The Silver Lake Village Board on Wednesday tabled a resolution in support of approving a Menominee tribal casino in Kenosha, but not before several board members shared their views on the issue.
The Menominee Nation is seeking to locate a casino and entertainment complex at the site of the closed Dairyland Greyhound Park in Kenosha. The project has received federal approval and now awaits approval by Gov. Scott Walker before it can move forward.
Project advocates say it will create more than 5,000 construction and permanent jobs.
In recent weeks, Western Kenosha County municipalities have been considering resolutions showing support for Walker signing off on the project. Randall passed a support resolution in September and Salem passed one Monday. Bristol also discussed a resolution but tabled it without a vote.
In Silver Lake, the resolution, introduced by Trustee Soti Wilber, was tabled after village President Sue Gerber asked to see copies of the resolutions that Randall and Salem passed.
Gerber said she was concerned about the implication of passing such a resolution that the village resident were unified as being behind the casino. Taking a positon in favor of the casino was more difficult than say taking a position in favor of a recreational trail, she said.
“I don’t know how I feel personally,” Gerber said. “To me it’s a personal issue. For the board to adopt a resolution for something like this, that’s saying that the community is behind you as well.” Gerber also said she knows people that have experienced extreme loss due to gambling addiction.
Trustee Mike Decker had a different take on gambling as an addiction.
“Gambling to me is not an addiction,” Decker said. “It can be, but it’s a form of recreation, just like people who go walking on the Ice Age Trail, like going downhill skiing … Thee’s always something that can go bad with anything … Anyone who knows me knows I am addicted to short track (car) racing. I stand behind (the casino) for the estimated 5,000 jobs it could bring to Kenosha County … I support this 100 percent.”
Trustee Patrick Dunn said he agreed with Decker and he supported the casino “for the money that this will generate for Southeast Wisconsin.”
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Sue Gerber backing a resolution proposed by Soti Wilber? Ain’t gonna happen. Sue probably has to check with Rescue first. Along with Randall and Salem. Not how’s THAT for LEADERSHIP?!
maybe she needs to check with Jeff first to see if he approves of this.
Linda, you should probably just stick “making Salem better”….just saying
Everyone following this and related comment threads: Since we don’t require real names for comments, we have no proof that commenter Bernard Punsley is the person you assert he is.
My only words on this report:
if a board member attends and is not prepared with what they need to make a decision, then why attend the meeting at all.
If they need more info, get it before the meeting. That is one of the reasons that there is a time period before posting the meeting and the accutal meeting. And in this case since the author of the agenda knew that there was info necessary, there should have been action. Such as: Make a call, Send an Email, Ask for the info and then present to the others in the meeting as a fact finder.
If they still need more info, defend why you need more and just what the concern is that prohibits a decision.
If one cant do this then that is dereliction of duty and it would be better not to portray ones self as a representative of the people.
There is no excuse for lack of action on this single inssue.
It has been well described, info was sent asking for the resolution, multitudes of websites are available with info, state representatives are available for contact and information as well as County and City representatives.
It indicates that at least one on the board didnt make a motion to grant the resolution “similar to that of (fill in the blank) garnering a second and winning or losing by a majority…
This single instance just shows that leadership is hard to find in some communities.
and, Making Salem Better is, in fact, better.
Linda, thank you for clarifying that for us. You did a much better job describing the issue than Sue did. Your efforts are appreciated by those of us “next door”.
You have an insight that seems to be lacking in our little village!