Joel Delgado/Staff writer
With Miami-Dade desperate for an economic boost, the county may be ready to roll the dice on casino resorts.
A bill that would expand casino gambling in Florida is currently making its way through the Florida state Legislature and would allow for “destination” casinos to be built throughout South Florida.
If passed, it would open the door for the casino-operating Genting Group to proceed on plans to build $3.8 billion casino resort where The Miami Herald building on Biscayne Bay currently stands. The group bought the 13.9-acre waterfront property from the McClatchy Co. for $236 million last year.
Proponents for the plans argue that the casino resort will provide much-needed jobs for Miami-Dade County and will attract a new wave of tourism to South Beach.
“Many local governments and casinos appear to work reasonably well together to contribute to the economic base of their community,” said Michelle Yoo, a visiting assistant professor from the Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management. “Casinos generally stimulate economic growth and development in earnings, employment and by per capita income.”
Yoo, who received an M.S. and Ph.D. from University of Nevada, Las Vegas and also worked at the Venetian as a marketing analyst in Las Vegas, also noted that the casino resort would potentially generate additional tax revenue for local community infrastructure, education and other social needs.
“Las Vegas and Atlantic City are examples of generally positive outcomes,” Yoo said.
“Given the long-run payoffs of relatively high investment in education, infrastructure, and redevelopment of casino operations, there is much indication that the long-run economic impacts will be positive even in smaller communities.”
Others, however, are not so enthusiastic about the prospects.
“It will impair the other gaming activities in the area, such as the Indian casinos, the race tracks and Jai-Alai,” said Jorge Salazar-Carrillo, a professor from the Department of Economics. “Gaming cities are usually low-wage cities that employ a lot of labor. It is not going to be as helpful as some other alternatives for the county.”
Will Miami become the Las Vegas of the southeast? Salazar-Carrillo is not convinced.
“Gaming is not going to be a big part of the economy,” he said. “It will not even remotely be like Las Vegas.”
Salazar-Carrillo, who is part of the Social and Economic Development Council that advises the Miami-Dade County Commission on economic matters, suggests that the county should be expanding its base with more industrial and technological economic activities that would provide the kind of employment and activities that would require the payment of higher salaries.
The casinos, he said, would be a step backwards.
“Tourism and trade are the economic base of the county,” Salazar-Carrillo added. “But from that base, then we can build other production activities such as transportation and technology, that would provide an expansion of employment at a higher level of pay for university graduates.”
With the uncertainty surrounding the national economy, especially for recent college graduates, the county is looking for options to improve the local economy. Whether the new casino resorts are the answer is still not a sure bet for local skeptics, who site crime, traffic and draining on public resources as potential problems.
“What we have to provide for students are higher paying jobs and these are not high-paying jobs,” Salazar-Carrillo said. “Many university graduates are leaving the county because they don’t find enough of those jobs.”
Despite the lack of proximity and direct connection between Modesto Maidique Campus and the proposed site of the casino resort, the University may find ways to benefit in terms of opportunities for assisting local government in certain areas of the project.
“Overall, FIU can play an important role in various areas as the effects are broadly expansive and reach recipients of public assistance,” said Yoo. “It is expected that there will be diverse opportunities for FIU to assist the government involvement for casino regulation and operation.”
The local population is split on whether or not the plans are a good idea with 44 percent support, 46 percent opposition and 10 percent undecided according to a recent poll conducted by Bendixen and Amandi International.
Senior psychology major Tyler Lutz does not gamble, but says he does not have a problem with having a casino resort in the area if it would help boost the economy.
“It’s a good profit machine,” Lutz said. “It is a good idea and those that have trouble with gambling should find other ways to avoid it. You wouldn’t take alcohol out of a grocery store because there is an alcoholic that lives near by would you?”
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