The Linn County Gaming Association and Cedar Rapids Development Group have filed a brief in response to the petition seeking to block the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission’s consideration of a Cedar Rapids casino license.
The response, filed Jan. 8, asks the IRGC to “refuse to issue a declaratory order” in response to a petition submitted in November by the Riverboat Casino and Golf Resort and the Washington County Riverboat Foundation (WCRF). That petition claims that the wording of the 2021 Linn County ballot measure that permanently authorized gaming in Linn County was faulty under Iowa state code and that, as a result, the IRGC “lacks authority to issue a gambling games license in Linn County.”
The petition also asked the IRGC to halt consideration of Linn County’s license application until the claims are resolved.
Anne Parmley, board president for the Linn County Gaming Association, the group that would distribute proceeds from a Cedar Rapids casino to area nonprofit groups, said she feels the petition from the Riverside Casino and WCRG has no merit.
“This is nothing more than a another avenue to delay the application process and the IRGC schedule,” Ms. Parmley said. “We are expecting that the IRGC will move forward as (originally) planned.”
The brief on the Cedar Rapids casino was filed Jan. 8 by Grefe & Sydney of Des Moines, attorneys representing the Cedar Rapids Development Group, and Shuttleworth & Ingersoll of Cedar Rapids, attorneys for the Linn County Gaming Association.
It asserts that Linn County voters’ approval of the 2021 gaming measure was valid and that Riverside Casino and the WRGC lack standing to challenge the election result.
“Riverside’s action is a futile and defective effort to interfere with the authority of the Commission, nullify the will of the electorate, and delay substantial investment in the local economy, for the sole purpose of stopping potential competition to protect ongoing revenue for Riverside,” the brief says.
Ms. Parmley also said she feels the petition to halt consideration of a gaming license for Linn County, as well as a potential measure in the Iowa Legislature to impose another two-year moratorium on consideration of such licenses, are misguided efforts to blunt the authority of the IRGC.
I would hope that our legislators in Iowa would see the great opportunity that Cedar Crossing presents,” she said. “To issue a moratorium at the legislature level takes the responsibility of regulating gaming out of the hands of the IRGC where it belongs, and in my mind, is driven for reasons that aren’t in the best interest of Iowans. I would hope they would focus on what’s in the best interest of Iowans, whether it’s this additional revenue that they could gain, or other things our legislature is there to do.”
The IRGC is slated to consider the petition from Riverside Casino and the WCDG at its meeting Jan. 23 at the Wild Rose Casino in Jefferson.
Also at that meeting, the IRGC will review reports on two studies conducted on the commission’s behalf examining the gaming landscape in Iowa, and how a new Cedar Crossing casino in Cedar Rapids would impact that landscape.
Then on Feb. 6, the commission is slated to vote on the Linn County casino application. That meeting will be held at Prairie Meadows Casino in Altoona.
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