[Diablo_Rojos]

After fighting for years to stay in business, the owners of Tacoma’s three remaining minicasinos have quietly closed their doors following the defeat of last month’s ballot initiative aimed at overturning a city-imposed casino ban.

Michael Purdy, former general manager of two Silver Dollar casinos and the leader of a group that brought legal action against the city, said Friday that a few of the approximately 285 employees at the two locations found jobs at other Silver Dollar casinos in Washington. The rest, like him, are looking for work.

Although he’s disappointed by the outcome of the election, Purdy said he accepts the decision of the voters. Purdy said his group, called the Associated Casino Employees for Survival, agreed with casino ownership that if voters rejected the initiative, they should shut down.

“It’s not worth beating a dead horse,” he said, even if it wasn’t an overwhelming “no” vote and a low election turnout.

Initiative 1 received 15,372 no votes, or 53 percent, and 13,661 yes votes, or 47 percent.

The defeat means that an ordinance approved by the City Council banning minicasinos is now in effect, city officials said. It was in doubt for years because the council permitted existing casinos to remain open for six years to recoup their investment. The state Gambling Commission didn’t recognize the city’s ban, saying that state law permits cities to ban casinos or permit them, but not to allow some and not others.

As the Jan. 1, 2006, deadline approached, casino owners and employees increased their efforts to overturn the city’s ban, first by pressuring council members to reverse the decision, then by collecting signatures for a ballot initiative, and finally by going to court when the initiative failed to make it onto a ballot before the end of last year.

Mayor Bill Baarsma, a casino opponent, said he’s glad the issue is finally put to rest.

“Finally, the will of the people is being carried out,” agreed Councilman Mike Lonergan. “It closes a chapter of Tacoma history.”

Baarsma and Lonergan have spoken with Colin Conant, executive director of the Tacoma-Pierce County Employment and Training Consortium, and were told help is available for displaced workers. Neither Baarsma nor Lonergan knew if any people had sought assistance. Conant couldn’t be reached Friday for comment.

Purdy said he’s creating a Web site for former Tacoma casino workers that will include job listings. He hopes to have the site, www.acesjobs.org, operational by the end of the weekend.

The loss of tax revenue from the casinos won’t have much affect on the city budget because officials considered it short-term revenue and weren’t counting on it continuing, Baarsma said. The city received about $1.5 million in minicasino revenue last year.

Likewise, the closure of the two Silver Dollar Casinos and the Rising Dragon probably won’t have much impact on the Puyallup Tribe’s Emerald Queen casinos, said John Weymer, a tribal spokesman. “We’ve never really been affected by the minicasinos,” Weymer said, noting that the Indian casinos offer more entertainment than just gambling.

Besides the Indian casinos, gamblers have the option of going to nearby jurisdictions, including Lakewood, Fife and Ruston, where minicasinos operate.

Tacoma News Tribune. (quoted without permision)
It looks like it's time for the NW CT community to see if one of these closing Mini Casino's in Tacoma are selling they're chips... I know the Silver Dollar Casino is just moving their assets to other casino's. The only other one is Rising Dragon is a complete sh@# hole but it may have some chips.