clinton County. The opening of this Ohio casino would take
away hundreds of millions of dollars from the Argosy casino which is in
Lawrenceburg, Indiana but relies of the Cincinnati/Dayton area for the majority of
its business.
We believe that it is time for Penn National/Argosy Casinos to be held
accountable for their actions. This may include providing this information to
every gaming authority in every state where Penn National holds a gaming
license. We are considering in presenting a case whether Penn National meets the
ethical standards to hold such gaming licenses," said Rick Lertzman, co-founder
of MyOhioNow.com.
"Following the release of their campaign spending (over $27 million in less
than 6 weeks), it has been reported that Penn National is spending nearly $1
million every business day to destroy Issue 6. The reason for this
outrageous spending is a likely attempt to end any attempt at casino gaming for
years to come and to thwart any possible competition from an Ohio casino. Ohio
voters need to know the facts," Lertzman said, "because, for Ohio, this is
going to be deal or no deal. Penn National wants keep Argosy Casino without
competition for years to come. This means if Issue 6 loses, there will not be
10,000 new jobs for Ohioans or hundreds in millions in tax revenues for the
state. If Issue 6 loses there will be no jobs and Argosy Casino will continue to
suck money and jobs from Ohio"
How did the number of jobs projected double in the last week ?
- Just the KAT, thinking out loud again.
In some fine print it listed 5,000 casino and related workers and 5,000 (temporary) construction jobs. The casino itself would not have put 10,000 individual people to work.
I was thinking that maybe it was a typo but I just saw a commercial with an actress playing a working mother who needs one of those 10,000 jobs that the casino will be bringing to Ohio.
Must be they are getting a little worried about not getting their monopoly so they are ramping up the campaign.
Actually the monopoly you should be worried about is the one in Kentucky. Argosy paid almost a million dollars a day to support the no to issue 6 campaign. Why???? Because they stand to flounder if a casino opens in Ohio because all of the Ohio gamblers would stop going. This means they lose money and Ohio makes it!!!! Nice call on your part!
I don't have a problem with there being casino's in Ohio.
I'm all for it actually.
I could give a rat's ass whats going on in Kentucky. If I lived in Cinci then maybe I would but I don't. I live in Toledo and I happen to believe that this was a bad deal for Ohio and yes I voted NO on it.
I do however have a problem with it being written into the state consititution that one and only one casino is allowed.
As long as its open to anyone who wants to open one and in any part of Ohio not just one of the big C cities then bring on the casinos.
I'll still be damned if I'm going to vote in a cartel to have monopoly power over what should properly be the right of every citizen to perform in Ohio.
Until an issue hits the ballot that expressly legalizes gambling in Ohio for everyone, my vote will continue to be NO.
This country is sooo worried about our economic crisis, yet Ohioians voted no to a saving grace. For those of you who haven't done your research, thanks to you my family suffers. DHL is closing the jobs of 8,000 people in clinton county. Once those jobs are lost, many others will be lost with the closing of other companies that relied on the overnight shipping of DHL. This doesn't include the closing of the Chevy plant in Dayton and the closing of the Ford plant in Cincinnati. This is an econominc crisis as we the taxpayers will be paying for the unemployment of thousands and thousands of people. Argosy casino backed the No to Issue 5. Hello people, don't you realize why the casino in Kentucky would want this issue to flounder???? Thousands of Ohioians pay taxes in Kentucky by going to the Argosy!! How are their schools doing? I dare to say better than Ohios. Clinton Massie school district alone would have gotten a million a year from Casino taxes. What could it have done for the schools your children attend. Instead we are now funding Kentucky schools. The loophole about no taxes prevent American Indians (who are tax exempt) from opening a casino in Ohio and not having to pay taxes, Ohio voters just proved how uneducated they are by not seeking out all the information for this issue and voting it down.
I did my research, and I voted no.
If the issue hadn't restricted a casino to one location, I would have wholeheartedly supported it. I love casinos! Put an statewide issue on the ballot to legalize casino gambling in Ohio, and I'll vote yes without a doubt.
Don't blame the people who voted no. Blame the people who came up with such a poorly worded proposal.
I researched this issue as well and after many spirited debates with friends and family, I still voted no. The number of jobs created was highly inflated and the idea that there would only be one specific operator allowed to open one casino did not sit right with me.
Legalizing gambling would be fine with me, but I agree, this was poorly written legislation and I am glad that it did not pass.
As for who paid for the ads against Issue 6, it doesn't matter because they don't sway me one way or the other.