On Oct. 27, the “No Casino Coalition” held a meeting in McLean, where speakers aired concerns about the possibility of a casino in Fairfax County to a crowd of more than 250 people. SB 675, a bill introduced earlier this year, would allow for a referendum allowing voters to decide if the casino would come to Fairfax County. The Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations decided to hold SB 675 over until next year.
This event was held less than a week after multiple unions came together to encourage the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to support a referendum that would allow voters to approve a casino and entertainment district in the Tysons area. Dozens of workers shared their stories and held signs that read “union jobs” and “money for schools.”
According to the coalition, proposed casino sites include both Reston and Tysons. The grassroots coalition is calling for the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to publicly reject the casino’s construction due to the potential “harm to local businesses.” The coalition believes a casino would “increase gridlock and public safety problems, lower property values, and encourage risky behaviors.”
Coalition steering committee member Sally Horn claims crime rates will rise around where the casino may be built. Horn also cited a report from the American Gaming Association’s “Preventing and Combating Human Trafficking in the Gaming Industry” guide, which describes casinos as “optimal environments for human trafficking.”
“Gaming operations have been used to facilitate human trafficking,” the report reads. “Physical casinos or resorts can be locations for actual trafficking to take place, while casinos and online gaming apps can be used to launder money related to trafficking operations.”
Virginia Sen. Dave Marsden (D-Burke) was the leading proponent of SB 675. The bill adds Fairfax County to the list of localities eligible to host a casino in the Commonwealth. It provides that any proposed site for a casino gaming establishment considered by Fairfax County shall be located within one-quarter of a mile of an existing station on the Silver Line, part of a coordinated mixed-use project development, outside of the Dulles airport flight path, within two miles of a significant shopping destination containing not less than 1.5 million square feet of gross building area, and outside of the Interstate 495 Beltway.
Previous reporting by the Fairfax County Times said Marsden supports the Comstock Holding Companies’ casino proposal alongside State Senator Scott Surovell (D-Mount Vernon) and sees it as an opportunity to reinvigorate economic growth. Marsden claims that a casino would help return property values to normal and help fund public projects through taxation.
“(Marsden) can say all he wants about how he is looking out for the good of Fairfax County,” Horn said. “But, if the legislators who represent Tysons are saying ‘it is not a good idea for Tysons, it will hurt Tysons growth,’ I don’t think it’s appropriate.”
Sen. Jennifer Boysko (D-Reston), who represents the district where the casino is proposed and is chair of the Virginia Senate Finance and Appropriations committee, was a featured speaker at the meeting and spoke in support of the coalition. During the meeting, attendees were told that Mardsen didn’t want to propose a casino in the district he serves because “his constituents would never stand for it,” said Horn.
“Senator Marsden pushed for legislation that affects a district in Fairfax County that he does not represent,” an event notice for the meeting read. “We don’t know what he will do this time round, but we do know that neither the residents of Fairfax County nor their elected officials have asked for casino legislation.”
Another featured speaker at the Sunday meeting was Don Zarin, a retired attorney living in McLean. Zarin published a book earlier this year detailing his father’s gambling addiction and how it affected his family. During the meeting, Zarin spoke at length about his book “Mr. Z” and how a casino in Atlantic City enabled a compulsive gambler to become one of the biggest gamblers in the world.
“This is the rare story that takes you behind the scenes of the casino and how the casino’s actions and decisions enabled Mr. Z’s gambling to reach unprecedented levels,” the book’s website reads. “Mr. Z was the author’s dad. He loved and admired him, but his dad’s love of risk turned his whole family upside down.”
Zarin said the casino was brought to Atlantic City “as a model for the economic resurgence.”
“The idea that casino gambling could become an engine fueling sustainable growth in Atlantic City proved to be a pipe dream,” Zarin wrote in his book. “Casino gambling as a model for economic development failed.”
One of the proposed casino sites is roughly two miles from Zarin’s home, which is why he joined the No Casino Coalition six weeks ago. Now on the steering committee, Zarin has worked closely with other coalition members to actively oppose a casino in Fairfax County.
“We do not want a casino in Fairfax County,” Horn said. “We will continue our push toward that end and, if need be, we will be in this for the long haul. If Sen. Marsden decides to go ahead and introduce legislation in the Virginia Senate, we will be down there sharing information about why having a casino in Fairfax County is not in the interest of the county or the Commonwealth.”
Marsden’s office did not respond to requests for comment before publication.
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