Friday, September 15, 2006

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson is ready to gamble. Jackson on Wednesday
announced he will support a November ballot proposal that would bring two
slot machine parlors to the core of his struggling city. Jackson said the
prospect of 5,300 jobs and $75 million yearly in economic development money
for the city and county are worth risking his political capital. "I have to
look out for the future of the city of Cleveland," Jackson said during an
afternoon meeting with Plain Dealer editors. "It would be imprudent of me
not to position the city to benefit from it." Jackson was joined by City
Council President Martin Sweeney, Cuyahoga County commissioners and business
and labor leaders in extolling the positives of Learn and Earn. The group
hammered out the proposal this spring with the state's seven horse track
owners, Forest City Enterprises Inc. and investor Jeff Jacobs. The Learn and
Earn issue would amend the Ohio Constitution to allow 31,000 slot machines
at nine sites, including Forest City's Tower City complex and Jacobs'
Nautica Entertainment Complex.

Learn and Earn, soon to be certified for the November ballot, would generate
some $2.8 billion yearly in slots revenue, according to estimates. About
$850 million would go to college scholarships and more than $200 million to
economic development across Ohio.

In Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, supporters estimate a $184 million yearly
benefit from Learn and Earn, including scholarship and development money.