BARRY NOREEN: Support for casinos shouldn’t violate law

   During last week's flap over three casinos allegedly violating the state's smoking ban, Cripple Creek Mayor Dan Baader explained a simple reality: "We're partners with the casinos in this town."

   That's as it should be. Gaming revenues are important to the city and the town's vitality. Town hall must be supportive of Cripple Creek casinos.

   But not to the point of allowing them to break the law.

   After winking at three casinos that allowed patrons to smoke, officials reversed themselves and issued $200 tickets.

   The flip-flop wasn't explained very well. At the least, it means town board members and police officers who swore an oath to uphold state laws can look at themselves in the mirror.

   The three casinos may think it was no big deal, but the gaming industry should be concerned about its credibility. If a casino manager will violate one state law, would he obey all others?

   How much are people willing to bet on that?

   Casino operators say the smoking ban has cost them money, but that's hard to document because gas prices and the down economy have hurt, too.

   It would be nice to think that the town officials experienced a moment of clarity and decided to do the right thing. In this election year, it merely looks like good politics. In a letter to the offending casinos, Cripple Creek officials showed politics and profits, not altruism, provided the best reason for the crackdown.

   The Colorado Gaming Association is collecting signatures for a constitutional amendment that would allow casinos in Cripple Creek, Blackhawk and Central City to increase the single bet limit from $5 to $100. The measure would allow citizens in the three gaming towns to vote on extending operating hours and to allow such games as craps and roulette.

   There is a lot of money at stake - way more than what is raked in by circumventing the smoking ban.

   The town's letter to the casinos suggested that defying the smoking ban could be seen as a little over the top when casinos are trying to increase the bet limit twentyfold.

   "Not conducive to the success of that initiative" is how the letter put it. Another way of saying it: The casinos are trying to have their cake and eat yours, too.

   Katy Atkinson, spokeswoman for the initiative, said the effort will turn in more than 100,000 signatures to the secretary of state before the Aug. 4 deadline. She denied the campaign pressured town officials.

   Although voters have resisted attempts to expand gaming, Atkinson predicts this year's measure will pass.

   "The unsuccessful attempts have tried to put gaming into communities where it doesn't exist," she said.

   Communities such as Manitou Springs and Trinidad.

   "Coloradans are pretty satisfied with the framework" of having casinos in the three old mining towns, Atkinson said, predicting voters won't mind allowing the gaming towns to make their own rules.

   We'll see about that.

   Cripple Creek's casino revenue is down, but the casinos are hardly wasting away. Construction continues unabated. Baader was superintendent of the job on the new Wildwood casino.

   The gaming industry can focus on the election, now that the smoke has cleared. 

   Contact Noreen at 636-0363 or noreen@gazette.com. He appears every other Friday on KOAA's Comcast Channel 9 at 4 p.m.